Every dotted-underline term on this site opens one of these. 27 entries and growing — spotted a confusing term we haven't covered? Tell us.
The fastest storage type — a chip that talks directly to the processor. Loads databases and apps 5-10× faster than a regular SSD. If your site has a database, you want this.
A solid-state drive on an older connection. Much faster than a spinning disk, slower than NVMe. Fine for websites and file storage.
A spinning mechanical disk. Slowest of the three, but the cheapest per terabyte — the right choice for backups and big media libraries, not for databases.
Error-correcting memory: it catches and fixes tiny memory glitches by itself. Matters when data corruption would really hurt — databases, or the only copy of anything. For a regular website it's optional.
Memory generation from ~2007-2014. Works, but slower and power-hungrier than modern RAM — a sign of an older machine.
Memory generation from ~2014-2021. The workhorse standard — perfectly good for most workloads.
The current memory generation (2021+). Roughly double DDR4's bandwidth — pairs with the newest processors.
A virtual slice of a real processor core. On a shared plan, other customers' work can slow yours down; a 'dedicated vCPU' is reserved for you. Our score already prices that difference in.
Cores are the processor's parallel workers; threads let each worker juggle two tasks. More cores = more simultaneous work (databases, builds). Single-core speed matters more for game servers.
The top speed a core reaches under load. Higher = snappier for single-task work like game servers and PHP pages.
The year the processor model was launched. A 2014 chip sold at 2026 prices is the classic overpay — that's why we show it on every offer.
The processor's architecture family (e.g. Zen 4, Raptor Lake). Newer generations do more work per clock tick — a 2023 core beats a 2015 core at the same GHz.
Our transparent performance estimate, computed from public spec facts (cores × sustained clock × generation). The full formula is on the methodology page — no black box.
The site's signature number: performance points per dollar per month. Higher = more computer for your money. It's how every table is ranked by default.
A whole physical machine that's only yours. Steady performance, full control — for heavy or sensitive workloads.
A virtual private server — your own slice of a bigger machine. Cheaper and flexible; performance depends on how the host manages sharing.
No fixed monthly data cap — but 'fair use' rules always apply. An explicit big cap (e.g. 30TB) is often the more honest deal.
How much data you can transfer per month. 1TB ≈ streaming ~300 hours of HD video. Most websites use far less than they think.
The width of the server's internet pipe. 1 Gbps moves ~120MB per second — plenty for most; 10 Gbps is for media-heavy work.
A one-time charge on top of month one. We show it, and our Perf/$ uses the recurring monthly price only.
Whether the machine is available right now. Auction units are single physical machines — gone when someone buys them.
Multiple disks working as a team — for speed, for surviving a disk failure, or both. RAID is not a backup; it just buys you time when a disk dies.
A small graphics engine built into some processors. Great free bonus for media servers (Plex/Jellyfin) — it transcodes video without taxing the CPU.
A one-of-a-kind used machine at a discount (e.g. Hetzner's auction). Real scarcity: each listing is one physical box — when it sells, it's gone.
Some providers pay affiliates a share of the bill every month, not once. Never affects our rankings — full disclosure on every page.
When our tracker last confirmed this price on the provider's own page. Stale data is flagged, never silently served.
Cloud providers deploy every plan in every region they list — so we show the provider's full datacenter map for that offer. Per-DC dedicated servers show their exact city instead.