Nitrado vs Sparked Host

Nitrado8.8Visit Sparked Host8.4Visit

Higher score Nitrado #5 in Game Server Hosting 8.8/10 Per slot · 3 to 365-day runtimes ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Nitrado

vs

Sparked Host #9 in Game Server Hosting 8.4/10 Paid plans · price varies by game Free trial✓ 1 of 3 features Visit Sparked Host

• Nitrado fits best

  Console players on PlayStation or Xbox

• Sparked Host fits best

  Budget groups that want to try before paying

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Side by side

Feature	Nitrado 8.8/10 Visit ↗	Sparked Host 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.8	8.4
Ranking	#5 in Game Server Hosting	#9 in Game Server Hosting
Best for	Console players on PlayStation or Xbox	Budget groups that want to try before paying
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	Per slot · 3 to 365-day runtimes	$2/mo
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Features Nitrado 3/3 · Sparked Host 1/3
Game switching	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
DDoS protection	✓	✓
Console players	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Specs
Games supported	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Locations	9 locations	11 locations (best)
Refund window	Not checked yet	2 days
Priced by	Per player slot, 3 to 365-day runtimes	Per GB of RAM on Budget, Enterprise or Extreme tiers
Control panel	Nitrado web interface (in-house)	Apollo Panel (in-house)
Our review
Pros	Sells PlayStation and Xbox editions of games like ARK and DayZ Keeps up to five games installed and switches between them Daily backups, its own hardware and three-layer DDoS protection	Budget tier starts at $1 per GB, so small servers cost $2 a month One-day free trial plus a 48-hour refund on game servers Enterprise tier runs on Ryzen 7950X-class CPUs with DDR5
Cons	Slot pricing gets expensive for large player counts Only nine data-centre locations are listed Counter-Strike 2 is missing from its game list	Budget hardware is dual Xeon E5-2698v4, a much older platform FiveM, CS2 and Reforger are sold on Enterprise hardware only Refunds do not apply to its VPS or dedicated servers
Our verdict	Nitrado has been in the business since 2001 and is one of the few hosts whose catalogue treats consoles as first-class platforms. Its game list includes PlayStation and Xbox editions of titles such as ARK: Survival Evolved, DayZ, Assetto… Read the review →	Sparked Host, founded in 2017 and based in Utah, sells most games by the gigabyte on three hardware tiers. Budget servers use dual Xeon E5-2698v4 processors at $1 per GB, Enterprise moves to Ryzen 7950X-class CPUs with DDR5 at roughly… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Nitrado — where it wins

  • Sells PlayStation and Xbox editions of games like ARK and DayZ
  • Keeps up to five games installed and switches between them
  • Daily backups, its own hardware and three-layer DDoS protection

  Where it doesn't

  • Slot pricing gets expensive for large player counts
  • Only nine data-centre locations are listed
  • Counter-Strike 2 is missing from its game list

• Sparked Host — where it wins

  • Budget tier starts at $1 per GB, so small servers cost $2 a month
  • One-day free trial plus a 48-hour refund on game servers
  • Enterprise tier runs on Ryzen 7950X-class CPUs with DDR5

  Where it doesn't

  • Budget hardware is dual Xeon E5-2698v4, a much older platform
  • FiveM, CS2 and Reforger are sold on Enterprise hardware only
  • Refunds do not apply to its VPS or dedicated servers

• Nitrado8.8/10 · Per slot · 3 to 365-day runtimes

  Slot-based servers since 2001 with console editions, five installed games per server and daily backups.

  Visit NitradoFull verdict →
• Sparked Host8.4/10 · Paid plans · price varies by game

  Cheap per-GB servers on three hardware tiers, a one-day free trial and a 48-hour refund, from $2 a month.

  Visit Sparked HostFull verdict →