Comparisons
This dedicated server comparison puts Primcast next to Contabo, Hetzner, Hivelocity, Leaseweb, OVH and Vultr on the five things that decide your bill and your start date: entry price, setup fee, traffic, locations and how long you wait. Our cheapest server is $9 a month, and a ready one is yours in about 30 minutes.
That price is for AMD Opteron X2150 · 8 GB. Bigger machines are in the configurator.
01Side by side
A low monthly price can hide a setup fee, VAT, a location charge or a traffic bill. Here is each host's cheapest dedicated server with all of that next to it, so you can see your first invoice before you get it.
| Host | Cheapest server | Setup fee | Traffic | Locations | Time to a server |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primcast | $9/moAMD Opteron X2150 · 8 GB | $13 once on that server$29 once on a custom build | Unmetered portno charge for traffic used | 5 citiesNew York, Miami, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Bucharest | About 30 minutesbuilt to order within 24 hours |
| Contabo | €149/moAMD Ryzen 9 7900, 64 GB; VAT may be added | None | 1 Gbit/sunder a fair-use policy | 11with a monthly fee outside the EU | About 90 minutes |
| Hetzner | $67.10/moAMD Ryzen 5 3600, 64 GB; limited stock, before VAT and IPv4 | None on that server$59 and up on the regular range | 1 Gbpstraffic not billed | 2 countriesGermany and Finland | Usually quickcustom options take longer |
| Hivelocity | $75/moIntel Xeon E-2336, 32 GB | None | 5 to 20 TB a monththen $0.05 per GB | 40+on six continents | About 10 minutes |
| Leaseweb | €51.26/moIntel Xeon E3, 32 GB; one-year promotion, before VAT | None in stock€49 on a custom server paid monthly | 30 TB metered volume | 9 regions | 1 hour to 5 business days |
| OVH | $20/moKimsufi KS-4, Intel Xeon E3-1230 v6, 16 GB | $20 on that servera month's rent on Rise, Advance and Scale, unless you sign for a year | 300 to 500 Mbps on that servernot billed per GB outside Asia-Pacific | Worldwide | Varies by model and data center |
| Vultr | $120/mo4-core Intel Xeon, 32 GB | None | An allowance per planthen $0.01 per GB | About 30 regionsentry plan in 4 | Minutes, when in stock |
Other hosts' figures are the entry prices each one listed in September and early October 2026, in the currency it quotes. Contabo, Hetzner and Leaseweb can add VAT at your local rate. Leaseweb's price is a one-year promotion, and Hetzner's cheapest server is sold only while stock lasts. Their entry machines carry more memory than ours, so for a like-for-like price, build the same processor and memory in our configurator. Prices change, so check each host's own site before you buy.
02One page each
Each page compares one host with us line by line and says plainly when they are the better fit. Start with the one you are paying today, or the one you were about to pick.
01Contabo
Contabo's smallest dedicated server is a large Ryzen machine, VAT can be added on top, and regions outside the EU carry a monthly fee. Read this if you want a smaller server with a smaller bill, or radio and video on the same account.
Compare with Contabo02Hetzner
Hetzner sells a lot of machine for the money, but its dedicated servers live only in Germany and Finland, and its regular range adds a setup fee. Read this if the people using your server are in the Americas.
Compare with Hetzner03Hivelocity
Hivelocity has many more cities than we do and hands servers over in minutes. Each server comes with a monthly traffic allowance, and anything past it is billed per GB. Read this if a traffic bill that never moves matters more to you than a long list of cities.
Compare with Hivelocity04Leaseweb
Leaseweb's low entry price assumes a one-year term and a metered traffic volume, and a server can take days to arrive. Read this if you want to pay month to month and start the same day.
Compare with Leaseweb05OVH
OVH covers the globe, but its setup fee can match a month's rent, and its budget servers come with a port of 500 Mbps or less. Read this if you want to know what your first invoice will really say.
Compare with OVH06Vultr
Vultr's bare metal comes with a monthly traffic allowance and a per-GB charge after it, and its entry plan is sold in four locations. Read this if your server will send a lot of data.
Compare with Vultr07GoDaddy
Shopping for cPanel hosting rather than a bare server? This one puts our cPanel dedicated servers next to GoDaddy's hosting, so you can see what a whole machine changes for your sites.
Compare with GoDaddy03Fit
Price and port speed are only part of it. Here is what comes with every server from us, and when another host will suit you better.
04Streaming
If you broadcast, the same account runs your radio station. Here is how our radio hosting lines up against Live365, Wowza and Dacast.
| Compared on | Primcast radio | Live365 | Wowza | Dacast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yesone-time activation fee | No | No | Trial only |
| Entry price | No monthly feeon the free plan | About $59/mo | About $195/mo | About $39/mo |
| Listeners at once | 1,000 on Free2,500 on Premium, 5,000 on Platinum | Capped by plan | Per instance or channel | Billed per viewer |
| AutoDJ | On Premium and Platinumthe free plan is live only | Included | Not included | Not included |
| Overage | Nonea monthly listener-hour allowance: 500,000 on Premium, 1.5 million on Platinum | Listener-hour caps | Per hour or per instance | Per viewer-hour, plus storage |
| Support | Live chat in secondsa person on request | Email or ticket | Tiered tickets | Ticket |
Other platforms' figures are their publicly listed entry plans as of 2026. Prices change, so check their sites before you buy.
05Questions
Compare the whole first invoice, not the headline price. Add the setup fee, VAT where the price is quoted without it, any location fee and what traffic costs past the allowance, then check how long you will wait for the server. The table on this page does that for seven hosts.
At the entry level, yes. Our cheapest server is $9 a month, plus a one-time $13 setup fee. OVH's cheapest Kimsufi server is $20 plus $20 setup, Hetzner's is $67.10 while stock lasts, and Contabo's smallest is €149, with VAT where it applies. Their entry machines are bigger than ours, so if you need a large server, build the same processor and memory in our configurator and compare that.
It depends on what made you look. If you need more cities, Hivelocity and Vultr cover many more than we do. If you want a lower first bill and a port where traffic is never charged, a Primcast server starts at $9 a month. Liquid Web, for managed servers, plus phoenixNAP and IONOS are also worth a look. Each of the six hosts in our table has its own page here.
A ready server is handed over in about 30 minutes. A server built to order, with the parts you choose, is usually ready within 24 hours.
Yes. Every dedicated server comes with an unmetered port that isn't shared with other customers, and your invoice has no line for traffic used. Faster ports, 10 Gbps and up, are an upgrade on selected servers.
A ready server ordered as it stands pays only its own setup fee: $13 on our cheapest server and none on most others. If you change the hardware, for example more memory or more IP addresses, it becomes a custom build. That pays a one-time $29 fee, or the server's own setup fee where it already has one.
Yes. Dedicated servers, cPanel hosting, internet radio and live video all run from one Primcast account. A station can start on the free plan, and AutoDJ comes with Premium and Platinum.
Our live chat answers in seconds. It is an AI assistant that can look up your account and check your server, and it hands you to a person whenever you ask.
Pick a ready server and it is yours in about 30 minutes. You pay month to month, so you can leave whenever you like.
