Vultr Review 2023 – An In-Depth Evaluation


Vultr: Cloud Hosting Provider

Rating

If you're on the hunt for flexible and adaptable cloud hosting, Vultr could be your answer. While customer service has its share of critics, my experience was rather impressive. It's particularly well-suited for e-commerce ventures, earning a solid B rating in my book.



OVERVIEW

🏆Performance Grade
⏱️Uptime GuaranteeYes
🔒Free SSLNo
🔧Hosting TypesDedicated Server, Cloud
💡Basic Plan Features• Storage: 25 GB SSD
• Bandwidth: 1 TB
💲Starting PriceWe give you $250 free credit for free!

For those who aren't developers but still want to leverage Vultr's robust infrastructure, I recommend considering Cloudways, which offers fully managed cloud hosting plans compatible with Vultr.

Get $250 free credit for Vultr!

Vultr specializes in high-performance edge services and effortless scalability. They offer an array of services, from cloud computing and block storage to bare metal and dedicated servers. You can choose from their 16 server locations worldwide.

Founded in 2014, Vultr has made significant strides, boasting a team of over 50 engineers and developers, with more than 22 million cloud server instances and a customer base spanning 150 countries. Quite an achievement!

What sets Vultr apart for me is its accessibility. Unlike some developer-centric platforms, Vultr is user-friendly, with a website that's easy to navigate, jargon that's less technical, and hosting plans that are quick to get started with.

Recommend:

But does Vultr truly deliver on its promise of high performance and user-friendliness? Is its premium price justified? Most importantly, is it the right web host for you?

Let's dive in and explore Vultr in depth, examining whether its powerful hosting plans and user-friendly interface strike the right balance between functionality and simplicity.


FEATURES

Powerful Cloud Solutions

From instant global deployment to the feature-rich control panel and robust APIs, Vultr offers comprehensive functionality. Their investment in hardware, featuring the latest Intel CPUs and 100% SSD storage, ensures top-tier performance. Custom ISO support allows you to mount, customize, and redeploy, while the snapshot feature simplifies duplicating server setups across Vultr's network.

One-Click Installers

Vultr provides a range of one-click installers for popular web applications and management tools. This convenience, while common for many, is a valuable addition for a premium cloud host like Vultr. Whether it's cPanel, Drupal, Magento, Joomla!, MediaWiki, PrestaShop, or WordPress, these one-click installers streamline your experience.

Wide Variety of Operating Systems

Vultr supports a range of operating systems, including CentOS, CoreOS, Debian, Fedora, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Ubuntu, and Windows. Moreover, you can upload your own operating system if needed, offering flexibility without the need for multiple providers.

Powerful Control Panel

Vultr's custom control panel simplifies launching new instances from any device. It also provides insights into performance and server health, including bandwidth usage, CPU performance, and real-time cost monitoring.

16 Server Locations

With servers spanning the United States, Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia, Vultr allows you to reduce latency by selecting servers close to your target audience. This geographical diversity enhances your website's performance.


EASE OF USE

Suitable for Developers and Surprisingly Beginner-Friendly

While cloud servers can be more complex than standard ones, Vultr's clean user interface and one-click installers make the process less daunting, even for beginners. While experienced developers will feel at home, newcomers can still navigate with ease.

Creating an Account

Registering an account is a straightforward process, accommodating various payment methods, including credit cards, Bitcoin, PayPal, Alipay, or WeChat Pay. It's user-friendly, and even novice website owners can create an account effortlessly.

Connecting a Domain and Installing WordPress

I tested the process of connecting a domain and installing WordPress, a popular CMS. Vultr simplifies this process with server location and type selection, enabling easy WordPress installation. Additional features like automatic backups and DDoS protection enhance your choices.

User-Friendly Interface

Compared to competitors, Vultr's interface is cleaner and more user-friendly. This simplicity doesn't sacrifice control, allowing customization of your setup.

Simplified Bare Metal Servers

Vultr offers a simplified bare metal setup, combining performance and ease of use. Pay only for what you use, with included features like stock operating systems, one-click installers, startup scripts, and SSH preloading.

Simple DDoS Protection

Vultr offers straightforward DDoS protection, allowing you to add extra layers of defense against ongoing attacks, ensuring your site remains accessible.


PERFORMANCE

Occasional Outages

While Vultr promises 100% uptime, some users have reported outages, node problems, and account terminations without notification. These reports raise concerns, but my tests showed that Vultr's loading times remained consistently good. Their ability to distribute loads across servers and route visitors to the nearest one contributes to this strong performance.

Overall, Vultr may have room for improvement in terms of uptime, but it excels in speed.


SUPPORT

Average Support

Vultr's support is considered average, which may not meet the expectations set by its pricing. While web hosts often face criticism for subpar support, user reviews suggest that Vultr's response times can be slow, with some fixes proving ineffective. Additionally, there are reports of account deletions.

Much of the support comes from Vultr's online resources, including FAQs, help documents, benchmarks, and a comprehensive knowledge base. Non-customers can typically only contact support through the website's form, while customers have access to support tickets.

In my own tests, I submitted a ticket and received a response within ten minutes. Similar experiences were had when using the online sales form to inquire about the uptime SLA. These results contrast some negative reviews, indicating that support quality may vary.


PRICING

Simple, Transparent Pricing

Vultr offers straightforward pricing options, avoiding the complexity that can confuse customers with some cloud hosting providers. You can customize your plans or choose from existing packages, with hourly and monthly billing options. This flexibility allows you to pay for what you need when you need it.

While Vultr's pricing may be on the higher end, it provides value through the ability to deploy instances with customized resources tailored to your requirements. The acceptance of various payment methods, including credit cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, Alipay, and WeChat Pay, adds to the convenience.

Cancellations and Refunds

Vultr adheres to a strict no-returns policy. To cancel your account, you must deactivate active instances and submit a support ticket. While this simplifies the cancellation process, be cautious of large deposits in your account, as they cannot be refunded.

VULTR REVIEW: BOTTOM LINE

In conclusion, Vultr offers a robust cloud hosting solution suitable for various needs. While customer support concerns exist, my interactions were satisfactory during this review. Vultr excels in serving a global audience, ensuring fast loading times, making it an attractive option for e-commerce businesses. Its cloud services are scalable to accommodate business growth. While it may not receive an A+, it certainly earns a solid B.


FAQ

Is Vultr's cloud hosting worth the cost?

Vultr's cloud hosting provides competitive pricing at the entry level. While high-resource plans can be expensive, they offer substantial value.

Which of Vultr's cloud hosting plans is best for e-commerce?

For e-commerce, consider the 640GB SSD storage Vultr cloud instance, offering 8 CPUs, 32GB of RAM, and 6TB of bandwidth at a lower cost than comparable plans from competitors. For top-tier performance, the 512GB NVMe plan, although pricier, provides similar specs with increased bandwidth.

Is Vultr easy to use?

Vultr caters to users with varying levels of experience. While not tailored for beginners, its one-click installers and user-friendly interface make it accessible. Experienced developers will appreciate its versatility.

Does server location matter for website hosting?

Selecting a server location near your target audience is ideal for optimal performance. Vultr's 19 data centers worldwide offer geographical diversity, ensuring efficient website delivery to your visitors.


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