InterServer vs Hostwinds (2026): $3 Slices vs $4.99 Tiers, Compared

Head to head at matching sizes

Linux, unmanaged, billed monthly, at the list price shown on each provider's plan page on the same day (September 2026). InterServer has no 1 GB size; the other rows match on RAM exactly.

Two things the table does not settle. Hostwinds gives more CPUs at each size from 4 GB up, which matters for CPU-bound work but not for the small sites and services most people run at these sizes. And a 10 Gbps shared port is not ten times a 1 Gbps port in practice; it means bursts are not capped at 1 Gbps, nothing more. Neither provider publishes independent benchmark data, and we have none of our own, so this page makes no performance claim either way.

Pricing models: slices vs tiers

InterServer sells one unit, the slice: 1 core, 2 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD, 2 TB transfer, $3 a month. Every larger plan is a multiple of it, up to 32 slices for $96, with no discount for volume and no introductory price. The number you see on the plan page is the number you pay in month twelve. Its FAQ states there is no free trial and no refund, and billing is monthly with no hourly option.

Hostwinds sells ten fixed tiers from 1 CPU, 1 GB, 30 GB for $4.99 to 16 CPU, 96 GB, 750 GB for $328.99, each in four versions: Linux or Windows, unmanaged or managed. The unmanaged Linux prices have no introductory discount. The managed prices do: the plan data on Hostwinds' page carries a first-cycle multiplier of 0.65, so managed Linux 1 GB is shown as $7.14 for the first cycle and $10.99 after, and managed 2 GB is $14.29 then $21.99. If you compare managed Hostwinds to InterServer, use the second-cycle number.

At the sizes this site is about, US servers from 2 to 8 GB paid monthly, InterServer is cheaper by a margin that does not close: $3 against $9.99 at 2 GB, $6 against $18.99 at 4 GB. The cheapest VPS page shows how both sit against Vultr, DigitalOcean, RackNerd and Contabo at the same sizes.

What "unmanaged" means at each host

This is the difference most comparison pages miss, and it matters more than the CPU count. Hostwinds' support document draws a firm line: on unmanaged plans, "Hostwinds ensures uptime and network/power availability only," and "additional assistance requires upgrading to Managed Services." If the server does not boot after a kernel update, or SSH stops answering after a firewall change, that is your problem on an unmanaged Hostwinds plan, or a reason to pay the managed price.

InterServer draws the line further in. Its FAQ says every VPS gets operating-system support: boot problems, security updates, patches and reinstalls, plus support for the control panel if you add one. What it will not do is support third-party applications you install yourself. Then, from 8 slices ($24) upward, its VPS page says fuller managed support for services, databases, uptime and performance problems is included.

So the honest pairing is InterServer's $3 slice against Hostwinds' managed 1 GB at $10.99, not its unmanaged $4.99, if "someone will help when the OS breaks" is part of what you are buying. If you are comfortable fixing the OS yourself, Hostwinds' unmanaged $4.99 is a real 1 GB server for less than InterServer charges for 2 GB, and its snapshots and custom ISO support make self-rescue easier than it is at InterServer.

Features Hostwinds has and InterServer does not

• Hourly billing. Hostwinds' cloud servers share the VPS specifications and monthly prices and can be billed by the hour ($0.006931 an hour for 1 GB, $0.013875 for 2 GB). For a test box you keep for a weekend, that is cents rather than a month's fee. InterServer bills monthly and does not refund.
• Snapshots. Listed as included on every Hostwinds VPS plan, usable both as a point-in-time restore and as a template for launching copies. InterServer's VPS page does not advertise snapshots; its backup offering is a separate product.
• Nightly backups as an add-on. $1 a month plus $0.03 per GB stored, configured from the order form or later, with file-level restore.
• Custom ISOs. Listed as included on all Hostwinds unmanaged plans. Useful for BSDs, appliance images and unusual distributions.
• A managed tier at every size. InterServer's managed support starts at 8 slices; Hostwinds sells it from 1 GB.
• Seattle and Amsterdam. Two locations InterServer does not have; see the next section.
• Phone number. Hostwinds publishes one on its site alongside 24/7 live chat and tickets. Its support document lists chat and tickets as the support channels, so treat the phone line as a way to reach sales and escalate rather than a promise of phone-based technical support.

What InterServer has that Hostwinds does not, beyond price: a 10 Gbps shared port instead of 1 Gbps, 2 TB of transfer per $3 slice against Hostwinds' 2 TB per $9.99, an East Coast location, and OS-level support included on the cheapest plan. The InterServer review goes through the ordering flow, sizing and the first-hour checklist.

Datacenters

InterServer's cloud VPS is available in New York City (its facility list names Secaucus, New Jersey), Los Angeles and Dallas. Hostwinds' datacenter page lists Dallas, Seattle and Amsterdam, and its VPS pages say US visitors are served from Dallas or Seattle. Dallas is the only city both offer.

• East Coast or European visitors: InterServer New York City. Hostwinds has nothing east of Dallas in the US; its Amsterdam location serves Europe directly, which InterServer cannot.
• Pacific Northwest, Western Canada, Asia-Pacific: Hostwinds Seattle.
• California and the Southwest: InterServer Los Angeles, or either provider's Dallas.
• Central US: Dallas at either; pick on price and features.

The US datacenter guide has the city-by-city latency reasoning and the full provider matrix.

Windows VPS

At 4 GB, the practical floor for a Windows desktop over RDP, InterServer is $10 against $30.99. Hostwinds' Windows plans add hourly billing, snapshots and the Seattle and Amsterdam locations, and its managed Windows tier is the only managed Windows option between the two. The Windows VPS page compares both with RackNerd and Vultr.

Who should pick which

Pick InterServer if the server runs all month in a US datacenter, 2 to 8 GB covers you, you want the East Coast, you would rather have OS-level support included than pay a managed premium, or you want Windows for the least money. That describes most small business sites, WordPress installs, game and Discord bots, VPN endpoints and trading terminals, which is why it is the pick on this site's under-$10 and cheapest VPS pages.

Pick Hostwinds if you create and destroy servers and want hourly billing, you rely on snapshots as part of your workflow, you need a custom ISO, you want a managed server smaller than 16 GB, or your users are in the Pacific Northwest or Europe. Hostwinds is also the safer first purchase for someone who is not sure the workload will fit: an hour of a cloud server costs cents, while InterServer's no-refund rule means a wrong guess costs a month.

Pick neither if you need an API-driven fleet across many regions (Vultr, DigitalOcean) or the most RAM per dollar regardless of location (Contabo). The US alternatives page sorts those cases.

Switching between them

1. Size the destination. Match RAM first: a Hostwinds 4 GB plan maps to 2 InterServer slices ($6); an InterServer 4-slice server (8 GB) maps to Hostwinds' 8 GB tier ($38.99). Check disk use with df -h before assuming the smaller SSD fits.
2. Order the new server and install the same OS release you run today, then apply updates and create the same users.
3. Copy data with rsync for files and a dump-and-restore for databases (mysqldump or pg_dump), taken while the application is stopped or in a consistent state.
4. Test on the new IP by pointing your hosts file at it; confirm TLS, cron jobs, mail delivery and any firewall rules.
5. Lower DNS TTL a day ahead, do a final delta sync, switch DNS, then keep the old server for a week before cancelling.
6. Mind the refund rules. Going to InterServer, buy one slice first and prove the application runs, because there is no refund. Going to Hostwinds, an hourly cloud server is the cheapest way to rehearse the move.