IONOS VPS Review 2026: How Well Do the Servers Perform?

Powerful hardware, affordable prices, and easy management: IONOS promises an all-in-one solution for everyone with its VPS offerings. But does it actually deliver on that promise?

We put their offers to the test, from setup to performance to support, to find out whether IONOS really is a solid choice in the VPS space.

IONOS makes getting started refreshingly simple. Registration takes just a few steps, and in most cases all you need to do is confirm your email address. Only in rare cases does the provider request additional documents such as a government-issued ID or proof of business registration. According to IONOS, this is for fraud prevention.

The IONOS dashboard serves as the central hub for all your products and settings. The interface is well-organized and allows quick navigation to the most important areas. "Server & Cloud" brings you to the management section for virtual servers, dedicated machines, and cloud instances.

The product overview also includes additional categories like security solutions, the agency partner portal, and IONOS GPT, a free AI tool for creating text, images, and code.

In the "My Account" section, the most important management features, such as contracts, invoices, and security settings, are grouped into separate tiles. Each section is self-explanatory, and the layout stays consistent throughout.

You can change the language at any time by clicking your profile picture in the top right corner. In addition to English, the IONOS dashboard is also available in German, Spanish, French, and Italian.

However, emails, invoices, and system messages remain in the language in which your contract was originally set up. This feels a bit unpolished and inconsistent.

IONOS doesn't offer a dark mode dashboard. There are no other display or view settings available either.

IONOS offers six Linux VPS options with different specifications, ranging from "VPS XS" to "VPS XXL."

The main overview shows prices for a 24-month term. This matters because the monthly price increases significantly with shorter terms. The pricing is transparent during checkout, but the main overview doesn't always make this clear (more on plans later).

Technical details like the number of vCPU cores, RAM, and storage (NVMe) are clearly listed. IONOS also highlights unlimited traffic and the free Plesk Web Host Edition.

During setup, you can choose the server location (the US, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, or a general EU region) and the operating system (Ubuntu, Debian, Rocky Linux, or AlmaLinux). Each Linux distribution can be installed either as a standard version or with the Plesk panel pre-installed. There's no extra charge.

For data backup, there's a paid automatic backup option available. Plans range from 100 GB to 2 TB of storage, with prices based on capacity. A simple, free backup option is missing. Automatic backups are optional, you can also add them later in your customer account if needed.

After you enter your personal information, IONOS shows an order summary with "Contract Details" about the term and billing. You can pay by credit card, direct debit, PayPal, Google Pay, and other methods. Provisioning is fast. In our review, the VPS was ready to go in about three minutes.

At IONOS, you manage your server through the Cloud Panel. This is a separate interface where you configure and monitor your VPS. You can access it via the "Server & Cloud" menu item in the IONOS dashboard.

Here you'll first see a product overview that lists all your active contracts, including your VPS. From there, you can open the Cloud Panel directly.

In the Cloud Panel, the sidebar on the left is organized into the main categories "Infrastructure," "Network," "Security," "Backup," and "Management."

The main area ("Server") displays the most important basic information: name, status, IP address, vCores, RAM, SSD storage, operating system, and data center location. The layout is clean, logically structured, and uses subtle colors.

Use the "Actions" menu above the server list to perform basic server tasks. You restart your server, pause it, access it via a remote console, or reinstall the operating system.

The "Delete" command is grayed out when it doesn't apply. IONOS VPS servers don't offer a rescue mode that would let you access the system during serious errors.

Under "Network," you can assign a public IP address to your server. You choose between IPv4 and IPv6. IONOS charges a monthly fee for additional IPv4 addresses.

In the "Security" section, you configure the firewall. It's highly flexible yet easy to understand. You can open specific ports or protocols and create multiple rules at once without any extra steps.

IONOS offers a comprehensive backup feature. You choose a backup package with either a fixed capacity or a usage-based model.

The fixed option backs up to 100 GB across three devices (such as drives, volumes, individual files, or folders) in the smallest plan. The largest plan covers up to 2,000 GB. With the flex option, IONOS only backs up and charges for the actual gigabytes you need to store, regardless of the number of devices.

Server snapshots are called "Images" at IONOS. They let you save a copy of your running system, including the operating system, applications, and data. Creating them costs extra, and you pay a monthly fee based on the storage space used.

The Monitoring Center provides detailed insights into your server's performance. It shows metrics like bytes and packets transferred per second (incoming and outgoing), IOPS values, and network utilization.

You also get reports on CPU usage and memory activity. Views can be filtered for time periods ranging from 15 minutes to two weeks. Custom time ranges are available too. IONOS outperforms many competitors in this respect.

When reinstalling your server's operating system, you choose from four Linux distributions: Ubuntu, Debian, Rocky, or AlmaLinux, each available in two versions. Alternatively, you use a pre-configured ISO image from IONOS with Clonezilla or GParted.

Scaling your VPS isn't done through the Cloud Panel. Instead, you'll find the option to do so in the contract management section of your customer account. IONOS shows you whether a plan change is possible and lists the available alternative plans. Unfortunately, flexible resource scaling isn't an option.

The scaling suggestions only include larger resource packages with more CPU cores, RAM, and SSD storage. According to IONOS, downgrading a VPS is not possible.

During the transition, the server will be unavailable for a few minutes. Once the change is complete, IONOS will notify you by email.

Here's a comparison of IONOS's key server features with those of other providers:

To compare providers' hardware, we run standardized, multi-category benchmarks, yielding a balanced picture of overall performance.

We focus on five key metrics:

Our measurements provide clear comparison values for each provider. The higher the value, the better the performance. We explain the benchmark criteria in detail here:

In the single-core test, which is especially important for traditional web applications and many everyday services, IONOS takes a strong third place. With 1,468 points, the provider ranks among the top performers. Applications with low parallelism run quickly on the VPS we tested.

The results aren't quite as impressive when the workload is distributed across multiple cores. In the multi-core test, IONOS scores 6,177 points, landing in sixth place. This puts performance in the middle of the pack. For heavily parallelized applications like data analysis or rendering, there are both stronger and weaker alternatives available.

RAM performance is one of IONOS's biggest strengths. With a memory throughput of 117,934 MiB/s, the IONOS VPS takes second place in this category. This is especially noticeable in memory-intensive processes and indicates fast internal data handling.

SSD performance is less impressive. With only 40,000 IOPS, IONOS lands in eighth place. This relatively low performance can hurt database-heavy applications, such as e-commerce platforms or larger CMS installations.

IONOS also falls in the lower middle range for network performance. 4,810 Mbit/s puts it in seventh place. That does not indicate a poor connection, but several other providers deliver noticeably better results.

The network speed is fine for simple web applications. However, it can become a real drawback for data-intensive projects or services with an international audience.

Every hosting provider has different pricing models. To compare VPS costs fairly, we look at prices for specific test configurations and evaluate all providers using the same criteria.

Here's what we look at:

Each category is weighted and contributes to the overall score. Providers earn more points if they offer lower prices or more flexible billing options.

We base our ratings solely on regular list prices including VAT or sales tax where applicable. We don't factor in introductory discounts, promotions, or limited-time offers.

Here's how IONOS VPS costs compare to other providers:

IONOS VPS plans differ in computing power, storage capacity, and network connectivity. Resources increase with each tier:

IONOS bills Linux VPS plans on a monthly basis at a minimum. You can choose between 1, 12, or 24-month terms for each plan. This lets you decide how much flexibility or price stability you want.

Here's a comparison of all IONOS VPS plans:

Not sure which plan fits your needs? The VPS packages fall into three categories. Here's a quick guide to help you choose:

IONOS provides extensive online documentation covering key topics like server management, security, networking, and applications. The content is well-organized, easy to understand, and includes useful step-by-step guides.

A helpful feature is the product label at the beginning of each article. It tells you which hosting type the guide applies to, such as VPS, dedicated server, or cloud environments.

However, there's no direct link between the documentation and support. You can't ask follow-up questions directly from an article. Some topics are only available in one language.

IONOS really shines when it comes to phone support. In our review, we reached a representative in just under four minutes. They understood the issue right away and resolved it quickly.

The 24/7 phone support is included at no extra cost. That's not a given, as other providers charge a monthly fee for a similar level of service. IONOS clearly stands out when it comes to phone availability and helpfulness.

IONOS lists email as a support channel on its website but doesn't actually provide email support. There's no ticket system and no support email address. You have to contact them by phone or through one of the two chat options.

There is a technical support chat, but we couldn't reach it at any time during our review. Whether it was morning, afternoon, or evening, the message always said the chat was "currently closed".

The product consultation chat was a different story. A real person responded to questions right away. The quality and clarity of the answers were excellent.

Logged-in users also have access to an AI chat powered by an OpenAI language model. Our experience with it wasn't great. During our review, the AI repeatedly provided incorrect information, including features and menu options that don't exist. When we pointed this out, it suggested contacting human support.

In its current state, the chat offers no reliable value and can't replace real technical support.

A look at review sites shows a mixed picture. While many customers are happy with IONOS VPS offerings overall, its customer service receives a lot of criticism.

Some users complain about annoying sales calls. Others mention problems reaching the live chat. There are also reports of billing and cancellation issues that support couldn't resolve.

IONOS may not break any records, but it gets many things right. The VPS options are affordable, easy to manage, and run reliably. Performance is solid, and the provider stands out when it comes to RAM and single-core performance.

The limited flexibility is less impressive. You can only expand resources by switching to a different plan. If you rely on modern DevOps approaches or need precise control over your infrastructure, you'll quickly hit a wall.

That said, IONOS is still a strong choice for traditional hosting projects and mid-sized web services.

A look at online reviews shows that most customers are happy with IONOS. Here's why:

Criticism often focuses on organizational aspects:

Still not sure if IONOS is the right VPS fit for you? Depending on what you're looking for, these alternatives might be worth considering:

Here are more alternatives to IONOS: