Top 12 Cheap ARK Server Hosting Providers in 2026 (Lag-Free)

Last updated on 26/02/2026

The cheapest ARK server hosting providers in 2026 start at roughly $8–$15 per month for small 10–20 slot servers. These entry-level plans are ideal for private tribes, early-stage gaming communities, or studios testing a new PvE or PvP cluster. For larger servers with heavy mod usage or 50+ players, expect pricing to move into the $18–$30 per month range depending on RAM allocation and CPU priority.

Quick Comparison: Best Cheap ARK Server Hosting (2026)

*Starting prices vary by player slots, RAM allocation, billing cycle, and region.

Also Read

How to Play ARK Survival Evolved with Friends

What Should You Look for Before Buying Cheap ARK Server Hosting?

Before choosing a budget ARK server, focus on performance fundamentals. Lower price should not mean unstable gameplay or limited control. Use the checklist below to compare providers:

• Latency & Server Locations
  Choose a host with data centers close to your player base. Lower ping improves combat responsiveness, reduces rubber-banding, and prevents desync issues during PvP raids.

• Mod & Map Support
  ARK relies heavily on mods. Look for one-click Steam Workshop integration, custom map support, and full FTP or file access for advanced configuration.

• DDoS Protection
  Public ARK servers are frequent targets. Built-in DDoS protection helps prevent forced downtime and protects community growth.

• Automated Backups
  Confirm the provider includes scheduled backups and easy restore options. ARK world corruption or admin errors can otherwise result in permanent data loss.

• Control Panel & Management Tools
  A clean dashboard with restart controls, player management, console access, and performance monitoring reduces admin overhead.

• Transparent Pricing Structure
  Compare price per player slot and RAM allocation. Avoid hosts that advertise low entry pricing but charge extra for essential features like backups or mod support.

Top 12 Budget-Friendly ARK Hosting Providers in 2026

Now that we are familiar with the game let us dive into the free and cheapest ARK server hosting providers that are upvoted and recommended by Reddit users.

1. Gravel Host – Best for Small to Mid-Size PvP Servers

Best for: SMBs and gaming communities prioritizing uptime and easy server configuration.

Pricing: Starts at $16.00/month, includes unlimited player slots.

Gravel Host provides a powerful ARK: Survival Evolved Server hosting with a 72-hours money-back guarantee. It offers a user-friendly web interface that helps beginner users to set up the server quickly without any prior knowledge. Gravel Host is known for its great support and unmatched performance backed by top-end CPUs, SSDs, and RAMs. Additionally, they provide an easy-to-use settings manager that helps you tweak more than 200 aspects of your ARK server with a single click.

Key Features

•  ⚡
  DDoS Protection
•  ⚡
  Unlimited Slots & Usage
•  ⚡
  3 Years of Backups
•  ⚡
  One-Click Mod Installer
•  ⚡
  Built-in Firewall Manager
•  ⚡
  Auto-Updates & Backups

Unique Buying Proposition

Gravel Host’s all-in-one control panel and generous backup policy make it stand out for long-term project hosting. It’s especially valuable for teams managing persistent game worlds or community-run PvE servers.

Feature-in-Focus

Easy Settings Manager Over 200 configuration options are exposed via a user-friendly UI, eliminating the need for manual config edits. Ideal for admins with limited Linux/server experience.

Try GravelHost

2. G-Portal – Best for Global Player Communities

Best for: Studios and global communities needing low latency across continents.

Pricing: Starts at £11.67/month for 10 player slots.

G-Portal is a well-established hosting provider known for its robust infrastructure and global server locations. They offer a user-friendly experience with quick setup times, making it ideal for both newcomers and seasoned players.

Key Features

• ⚡
  Global Server Locations: Servers available in multiple regions, including Central Europe, USA, Australia, Japan, Brazil, and India, ensuring low latency worldwide.
• ⚡
  Instant Setup: Servers are ready to use within minutes of purchase.
• ⚡
  DDoS Protection: Advanced protection using Bulwark™ and Corero systems for uninterrupted gameplay.
• ⚡
  Mod Support: Integrated Steam Workshop for easy mod installation and management.
• ⚡
  Cross-Travel Enabled: Allows players to travel between multiple servers seamlessly.
• ⚡
  Official Studio Wildcard Partner: Ensures compatibility and support for all ARK content.

Unique Buying Proposition

G-Portal’s official partnership with Studio Wildcard ensures first-day support for game patches and DLCs—key for staying competitive during content updates.

Feature-in-Focus

Global Node Infrastructure By distributing servers close to player bases, G-Portal offers ultra-low latency for international player tribes—ideal for PvP.

Try G-Portal

3. DatHost – Best for Low-Maintenance Private Servers

Best for: Admins needing consistent uptime and responsive support for medium-sized servers.

Pricing: Starts at €12.90/month with a 7-day money-back guarantee.

DatHost provides a powerful ARK: Survival Evolved Server hosting with a 7-Days money-back guarantee. It offers a user-friendly web interface that helps beginner users to set up the server quickly without any prior knowledge. DatHost is known for its great support and unmatched performance backed by top-end CPUs, SSDs, and RAMs. Additionally, they provide an easy-to-use settings manager that helps you to tweak more than 200 different aspects of your ARK server with a single click.

Key Features

•  ⚡
  DDoS Protection
•  ⚡
  User Friendly Control Panel
•  ⚡
  7-Day Money Back Guarantee
•  ⚡
  One-Click Mod Installer
•  ⚡
  Full Backups

Unique Buying Proposition

DatHost’s backup reliability and smooth panel experience are top-tier, especially for users with no prior hosting experience.

Feature-in-Focus

Advanced Mod Manager Supports a wide range of mod integrations and automatic syncing with Steam Workshop, reducing admin time spent on maintenance.

Try DatHost

4. Shockbyte – Best for Budget Modded Servers

Best for: Players with international communities or PvP clusters.

Pricing: Starts at $14.99/month, 72-hour free trial available.

Shockbyte is a game server provider launched in March of 2013 and has shown exponential growth ever since. It provides servers with the best, updated hardware and 24 hours of support and management. It also provides a free subdomain with DDoS protection. The servers (or data hubs) are located in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, giving the lowest ping possible.

Key Features

•  ⚡
  100% Uptime and Gaming Experience
•  ⚡
  Automatic Updates, Modding, and Backups
•  ⚡
  Full FTP Access
•  ⚡
  Custom Maps
•  ⚡
  Instant Setup
•  ⚡
  Server Console for Total Control
•  ⚡
  24/7 Expert and Experienced Support
•  ⚡
  Low Latency

Key Specifications

•  ⚡
  Free Trial – 72 Hours
•  ⚡
  Slots – 30-125
•  ⚡
  Pricing – $14.99/Month
•  ⚡
  Control Panel – Multicraft
•  ⚡
  Support – Discord and Chat

Unique Buying Proposition

Shockbyte’s wide geographic footprint ensures minimal latency for multi-continent tribes and tournament hosts.

Feature-in-Focus

Uptime Guarantee Guaranteed 100% uptime SLA backed by failover systems and a robust infrastructure that includes fast auto-restarts.

Try Shockbyte Hosting

5. Zap Hosting – Best for Entry-Level Private Tribes

Best for: Small groups and solo server owners looking for the lowest monthly cost.

Pricing: Starts at €7.90/month (~$8.29), includes 10 slots.

Zap Hosting is a cheap and powerful ARK game server hosting company. It has provided a server hosting platform to over 100,000 satisfied customers. Furthermore, it is one of the best hostings voted by Reddit users. It also offers PixARK server hosting if you want to play sandbox games.

Key Features

•  ⚡
  Located in All Major Hubs and Cities
•  ⚡
  Quick Installation and Setup
•  ⚡
  24×7 Online for an Uninterrupted Gaming Experience
•  ⚡
  Custom Control Gives You Total Control of Your Server
•  ⚡
  Low Ping and Pricing
•  ⚡
  DDoS Protection

Key Specifications

•  ⚡
  Free Trial – 7-Day
•  ⚡
  Slots – 10
•  ⚡
  Pricing – €7.90/Month
•  ⚡
  Control Panel – Yes
•  ⚡
  Support – Ticketing and Chat

Unique Buying Proposition

Zap Hosting’s value-for-money proposition makes it perfect for temporary or test servers without compromising stability.

Feature-in-Focus

Preconfigured Templates Launch ARK servers with predefined settings—no manual tuning required, great for non-technical users.

Try Zap-Hosting

6. ScalaCube – Best for Custom Map & Config Flexibility

ScalaCube, or Scalable Hosting Solutions, is an ARK server hosting service provider that commenced its operations recently. It soon became a popular choice among game enthusiasts mainly concerned with hosting game servers. Thanks to its experienced staff, it is capable of providing support around the globe.

Key Features

•  ⚡
  Free Unlimited Traffic
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  SSD-Based Storage
•  ⚡
  24×7 Customer Support
•  ⚡
  Steam Workshop Mods
•  ⚡
  Modifiable Server Settings
•  ⚡
  Instant Server Setup
•  ⚡
  Full FTP Access
•  ⚡
  Free Domain
•  ⚡
  ARK Official Mods

Key Specifications

•  ⚡
  Free Trial – No
•  ⚡
  Slots – 20-120
•  ⚡
  Pricing – $19/Month
•  ⚡
  Control Panel – Custom
•  ⚡
  Support – Ticketing

Try ScalaCube

7. Nitrous Networks – Best for Performance-Focused PvP Clusters

Launched in July of 2010 by Jordan Bryant, Nitrous Networks has been growing strong as a host and server provider. The main motto of this company is to provide a reliable and feature-rich gaming experience. Working on that, the company has gone through various changes. However, with the leaders’ vision backed by the latest hardware, the company is now among the best ARK server hosting platforms. And the impressive ever-growing numbers of over 2,800 active servers, 206,200 deployed servers, and 137,000 satisfied customers speak for themselves.

Key Features

•  ⚡
  Protected from Various DDoS Attacks
•  ⚡
  SSD-Based Storage
•  ⚡
  Easy Setup Within Minutes
•  ⚡
  Quality Network Speed
•  ⚡
  Latest Hardware
•  ⚡
  T1 Connectivity for the Lowest Possible Ping

Try Nitrous Network

8. HostHavoc – Best for Long-Term Stable Communities

HostHavoc is another ARK server hosting service provider majorly concerned with game servers, was founded in July 2013. It was launched to provide a cost-friendly solution with exceptional gaming performance. It has a team of experienced professionals to provide support across the globe. From the payment time until your server goes live, these professionals assist you in every step of the setup. And continue assisting you even when your server is up and running. The servers are located across the globe with 11 major gaming hubs.

Key Features

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  99.9% Uptime
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  24x7x365 Support with a Response Time of Under 10 Minutes
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  Easy and Instant Setup of New and Even Faster NVMe SSD-Based Storage
•  ⚡
  High-Grade Processors
•  ⚡
  Free Protection Against DDoS Attacks

Try HostHavoc

9. Low.MS – Best for Balanced Price-to-Performance

Low.MS is a game server hosting service provider that started its operations in 2015 under Swiftping Limited’s name. It is among the pioneers of gaming server hosts. It has servers in several locations in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. They aim to expand their services further into Italy, Russia, and several South America and South Africa locations. Thus further boosting its growth and popularity.

Key Features

•  ⚡
  SSD Powered Storage
•  ⚡
  Guaranteed Setup Within a Minute
•  ⚡
  Full FTP Access
•  ⚡
  Full Customization and Control of the Server
•  ⚡
  10 Gbps DDoS Protection
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  Fast Pings
•  ⚡
  Powerful Industrial-Level Hardware

Try Low.ms

10. Citadel Server – Best for Large or Enterprise-Style Setups

Citadel Server is a game server hosting provider launched in 2013. It offers various hosting solutions with the latest technology and equipment. Its round-clock professional support has eased the server’s setup and running process or any other service it provides. Furthermore, their policies, pricing, and pings have made them among the top hosting providers. They are going strong in various locations such as Canada, the United States of America (USA), France, and many more.

Key Features

•  ⚡
  Single-Click Installations
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  Instant Setup
•  ⚡
  SSD-Based Storage
•  ⚡
  DLC Supported
•  ⚡
  Supports and Links Multiple Servers
•  ⚡
  Full ARK API Support
•  ⚡
  Automatic Updates and Backups
•  ⚡
  Full ARK Graphic Configuration

Try Citadel Server

11. Black Box

Black Box Hosting was founded in 2008. Satisfying their gaming experience is their highest priority. Working along those lines, they significantly improved their policies, hardware, and services, landing a spot among top server hosting providers. Since its dawn, it has had over 152,700 deployed game servers. It has data hubs in the USA, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), France, and every major populated location.

Key Features

•  ⚡
  Ease in the Configuration of the Server
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  SSD-Based Storage
•  ⚡
  10-Minute Setup, from Payment to Going Live
•  ⚡
  24×7 Expert Support
•  ⚡
  Updated Top-Notch Hardware
•  ⚡
  Hosting Control Panel for the Server

Try Black Box

12. Sparked Host

When it comes to hosting options for Ark: Survival Evolved, Spark Host provides a wide range of excellent offers. They ensure your community’s or friends’ satisfaction by guaranteeing an uptime of 99.9%. Moreover, they offer competitive pricing, top-notch features, and mod support for your server.

In terms of cost, Sparked Host offers the most affordable deals. Starting at $8.00 a month, their Ark budget plan is a great value. You can also opt for the recommended enterprise option starting at $18.00 a month. This includes a Ryzen 7600 or equivalent, DDR5 RAM, and a RAID 1 NVMe SSD to provide the smoothest server experience.

Key Features

Sparked Host offers you many excellent features. These features vary from DDoS protection to simple old SFTP access to get your server management needs done. Below is a great full list of features:

Many games, including Ark, have an extensive expansion of mods to bring out an entirely different gaming experience. Sparked Host understands this well, supporting your favorite mods for almost any game. They know that you and your friends need that enlightening experience, so they take the time to make tutorials that are easy and understandable. This is so your server can maintain a high level of fun on any given day with any modifications you want!

In conclusion, if you are looking for an excellent Ark server hosting experience with great deals, top-notch features, and mod support. Then don’t look past Sparked Host. They provide all of these needs and more!

Try SparkedHost

Cheap ARK Hosting vs Premium ARK Hosting: What’s the Difference?

Not all ARK servers are built the same. Budget plans work well for small private tribes, but larger PvP clusters or heavily modded servers often require premium resources. Here’s how they compare:

• CPU Allocation
  Cheap Hosting: Shared CPU cores with usage limits. Performance may dip during peak hours or large in-game events.
  Premium Hosting: Higher-priority or dedicated CPU threads. More consistent performance during raids and boss fights.

• RAM Limits
  Cheap Hosting: Lower RAM allocations designed for 10–30 players with light mod usage.
  Premium Hosting: Higher RAM ceilings to support 50+ players, clustered maps, and extensive mod stacks.

• Support Priority
  Cheap Hosting: Standard ticket-based support with typical response queues.
  Premium Hosting: Faster response times, priority queues, and sometimes live chat access.

• Mod Load Performance
  Cheap Hosting: Handles essential mods but may struggle with large overhaul packs or multiple custom maps.
  Premium Hosting: Optimized for heavy mod builds, faster restart cycles, and better stability under load.

• Network Priority
  Cheap Hosting: Shared network bandwidth; suitable for private or low-traffic servers.
  Premium Hosting: Higher network throughput and routing priority, improving stability for public PvP communities.

Which One Should You Choose?

• Choose cheap ARK hosting if you run a small private server, light mods, and under 30 players.

• Choose premium ARK hosting if you manage a competitive PvP cluster, run multiple maps, or expect high concurrent players.

Understanding this difference helps prevent upgrading later due to performance bottlenecks — especially as your ARK community grows.

How We Ranked These ARK Server Hosting Providers?

To keep this comparison objective and useful for both small communities and growing clusters, we evaluated each ARK hosting provider using the following criteria:

• Price Per Player Slot
  We compared entry-level plans based on cost relative to included player slots and base resources. Lower pricing alone did not guarantee a higher ranking — value per slot mattered more.

• Mod Support & Configuration Access
  ARK servers rely heavily on mods. Providers scored higher if they offer Steam Workshop integration, custom map support, and full FTP or file access for advanced setups.

• Server Locations & Network Coverage
  Hosts with multiple global data center options ranked higher due to better latency flexibility for international player bases.

• DDoS Protection
  Built-in DDoS mitigation was considered essential. Providers lacking visible protection measures were ranked lower.

• Control Panel Usability
  We evaluated how easy it is to restart servers, install mods, manage players, access console logs, and configure settings without manual file edits.

Final Verdict: Which ARK Server Hosting Is Best for You?

FAQs: Cheap ARK Survival Evolved Server Hosting Services