About HostHandbook

Who We Are

HostHandbook is a practical hosting resource created by people who run servers for a living. We're not affiliate marketers, and we're not trying to sell you anything beyond knowledge. We've been burned by bad hosts, wasted money on overpriced VPS, and learned the hard way what actually matters in hosting infrastructure.

This site exists because that experience should be useful to others. If you're evaluating hosting providers, setting up servers, or trying to understand the difference between a $4/month VPS and a $40/month dedicated server, you'll find honest answers here.

What We Cover

  • Host Reviews — Real assessments of major providers, based on testing and operational experience. Not marketing summaries.
  • Comparisons — Head-to-head analysis with benchmark data, structured tables, and clear verdicts.
  • Setup Guides — Practical guides for SSH hardening, monitoring, backups, control panels, and choosing providers. Specific steps, not generic tutorials.

Our Approach

We write from operational experience, not marketing research. When we say a host has "good documentation," we mean we've used it to solve actual problems. When we say a control panel is "overkill," we mean we've managed servers both with and without it.

We don't accept payment for reviews. We may receive affiliate commissions from some hosting links, which we disclose clearly. Affiliate revenue doesn't affect our opinions — if a host is bad, we say so regardless of commission rates.

Affiliate Disclosure

HostHandbook participates in affiliate programs with several hosting providers. This means that when you click on certain links on this site and sign up for a service, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Important things to know about our affiliate relationships:

  • Affiliate commissions do not influence our reviews, ratings, or recommendations. We evaluate hosts based on real testing and operational experience.
  • We do not accept payment or compensation in exchange for favourable reviews. None of our reviews are sponsored or paid for by hosting companies.
  • We clearly label affiliate links on pages where they appear, with a disclosure notice stating that we may earn a commission.
  • Some providers we review do not offer affiliate programs — their absence from our affiliate links does not indicate a negative review, and their presence does not indicate a positive one.
  • We recommend hosts we would use ourselves, regardless of affiliate status. If a host is bad, we say so — commission or not.

Hosting providers with affiliate relationships: DigitalOcean, Linode (Akamai), Vultr, Hetzner, OVHcloud, SiteGround, Cloudways, A2 Hosting, Namecheap, IONOS, Hostwinds, Scaleway, Time4VPS, Kamatera, WP Engine, and Hostinger. This list may change as programs are added or removed.

This disclosure is provided in accordance with the FTC'sEndorsement Guides and the UK's CAP Code on affiliate marketing transparency. If you have questions about our affiliate relationships, please contact us.

Last updated: June 2026

Relationship with OpsHelp

HostHandbook is built by the same team behind OpsHelp. OpsHelp provides professional hosting support, server management, and infrastructure consulting. If you need hands-on help with your hosting — setup, migrations, ongoing management — OpsHelp is where you go.

HostHandbook is where you learn. OpsHelp is where you get help. Different resources for different needs.

Contact

Have a question, correction, or suggestion? Get in touch. We read every message, though response times may vary depending on volume.

Need hands-on help with your hosting?

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