IONOS vs. OVHcloud (2025): The European GIANTS Battle... Who's The REAL King of Cheap Cloud?
They are two of the largest hosting providers in the world, both famous for their massive scale and rock-bottom prices. We put their unmanaged VPS plans head-to-head to see which European giant offers the best value for developers.
At a Glance: The Final Verdict
| Feature | IONOS | OVHcloud | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price & Value | ★★★★★ Legendary | ★★★★★ Excellent | IONOS |
| Performance & Consistency | ★★★★★ Excellent | ★★★☆☆ Good (Inconsistent) | IONOS |
| Interface & Ease of Use | ★★★☆☆ Average | ★★★☆☆ Average | Tie |
| Features (Bandwidth/DDoS) | ★★★★☆ Very Good | ★★★★★ Excellent | OVHcloud |
| Overall | 4.3 / 5.0 | 4.0 / 5.0 | IONOS |
Technical Specifications
| Specification | IONOS | OVHcloud |
|---|---|---|
| Management Level | Unmanaged | Unmanaged |
| Control Panel | Custom Cloud Panel | Custom Cloud Panel |
| Storage Technology | NVMe SSD | NVMe SSD |
| DDoS Protection | Standard | Best-in-class (Free) |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered* | Unmetered |
Performance & Benchmarks
A consistent performance beast vs. a powerful but unpredictable giant. The results are clear.
IONOS
IONOS delivers incredible raw performance. Their AMD EPYC CPUs and NVMe storage provide top-tier speed, with a Geekbench score of ~1350. Most importantly, the performance is consistent and reliable.
Fast & Consistent
OVHcloud
OVHcloud's CPUs are heavily shared, leading to the "noisy neighbor" effect. Our Geekbench score was a more modest ~1100. While the NVMe storage is fast, the inconsistent CPU makes it less ideal for critical tasks.
Powerful but Inconsistent
Pricing & Value Comparison
| Plan (Closest Match) | Provider | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Price/Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VPS S | IONOS | 1 GB | 20 GB NVMe | Unmetered* | $2.00 |
| Value | OVHcloud | 2 GB | 40 GB NVMe | Unmetered | $5.20 |
*IONOS's "Unmetered" bandwidth is subject to their fair use policy.
Who Should You Choose?
Choose IONOS if...
You are an experienced developer on a strict budget who needs the best possible raw performance for the price. If you value consistent CPU speed and can manage your own server, IONOS offers an unbeatable value proposition.
Visit IONOSChoose OVHcloud if...
Your application requires massive amounts of bandwidth and industry-leading DDoS protection. For things like game servers, voice servers, or streaming applications, OVHcloud's network is its killer feature.
Visit OVHcloudExpert's Advice
This is a battle of two budget European giants, both aimed at technical users. While OVHcloud has a superior network and DDoS protection, its inconsistent CPU performance is a significant drawback for most general applications. IONOS provides a more balanced and predictable high-performance server for an even lower starting price. For the majority of developers and sysadmins, IONOS is the definitive winner and the smarter choice.
