phoenixNAP vs UpCloud: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of phoenixNAP and UpCloud to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
phoenixNAP
6.5/10
phoenixNAP is an infrastructure provider whose services include API-driven Bare Metal Cloud, dedicated servers, colocation, object storage, and backup for developers and IT teams.
UpCloud
7/10
A Finnish cloud infrastructure provider offering cloud servers, managed Kubernetes, managed databases, object storage, and networking to developers and businesses.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.5/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Cost | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Customization | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Reliability | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $616/mo Bare Metal Cloud a2 | €3/mo Starter |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $616/mo Bare Metal Cloud a2 | €3/mo Starter |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Cloud Compute | ||
| Managed Kubernetes | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Object Storage | ||
| Automatic Backups | Not listed | |
| Content Delivery Network | Not listed | |
| DDoS Protection | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
| Managed Databases | Not listed | |
| Uptime SLA | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | Not listed | |
phoenixNAP vs UpCloud cost by team size
| Team size | phoenixNAP | UpCloud |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $616/moBare Metal Cloud a2 | €3/moStarter |
| 5 users | $616/moBare Metal Cloud a2 | €3/moStarter |
| 10 users | $616/moBare Metal Cloud a2 | €3/moStarter |
| 25 users | $616/moBare Metal Cloud a2 | €3/moStarter |
| 50 users | $616/moBare Metal Cloud a2 | €3/moStarter |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose phoenixNAP
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose UpCloud
- Higher Support score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Cost score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for small business (6/10 vs 3/10)
Pros & Cons
phoenixNAP
Pros
- Single-tenant bare metal servers can be provisioned by API, CLI, or Terraform and billed by the hour.
- Integrates natively with Terraform, Ansible, and Pulumi, and can deploy servers with SUSE Rancher pre-installed for Kubernetes.
- Hardware options range from small Xeon E3 machines to dual-socket servers with 1 TB of RAM and Ampere Arm servers.
- DDoS protection and 24/7 support by phone, ticket, and chat are included.
Cons
- Prices are higher than traditional budget dedicated hosts such as Hetzner or OVHcloud.
- Servers are unmanaged, so the customer handles patching and administration.
- There is no shared hosting or managed WordPress for simple websites.
- Few public user reviews are available; G2 shows only one.
UpCloud
Pros
- Independent benchmarks recorded very low p99 disk latency on its MaxIOPS storage
- Advertises a 100% uptime SLA with 50x credits for downtime
- Fixed plan prices include data transfer, which keeps bills predictable
- Official Terraform provider, REST API, and CLI support infrastructure as code
- Broad managed portfolio covering Kubernetes, four database engines, object storage, and a CDN
- EU headquarters, ISO 27001 certification, and GDPR focus suit European buyers
Cons
- Reviewers find it several times more expensive than Hetzner for similar specs
- Fewer locations than larger providers, concentrated in Europe
- Smaller community and fewer third-party reviews than DigitalOcean or Vultr
- One user reports outbound port 25 is blocked by default, which hinders mail servers
- Pricing is changing in November 2026, so older published prices may be out of date
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
UpCloud scores higher on our Hosting & Infrastructure criteria: 7/10 against 6.5/10 for phoenixNAP. The largest gap is in Analytics: 4/10 for phoenixNAP and 5/10 for UpCloud.
No, neither phoenixNAP nor UpCloud lists a free plan.
UpCloud is the better fit for small business: we rate it 6/10 for them, against 3/10 for phoenixNAP.
