Nothing beats dedicated web hosting for the ultimate control over your website. Also referred to as a dedicated server or managed hosting, dedicated hosting is a type of web hosting where you pay to rent a server that's used solely by your website or websites. Several of the major hosting companies in the U.S. offer their servers for dedicated hosting. Here we take a look at companies selling leasing plans that cost less than $100 per month. Among them, 1&1 IONOS leases a server configuration for the lowest price that also comes with a lot of nice extras.
Best Deal Overall: 1&1 IONOS
Why you can trust Windows Central Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
1&1 IONOS leases four server configurations that go by letter designations: A8i, L-16, XL-32, and XL-64. The A8i configuration uses an 8-core, 2.4GHz Intel Atom processor with 8GB RAM and 1TB storage on HDD or 240GB SSD. These specs scale up over the next three plans. The top-tier XL-64 has a 4-core, 3.8GHz Intel Xeon processor with 64GB RAM and 2TB HDD or 800GB SSD. All configurations include unlimited bandwidth.
Other features and tools that are provided with these servers: daily backup, databases (including up to 10,000 MySQL databases), domain registration, email (up to 10,000 accounts with 2GB storage for each), SSH and SFTP, SSL certificate, and a tool that lets you choose from over 70 apps, including WordPress, to install on your server.
Price Specifics: The A8i configuration leases for $60 per month. L-16 is $80 per month. XL-32 is $110 per month. XL-64 is $140 per month. (Rates are for these configurations using HDD for storage. You pay more if you choose SSD, starting at $65 per month for A8i.) Plans come with a money-back guarantee within 30 days.
Best with Multiple IPs: HostMonster
HostMonster leases three server configurations for dedicated web hosting that go by the names Standard, Enhanced and Premium. All three are listed as running 4-core Xeon processors. The Standard configuration has 4GB RAM, 500GB RAID-1 storage, and 5TB bandwidth. Enhanced has 8GB RAM, 1TB storage, and 10TB bandwidth. Premium has 16GB RAM, 1TB storage, and 15TB bandwidth. Standard allows for up to three IP addresses, Enhanced allows four, and Premium allows five.
All of these configurations feature RAID-1 storage data mirroring and include domain registration.
Price Specifics: Standard is $80 per month. Enhanced is $100 per month. Premium is $120 per month. HostMonster grants an anytime money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied.
Best with Database Manager: Bluehost
Bluehost leases three dedicated server hosting configurations. The Standard configuration has a 4-core 2.3GHz processor with 4GB RAM, 500GB storage, and 5TB bandwidth. Enhanced has a 4-core 2.5GHz processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB storage, and 10TB bandwidth. Enterprise has a 4-core 3.3GHz processor, 16GB RAM, 1TB storage, and 15TB bandwidth. The Standard configuration allows for three IP addresses, while Enhanced and Premium allow four and five, respectively.
Features and tools that come with these configurations: RAID-1 storage data mirroring, database web manager, domain registration, SSH, and SSL certificate.
Price Specifics: Standard is $80 per month. Enhanced is $100 per month. Enterprise is $120 per month. These plans come with a money-back guarantee within 30 days.
Best with Windows Option: GoDaddy
GoDaddy's four server configurations that it leases for dedicated hosting all run 4-core, 3.1GHz Xeon processors. The Economy configuration comes with 4GB RAM and 1TB storage on HDD. These specs scale up over the next three plans: Value with 8GB RAM and 1.5TB storage, Deluxe with 16GB and 2TB storage, and Ultimate with 32GB and 2TB storage. All of these configurations include unmetered bandwidth and allow for up to three dedicated IP addresses.
These four server configurations also feature the following: RAID-1 storage data mirroring, MySQL database, and SSL certificate. They run Linux, or you can choose Windows instead, but this option adds to the price. SQL Server 2012 or 2014 is included with the Windows option.
Price Specifics: The Economy server leases for $90 per month, Value for $105 per month, Deluxe for $130 per month, and Ultimate for $180 per month. If you want any of these configurations to run Windows instead, then add an extra $30 to these rates. Plans come with an anytime money-back guarantee.
Best with Upgradable RAM & Storage: A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting leases three server configurations named Sprint, Exceed and Mach. Sprint runs a dual-core, 3.1GHz Intel Core processor with 8GB RAM, 1TB storage on HDD, and 10TB bandwidth. Exceed runs a 4-core, 2.4GHz Xeon with 8GB RAM, 1TB storage, and 15TB bandwidth. Mach uses an 8-core, 2.1GHz Xeon with 16GB RAM, 2TB storage, and 20TB bandwidth. All plans allow up to two dedicated IP addresses.
The RAM on the Sprint and Exceed servers can be upgraded to 32 GB, and on Mach to 512 GB. The storage on all three can be upgraded to 8TB HDD or 2TB SSD.
Price Specifics: Sprint is $99.59 per month. Exceed is $166 per month. Mach is $249 per month. These rates go up if you choose to upgrade the server's RAM or storage. A2 Hosting offers an anytime money-back guarantee.
Bottom line
For the ultimate in control over setting up and maintaining the technical resources used by our website, nothing beats dedicated hosting. Unlike how shared web hosting works, a dedicated hosting server's resources (i.e., bandwidth, CPU, memory, storage space) are not shared with other users' sites. You rent the server, and it's yours to configure and use only for your website or sites.
Among the major hosting companies that lease their servers for dedicated hosting, 1&1 IONOS has the lowest-priced server configuration. But it also comes with a lot of nice extras that the company's more expensive dedicated servers have, too: You get domain registration and SSL certificate. The servers are set up for email and MySQL databases, and a tool to install apps for your website. 1&1 IONOS' dedicated hosting plans put you in control, pack in many of the website essentials to get your site running quickly, and all for a great price.
