HostAdvice experts performed an independent study on the Best VPS Hosting providers for all types of users.

When it comes to virtual private server hosting, you can choose from managed and unmanaged solutions for your website. This article will focus on managed VPS hosting and show you its advantages and disadvantages, what it is, and more. Also, we based our research on thousands of independent user reviews, surveys, and tests to deliver you the best managed VPS providers on the market.

if you want to cut to the chase and don’t have the time to read the entire article, here is our selection of the top 8 managed VPS hosting providers.

Short on Time? Check Our Top Managed VPS Hosting Providers

• A2 Hosting – Best Managed cPanel VPS Hosting
• Ultahost – Most Flexible Managed VPS Hosting
• ScalaHosting – Best Cheap Managed VPS Hosting
• Cloudways – Best Managed Cloud VPS Hosting
• HostArmada – Best Managed VPS Hosting Overall
• Kamatera – Most Scalable Managed VPS Hosting
• IONOS – Best Pricing for a Managed VPS Host

Managed VPS hosting is also ideal for beginners since it does not require you to have any technical knowledge or skills. Namely, it eases your work and allows you to focus on your website and its content. Most users start their hosting journey with a shared hosting plan. However, as your site’s traffic increases and your business becomes more popular, a low-level hosting plan will not be able to handle your increased website traffic. You will need to switch to a more powerful web hosting service when this happens.

A managed VPS hosting plan is a solution that can help you handle spikes in traffic. It is a type of virtual private server hosting that comes with excellent support and superb value for money.

The Best Managed VPS Hosting Services of 2023 (Bought and Tested):

Read on for detailed reviews of the Managed VPS hosts listed above.

What Is Managed VPS Hosting, and Who Is It For?

As the name states, Managed VPS hosting is a managed hosting solution that takes care of all server-related tasks for you. In other words, with managed VPS hosting, your VPS host will take care of everything related to server management and maintenance, including updates, installations, backups, security, and more. Thus, you will not need to worry about all those technical tasks and will be able to focus more on your website and content.

For example, if you opt for unmanaged hosting, your VPS host will only supply things like the physical server. Also, your provider will set the server up with the default operating system and control panel, and that’s it. Everything else will be in your control, and you will have to set it up by yourself.

However, with managed hosting, trained professionals will set up all the software requirements for you. So, with a managed solution, you will usually get the following features and services:

• Server provisioning and initial setup
• Uptime guarantee
• Regular updates
• Security software installation
• Security and vulnerability patches
• On-demand malware scans conducted by professionals
• 24/7 support
• Server management tools
• Offsite server backups made by professionals
• Help from professionals in resolving hardware and software issues
• And more

All in all, with a managed VPS solution, you won’t have to worry about everything that can go wrong since professionals will manage your whole server. And, if you ever stumble upon a problem, you will always have someone to talk to and ask for help.

Managed VPS hosting is ideal for users who do not have the technical expertise or skills to manage a whole server by themselves. Also, it is suitable for those who do not want or do not have the time to maintain a server and keep track of all the updates and installations it requires. Furthermore, managed VPS hosting is ideal for those who do not know how to set up their own security measures and protocols themselves. And since security is a crucial factor for everyone wishing to have a presence on the Internet, having experts on your team to ensure your site is secure is imperative.

Managed VPS hosting is also an excellent fit for those who:

• Have a business that is growing out of the resources included in their shared hosting plan;
• Expect significant increases in traffic in the near future;
• Want to host several websites instead of only one;
• Need better privacy and performance compared to what their shared hosting plan offers.

Ranking comparison between the Top Providers

In order to rank the best VPS hosting providers for our readers, we test specifically for each category we write about. First, our experts develop a list of factors that are relevant for the specific hosting solution we are ranking – in this case, managed VPS hosting. After that, we perform independent performance tests on every provider that qualifies in that field of testing. During our tests, we measure the provider’s speed, security, uptime, reliability, customer support, and other important factors. Also, we always take into consideration independent user reviews written by individuals worldwide.

Of course, not all factors have the same importance to the category we are ranking, so we assign a specific percentage to each factor we are testing. That percentage indicates how important a certain factor is to the category we are testing. Thus, if a certain factor is more important for the category that we are testing, we will assign more significant weight to that factor and vice versa.

Here are the factors that we tested and that you need to take into consideration when ranking and choosing the best managed VPS hosting providers:

• Server Uptime (15%): The uptime that your hosting provider offers shows how reliable its hosting is. Uptime is usually expressed in percentages and shows the amount of time that your website will be online and available. For instance, if a provider has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%, that means that it guarantees that your website will be available 99.9% of the time. So, your site will be down only 0.1% of the time in a given period, which is not bad at all. The higher the uptime a provider offers, the more reliable your website will be. It would be best if you find a provider that provides an uptime of 99.95% and above.
• Web server speed (10%): Web page and web server speed are two different things. Web server speed shows how long your web hosting server takes to respond to an issue, while web page speed shows how fast a web page takes to load. You can improve your web page speed in a couple of ways, but you cannot do the same for your web server speed. The speed of your web server depends on your web hosting provider, so you should always look into this factor when choosing any kind of hosting provider.
• Type of Hosting Service (8%): Not all VPS hosts offer both managed and unmanaged VPS hosting. Of course, all of the providers that we will cover in this article offer either both or at least managed services. However, if you want to choose a provider by yourself, you should always check whether the VPS hosting they offer is managed or unmanaged.
• Customer Support (9%): Customer support is a vital factor when choosing a web hosting provider. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced professional, having someone you can turn to for help with a certain issue or question is a must-have. Thus, it would be best if you look for managed VPS hosts that offer 24/7 support via multiple channels, like live chat, phone, and email. Also, look for a provider that has extensive documentation, guides, tutorials, and communities, where you can find articles and guides on how to solve issues or complete tasks.
• Backup (4%): Having a strong backup system in place can help you increase the overall reliability of your site. Even though many hosting providers offer backups, most of them differ in service range. In other words, some providers do daily backups of your site, and some do weekly, monthly, etc. Also, you should pay attention to how long the data retention period is and how simple it is to restore your data from a backup. Some providers also allow you to schedule when your backups will be made. All in all, the more options you have, the better.

• Security (8%): In general, all virtual private server hosting solutions are considered to be more secure than shared hosting ones. However, some providers go the extra mile and offer enhanced security measures in their plans. For example, some providers offer daily backups, disaster recovery options, and other robust security measures that you won’t want to miss out on.
• Extra Hosting Features (9%): Some additional free hosting features are always a good thing. You should always check whether a provider offers something more in its plans, like free migrations, free automatic security patches, free CDN, an easy-to-use control panel, etc. The best way to go about this is to think about all the features you might need and then see if the provider you like offers those in its plans.
• Pricing (7%): When choosing a VPS hosting provider, we recommend that you make a cost-benefit analysis before purchasing a plan. That way, you can discover if the price you will pay is worth it. Also, do not always opt for the cheapest plan, as such plans usually indicate that the provider has dabbled into some cost-cutting to reach a low price. So, always be vary of extra cheap plans and do not jump the gun before analyzing everything that the plan offers. Also, you don’t always have to get the most expensive plan, especially if you are not going to use everything that is included in it. That is why we recommend you do a cost-benefit analysis before purchasing any hosting plan.
• User Reviews (30%): User reviews can show you what other people think about a certain provider. You can learn more about their experiences with the provider and determine whether most people have had more positive or negative incidents with it. That way, you can decide if the provider is reliable and truly offers everything it says it does.

Managed vs. Unmanaged VPS – What’s The Difference?

We mentioned unmanaged VPS for a brief moment in one of the sections in this article. Now, let’s dive deeper and see what the difference between managed and unmanaged VPS is so that you can have a clearer picture of what both services offer.

With unmanaged VPS hosting, your web hosting provider will take care of installing the operating system and leave everything else in your hands. So, you will have full control over your server. Unmanaged hosting is a highly flexible solution ideal for more advanced users with the technical know-how required to maintain and manage a server. Some of the tasks that you will have to do by yourself with unmanaged VPS include:

• Installing software;
• Installing a control panel;
• Making regular software updates;
• Monitoring for security threats;
• Installing security patches;
• Configuring your server;
• Maintain your server;
• Making regular upgrades;
• Setting up backups for your site;
• And more.

Also, in the event that an outage or hardware failure happens, you will be left on your own and won’t receive much support from your VPS hosts.

With managed hosting, a team of experts will manage and maintain your whole server and keep it running for you. Also, they will take care of all the technical tasks for you and ensure you have everything you need. With managed hosting, a team of experts will do all of the following for you:

• Set up your server and install its software, control panel, and any applications you might need;
• Handle all the updates for you;
• Install and update security patches for your operating system and core server software;
• Monitor for warning signs of cyber attacks and hardware failure;
• Make automated backups of your site for you;
• And more.

All in all, unmanaged VPS hosting is ideal for advanced and experienced users who know how to set up, maintain, and manage a whole server, while managed hosting is suitable for those who do not have enough technical knowledge to complete such tasks.

Managed VPS Hosting Pros and Cons

Now let’s explore some advantages and disadvantages you can experience with managed virtual private server hosting.

Pros

Cons

How Does Managed VPS Hosting Work?

Virtual private server hosting involves using virtualization technology and splitting a server and its resources into virtual private units. So, with it, you will get private resources and won’t have to share them with other users. Thus, even though you are using a physical server shared by multiple users, you will have your own dedicated resources all to yourself. Also, you won’t be affected by the other users on the server.

Each unit on the server gets a dedicated IP address, meaning that if one of the users experiences a DDoS attack, you won’t be affected by it. Also, you will be able to create custom firewall settings, block certain IP addresses, and do whatever else you want with your server.

Best Managed VPS Hosting Services: Summary

With Managed VPS hosting, you will get to take advantage of all the benefits that a regular VPS offers while having a team of experts that will help you with everything. Your VPS hosts will set up, manage, and maintain everything for you. Thus, you will be able to focus on growing your business more.

In other words, you won’t have to worry about all the technical aspects of your hosting and will be able to rest assured that your site is safe and secure. Managed hosting is ideal for those who need to upgrade from shared hosting but do not know how to configure and take care of a server by themselves.

It is an excellent solution for websites with medium to high traffic, eCommerce sites, and resource-heavy sites. It is also reliable, scalable, and suitable for beginners and those who do not have the time or skill to manage a server by themselves. So, if you want a reliable web hosting solution that will allow you to grow seamlessly and expand your business, you should definitely consider managed virtual private server hosting. However, you should be careful when choosing your managed VPS hosting provider and make sure to do your research before committing to a certain provider.

Resources

• Trustpilot
• Allied Market Research
• HostAdvice MarketShare
• HostAdvice VPS Pricing Page