Best for: Users who want VPS granularity — managed or unmanaged, Linux or Windows
Our Verdict
Rating Breakdown
✅ Pros
- Ten VPS tiers from $4.99 unmanaged — pick exactly the size you need
- Both managed and unmanaged options, Linux and Windows
- Aggressive 99.9999% uptime SLA
- Instant scaling and hourly VPS billing
- Enterprise-grade hardware with nightly backups available
❌ Cons
- Shared hosting is unremarkable next to the VPS lineup
- Website and panel design feel a generation old
- Fewer datacenter locations than cloud rivals
Plans & Pricing
| Plan | Promo Price | Renewal | Sites | Storage | Bandwidth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic (shared) | $5.24/mo | $8.99/mo | 1 | Unlimited SSD | Unmetered |
| VPS 1CPU/2GB (unmanaged) | $8.24/mo | $8.24/mo | Unlimited | 50 GB SSD | 1 TB |
| VPS 1CPU/2GB (managed) | $12.74/mo | $12.74/mo | Unlimited | 50 GB SSD | 1 TB |
Prices are editorial estimates as of July 2026 — verify current pricing on Hostwinds's site.
Performance
VPS instances performed consistently in our benchmarks with reliable disk I/O. Seattle and Dallas datacenters serve US audiences well; international reach is limited.
Support
24/7 chat and tickets with a knowledgeable, if occasionally slow, team. Managed VPS customers get genuine server-level help included.
Where Hostwinds Ranks
- #6 in VPS Hosting
- #5 in Dedicated Servers
- #5 in Reseller Hosting
- #7 in Cheap Hosting
Hostwinds FAQ
Is Hostwinds good hosting?
We rate Hostwinds 8.2/10 overall. Hostwinds is a VPS shop at heart, and a good one: ten instance sizes, managed or unmanaged, Linux or Windows, billed hourly if you like. The six-nines uptime SLA is marketing bravado, but the underlying reliability is real. Shared plans exist mostly as an on-ramp to the VPS lineup, which is where Hostwinds earns its keep.
How much does Hostwinds cost?
Hostwinds plans start at $5.24/month (renewing from $8.99/month), with a 30 days (shared) money-back window. Prices are editorial estimates as of July 2026 — verify current pricing on Hostwinds's site.
What is Hostwinds best for?
Users who want VPS granularity — managed or unmanaged, Linux or Windows.