Updated 2026-10-27 · All guides
Home hosting vs paid hosting: which is right for your server?
There are two ways to run a Minecraft server for your friends: on a computer you already own, or on a server you rent from a hosting company. Both work well. The right choice depends on how many people play, when they play, and what your internet connection is like.
The short answer
- Host at home if a small group plays together at set times, your PC is reasonably modern, and you have decent upload speed. It's free and you have full control.
- Pay for hosting if people want to play when you're not around, your upload speed is poor, you're behind CGNAT and the workarounds don't suit you, or you'd rather not leave your PC running.
Cost
Home hosting has no subscription, but it isn't completely free: the PC uses electricity while the server runs. A rough way to work it out:
cost per month = watts ÷ 1000 × hours per day × 30 × price per kWhA typical desktop running a small server uses somewhere around 60 to 120 watts. At 100 W, four hours a day and 25p per kWh, that's 0.1 × 4 × 30 × 0.25 = about £3 a month. Run it 24 hours a day and it's closer to £18 a month, which is more than a small hosting plan. Laptops and mini PCs use much less. If you're playing on the same PC anyway, the extra cost of the server is small.
Paid hosting for a handful of friends usually costs a few pounds a month for 2–4 GB of RAM, rising for bigger modpacks and more players. Watch for plans that advertise lots of RAM but run on slow, shared CPUs.
Performance
Minecraft servers depend mostly on single-core CPU speed. A modern gaming PC often has a faster CPU than budget hosting plans, so a home server can actually run better, as long as the PC isn't also struggling to run the game and other programs at the same time.
Where home hosting often falls behind is upload speed. Many home connections upload far slower than they download. Each player needs roughly 0.5 to 1 Mbit/s, more with high view distances. A 10 Mbit/s upload is fine for a small group; 2 Mbit/s will struggle. Hosting companies have fast connections in data centres, so this isn't an issue for them.
Availability
A home server is only online when your PC is on and the server is running. That's fine when you're the one who always starts the session. If friends want to log in at 2 a.m. or while you're on holiday, you'd need to leave the PC on all the time, which costs electricity, can be noisy, and means a Windows update restart takes the server down.
A hosted server is designed to run all the time and usually comes with automatic restarts and a web panel to start and stop it from anywhere.
Setup and maintenance
| At home | Paid hosting | |
|---|---|---|
| Initial setup | Install Java and the server, configure settings (or use an app that does it) | Pick a plan and version in a web panel |
| Letting friends join | Port forwarding, or a tunnel if you can't | Works straight away |
| Plugins and mods | Anything you like | Usually anything, sometimes with one-click installers |
| Backups | Your responsibility | Often included, but check how many and how often |
| Access to files | Direct, on your own disk | Through a web file manager or SFTP |
Safety and privacy
When friends connect directly to your home server, they connect to your home IP address. Among friends that's not a concern, but on a public server, people with bad intentions could use it to target your connection with denial-of-service attacks. A tunnel like playit.gg hides your address. Hosting companies hide it too and usually include protection against such attacks.
On a home server, keep online-mode on, use a whitelist, and don't forward any ports other than the ones Minecraft needs. The whitelist and operators guide covers the essentials.
You can switch later
This isn't a permanent decision. A Minecraft world is just a set of folders, so you can start at home for free and move to a hosted server later by uploading the world folders, or bring a hosted world home by downloading them. Keep the Minecraft version and server software the same when you move, and make a backup first.
Which should you choose?
| Your situation | Suggestion |
|---|---|
| 2–8 friends, play together in the evenings | Home |
| Want to try running a server before spending money | Home |
| Big modpack, powerful gaming PC | Home, if your upload is good |
| Friends in different time zones, want 24/7 access | Paid hosting |
| Slow upload or behind CGNAT | Try a tunnel first, otherwise paid hosting |
| Public server open to strangers | Paid hosting |
HostCraft is built for the "at home" side: it sets up the server, Java and settings on your own PC for free. If you outgrow that, your server folder is a normal Minecraft server you can upload to any host.