Cherry Servers vs Hostkey (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Cherry Servers grades higher than Hostkey: 1.8 against 1.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Cherry Servers grades higher on value for money and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Cherry Servers
Bare-metal and virtual servers billed hourly or on fixed terms
Hostkey
Dedicated, GPU and VPS servers from European and US data centers
Which one is for you
Pick Cherry Servers if
- Fits if you want hourly bare metal or a small VPS
- Works for developers who automate servers by API
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a managed server, as self-service plans are unmanaged
- Watch out: prices exclude VAT, and the hourly dedicated start differs between pages
- Tight if you need storage, extra IPs or load balancers, all priced separately
- Skip it if you want a trial, as nothing is free
Pick Hostkey if
- Fits if you need a dedicated or GPU server in a chosen location
- Works for teams that administer their own servers
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you only need a website, as dedicated servers start at €50 a month
- Not for you if you want a managed server, as administration is a paid add-on
- Watch out: prices show in euros by default, and dollar prices were not read
- Skip it if you need VPS prices, as that page was not readable
How we grade them
| 1.8GPACherry ServersWeak | 1.2GPAHostkeyWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BA 1 vCore Cloud VPS is $3.50 a month ex. VAT, inside the cheaper quarter. | DA ready dedicated server starts at €50 a month, above shared or VPS hosting, and EPYC servers start at €259. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free and no trial on the pages read, so you pay from day one. | FNothing free and no trial on the pages read, so you pay from day one. |
| Features | CBare-metal and virtual servers, hourly billing, add-ons and an API. Monthly dedicated prices were not readable. | CDedicated and GPU servers, many locations, a control panel and API, colocation and S3 storage. All unmanaged. |
| Ease of use | DUnmanaged servers that you set up and secure yourself. | DUnmanaged servers you set up and administer yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb portal with an API and automation, but no phone or desktop app. | CWeb panel and API, with one integration listed. |
| Best for | bare-metal and virtual servers billed hourly | dedicated and GPU servers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Cherry Servers and Hostkey. How we grade
Price against what you get
Cherry Servers starts at $3.50 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Hostkey starts at about $55.86 a month and scores 1.7.
Cherry Servers scores higher and starts $52.36 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 10 score higher than Cherry Servers for less, and 96 score higher than Hostkey for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Cherry Servers also covers workflow automation.
- Hostkey also covers system monitor.
At a glance
| Cherry Servers | Hostkey | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $3.5 per month for a 1 vCore Cloud VPS, or $0.018 per hour | €50 per month for a ready-to-order dedicated server |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Cherry Servers | HOSTKEY |
| Price read from | cherryservers.com | hostkey.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Cherry Servers
- Prices are quoted in US dollars excluding VAT, and the dedicated server hourly start differs slightly between pages ($0.091 in an FAQ, $0.098 on the overview).
- The self-service plans are unmanaged infrastructure; the site points to sales engineers for custom setups.
- Backup Storage is free for dedicated servers; other storage, IPs and load balancers are priced separately.
- Monthly dedicated-server prices were not readable on the pages we checked.
Hostkey
- Prices display in euros by default; a USD switch is offered but dollar prices were not read here.
- All servers are unmanaged, and administration is a paid add-on.
- The VPS page returned an access error, so VPS prices are not recorded.
- Hosting-provider and special offers on the site change often and carry their own terms.
Key features
Cherry Servers
- Bare-metal servers
- Dedicated, instant, custom and GPU servers are offered, with an average deployment time of 12 minutes listed.
- Virtual servers
- Cloud VPS, storage VPS, Cloud VDS, ARM VDS and Premium and Performance VDS plans deploy in about 3 minutes.
- Flexible billing
- Hourly, fixed-term and spot billing are listed, with 20+ payment methods including cryptocurrency.
- Storage and network add-ons
- Elastic block storage from $0.077 per GB a month, backup storage, floating IPs, public subnets and load balancers are sold separately.
- API and automation
- Servers can be managed through a UI or API, and a developer automation section is listed.
- Locations
- Servers can be deployed in Lithuania, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Chicago and Singapore for virtual servers.
Hostkey
- Dedicated servers
- Ready-to-order and custom dedicated servers range from single-CPU machines to high-RAM and 10 Gbps models.
- GPU servers
- GPU servers with NVIDIA and AMD cards are sold for AI, HPC and deep learning.
- Many locations
- Data centers are listed in the Netherlands, the UK, Spain, France, the US, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Switzerland.
- Network and add-on services
- L3-L4 DDoS protection, VLANs, BYOIP, monitoring and SLA support packages are listed as services.
- Control panel and API
- A server control panel and API are listed, along with Terraform support.
- Colocation and S3 storage
- Colocation in the Netherlands and S3-compatible object storage are also offered.
Plans
Cherry Servers
Virtual servers$3.5
per month and up, for 1 vCore Cloud VPS, excluding VAT
VPS and VDS plans billed hourly (from $0.018 an hour) or on monthly to annual terms. Dedicated-core VDS plans reach 16 vCores and 72 GB RAM; 1 to 35 TB of free traffic.
Dedicated servers$0.098
per hour and up, billed hourly, excluding VAT
Bare-metal servers from $0.098 an hour on the pricing overview, managed by UI or API. A 15-day money-back guarantee applies to dedicated server plans.
Hostkey
Ready server bm.v1-max€50
per month
4 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 960 GB SSD and a 1 Gbps port with 50 TB of traffic.
Ready server bm.ru-big€60
per month
6 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 480 GB SSD and a 1 Gbps port with 30 TB of traffic.
4th Gen EPYC servers€259
per month and up
EPYC 9354 with 32 cores, up to 1 TB RAM, NVMe storage, a 10 Gbps port and 100 TB of traffic.
Object storage€2
per month and up
S3-compatible cold and standard object storage with no extra charges for PUT, POST, COPY or LIST operations.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Cherry Servers or Hostkey?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Cherry Servers is cheaper to start with: $3.50 a month, against about $55.86 a month for Hostkey. Cherry Servers starts at $3.5 per month for a 1 vCore Cloud VPS, or $0.018 per hour, and Hostkey starts at €50 per month for a ready-to-order dedicated server.
Which has a free plan, Cherry Servers or Hostkey?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Cherry Servers nor Hostkey has a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.