🥇Best ARK Server Hosting Providers 2021 | Top 10 | Hosting for ARK

ARK: Survival Evolved is a game that was made to be played with others. That’s why so many players are always looking for the best ARK server hosting around, allowing them to play with a like-minded community without certain limitations and stability issues. While the game does provide players with the ability to jump into global servers, those who dedicate a lot of time to it want an optimal experience that the game can’t offer as standard. 

That’s why there are so many options for server hosting for ARK: Survival Evolved. The trouble is knowing which one is best for you. That’s why we’ve been carefully researching the best servers out there, and have collected together the top 10 ARK server hosting providers, as well as some pros and cons on each one.

Great hosting platform checklist

There are a few key aspects of a server hosting company that we’re looking at. It’s important to bear these in mind, because if you’re not bothered about one or more of the following criteria, then any company on the list could be perfect for you. If every single one of these is important, though, pay close attention to the top ten list further down. 

Memory

A server’s memory (RAM) is a reflection of its capabilities when it comes to the number of players that can be on the server at once. Even if a server can technically host 30 players, if it doesn’t have a lot of memory, then it could chug and stutter, affecting everyone’s experience. Ideally we want servers with a decent amount of RAM so that they can comfortably host the number of players being quoted for in the price. 

Location

You can rent a server on the other side of the world to play ARK: Survival Evolved on if you really want to. We’re not recommending that, though. Instead, we’re actually looking for a range of server locations, preferably in the US and Europe. The closer you are to a server, the better your experience will be. If a company only has servers in the UK, they’re not going to be very useful to a group of 50 players in North America, are they?

Player Count

Most companies will quote a server’s price based on the number of players you want to have on it. We’ll be looking closely at how the number of players relates to the server’s RAM, but we also want to know if a company can host a decent amount of players all at once. One clan might only be made up of 30 players, but another may require 100 slots. Some companies offer unlimited options, but once again, that needs to be reflected in RAM, all of which we’ll be looking at. 

Free and premium packages

Most companies are going to charge you for renting a server to host ARK on. That’s not because they’re scamming you, it allows them to cover their costs and keep the doors open. However, some companies charge a lot more than others. On the opposite end of the spectrum there are also free servers, but as you can imagine, these are generally pretty slow and terrible. We’ll be looking at the options available from each company. If, for example, they allow a trial period before they start charging you, that would be a huge bonus, particularly because these servers often aren’t cheap.

Top 10 ARK Server Hosting Providers

1. Game Servers.com

• Pricing from $0.75 per slot

There are definitely cheaper ARK server hosting providers out there, but Game Servers is easily the best on the market. Why is that though? These guys have a number of server locations in order to improve performance, and a dedicated team who are extremely knowledgeable in the most popular games on their platform, of which ARK is one. 

Whilst their servers can be a little pricey, you really do get a lot for your money. These servers are for those who want a premium experience, including a responsive support team, and an easy to use control panel. 

Don’t just take our word for it though. If you read through a few reviews on the site you’ll quickly see that most people have a positive experience with Game Servers. 

The biggest negatives to going with this company for server hosting are few and far between. One major flaw seems to be a lack of DDOS protection, which could harm your experience even if an attack isn’t directed at you. Occasionally there seem to be reports of performance issues, but ultimately most customers are happy with the service they receive.

2. Survival Servers

• Pricing from $1.55 per slot

This company is an extremely close second to Game Servers. Whilst their pricing might seem high, compared to Game Servers at least, they have discounts available for those who book months or years all in one go. This really brings the price down, and makes Survival Servers one of the best companies for value for money. 

The team knows what they’re talking about, and can help you get set up with everything that you need. The control panel you get is easy to use, and the best part is that because the company only focuses on a small range of games, the performance is generally off the charts. 

One of the best things about Survival Servers, to some players at least, is their appreciation of mods. They’ll work with you on putting together the list of mods you want in your server, ensuring that the entire community can play with them enabled, and have minimal issues. 

However, the range of servers isn’t as comprehensive as other companies. This results in slow game performance in certain regions, though this may not affect you. What almost certainly will affect you though, is the customer service. A few reviews, and players on Reddit, suggest that Survival Servers has very poor customer service. That’s not what you really want when it comes to hosting 30-50 players all in a single server, particularly with mods.

3. Host Havoc

• Pricing from $0.50 per slot

This next company is one that most people agree are really rather good, just not great. They have a few discounts available for anyone wanting to make an enquiry.

Host Havoc is another company that focuses on a small range of games. We don’t see this as a bad thing though, since ARK: Survival Evolved is one of those games. Your server will be a priority because the team knows what they’re doing when it comes to the servers they offer, and they’re good at what they do. 

There are servers available around the world, meaning speed shouldn’t be an issue, and the customer service is perfectly fine. We’re not sure that these guys would go above and beyond for you, but they’ll certainly provide a solid service that should do you for a smaller group of say 30 players.

4. Ping Perfect

• Pricing from $0.74 per slot

Once again, this is another company that most agree are fine, they’re just not fantastic. We’ll start with the downside, since there’s just one that we can find. The dedicated servers on offer from Ping Perfect have pretty poor performance. This is probably because the company is one of the cheapest when it comes to server hosting, but that also makes them a great starting point. If you’re not sure that your clan is going to consistently play for years, then we’d say that Ping Perfect is a good place to start off. 

Not only is the company fantastic value for money, there’s a 48 hour trial on offer if this is your first time. As with most of these servers, there’s a unique control panel that’s easy to use, loads of server locations, and a team that knows what they’re talking about.

5. GTX Gaming

• Pricing from $1.19 per slot

We’re now starting to get into the lower quality quality companies in this list of the best ARK server hosting providers. GTX Gaming is fine, but it seems like there’s very little flexibility with them. 

There are loads of server locations to choose from, so speed isn’t going to be an issue. There are a lot of games that players can choose from though, so support is divided between a lot of games. That’s reflected in the customer service, which seems to be extremely poor. 

Overall there are loads of people available to provide support, but if the support is for something a little out of that staff member’s comfort zone, it might be time to look for a new company. As long as you know what you’re doing then you should be fine, but if you want a dedicated team who are going to help you, and help you fast, look at the companies above.

6. LOW.MS

• Pricing from $0.99 per slot

LOW.MS is one of the newer companies on this list, but they’ve received fairly positive feedback in the short time that they’ve been operating. When it comes to price, these guys are right in the middle, not too expensive, but also not the cheapest out there. With that said, their customer service is helpful and well reviewed, so they’re one step ahead of GTX Gaming. 

The reviews for this company are great wherever you look, which is always a good sign. They seem to cover a number of games, but their customer service doesn’t sound like it suffers because of it. 

The only downside is that the company hasn’t been running for that long. If you’d rather go with one that’s more well-established, we wouldn’t blame you. From reading around though, these guys know what they’re doing, and they do it well.

7. Server Blend

• Pricing from $0.60 per slot

Server Blend has really positive reviews, some of the best out there, but they’re definitely more of a premium server host. For example, they have a minimum slot count of 30 players. That means that if you want a server for anything under 30 players, you and everyone else will be forking out more than your share of the cost every month. 

With that said, they come with a lot of benefits. The server can be Discord Bot controlled, extremely handy for automation, and there’s a 14 day money back guarantee. This is quite important, because if the service doesn’t live up to what you were told it would be, whether that’s due to server location or something else, you’re protected. 

Best of all, Server Blend offers a free migration service, and they’re an official ARK partner and server API partner. If the developers are working with this company, then you should rest assured that they’ve been assessed as one of the best.

8. Streamline Servers

• Pricing from $0.75 per slot

This is a company that has been operating for 10 years now, and they’ve been doing a pretty great job so far. While they’re definitely one of the more expensive options on this list, their service really does reflect that. As we’ve mentioned before, this could be a company you work up to after trying out a cheaper one to start with, ensuring you have a community of players who will make the most of it before putting any money down.

As you’d expect with a company of this age, they cover a few different games. That doesn’t mean the customer service suffers though, quite the opposite. Since the team has such a wealth of experience, they’re able to deal with enquiries quickly and efficiently, getting you back online when you want to be. 

Server locations are abundant with Streamline Servers. You’ll definitely find one close to you, and the rest of your clan, which will provide an optimal experience whilst playing ARK. Finally, they do have cheaper options for smaller player slots. This seems to be a new development, which might make them a better option if you’ve only got a handful of people who want to play together.

9. Ark Servers Evolved

• Pricing from $0.27 per slot

Even though the name might suggest that these guys are closely linked with ARK: Survival Evolved, they aren’t. However, ARK is one of the few games that they do support in their small range. You can bet that this means that support is great for all customers across the board.

There’s an 8 hour free trial on offer, which is useful for a few people if they’re all online at once. Ultimately though you probably won’t get a good enough idea of what you’d be paying for, so it’s a pretty pointless free trial. 

Pricing-wise though, Ark Servers Evolved is on the cheaper side, and they have a 30 day money back guarantee. This is easily the most protected you could be when it comes to the best ARK server hosting companies, and would give you and all other players piece of mind. 

However, there’s a huge downside to ARK Servers Evolved, and that is the server locations. You won’t find a US server on their list, meaning that anyone actually based in the US is going to have a very slow experience. This is quite a big problem, particularly for those in the US, and our advice would be to choose any other company because of it.

10. Nitrous Networks

• Pricing from $1.05 per slot

The final company on this list isn’t necessarily the worst ARK server host out there. You’ll find plenty of others that offer much less for a lot more money, these guys are just at the bottom of our list of the best ARK server hosting providers. 

First of all, Nitrous Networks are inescapably expensive. That’s one of the biggest reasons they’re down at the bottom here.There are other companies who offer the same service, some of them better, for much less. 

With that said, their customer service is ranked among the best. It sounds like everyone is happy to help with any enquiries, and extremely friendly to all customers they come into contact with. This is a big bonus, and probably worth the price hike. 

What isn’t worth the price hike though is the lack of server locations. Nitrous Networks only have EU and US servers, so if you’re based anywhere outside of them, you’re going to have a slower experience than you’d get with another company that has a server native to you. This is also what probably pushes up the prices, but for players based in the UK and US, you can’t really argue that you’ll come up against many issues whilst playing.

Conclusion

As we’ve already mentioned, this isn’t a comprehensive list of every company out there, these are just the 10 best in our eyes. You should check each company carefully, and send an enquiry to all of the ones you’re considering, before you commit to one. Making use of the free trials on offer will also help give you an idea of the sort of experience you’ll be getting, regardless of who it’s with. You can test server location speeds and how everyone feels playing together without spending a penny. 

The best thing to do is go in knowing exactly how much everyone wants to spend per month. With that figure you can look at discounts, and possibly even work out a deal with one or two server hosts, if they’ve got space that needs filling. 

Once you’ve pulled together the amount you want to spend, and have a rough idea of the perfect server location, you should be able to find the perfect server host for you in this list somewhere.