Flux is the best value for most Factorio groups in 2026 because its published plans start at $2.49 per month, have no player-slot limit, include backup controls, support Space Age, and offer locations in more than 50 countries. Novonode is the easier managed-panel choice, Nitrado suits players who want slot-based billing and many listed regions, and Warp is the strongest regional option for Australia and nearby players. FinlandHosting and Aquila provide smaller European alternatives.
Prices, taxes, renewal terms, hardware capacity and backup retention can change. The figures below are provider-published 2026 offers, not results from independent latency, CPU-tick, mod-compatibility or restore testing.
Which Factorio server host is best in 2026?
Choose the host according to how your group is sized and where players live:
- Flux: lowest published entry price, global placement, no slot cap and built-in automatic/manual backups.
- Novonode: straightforward managed administration with SFTP, a file manager, live console and scheduled backups.
- Nitrado: slot-based plans, short renewable terms and a broad list of locations.
- Warp Hosting: the clearest Australia-Pacific choice, with Perth and Sydney locations and a stated 99.95% monthly uptime guarantee.
- FinlandHosting: inexpensive Finland-hosted tiers for small worlds.
- Aquila Hosting: European plans focused on map controls, dashboard mod installation and autosave rollback.
No provider in this comparison has an independently verified performance ranking. Treat uptime, hardware, review scores and setup claims as specifications or guarantees from the companies themselves.
What should you compare before renting a Factorio server?
The monthly price is only one part of the decision. Factorio worlds become more demanding as factories, trains, pollution calculations, players and mods accumulate, so compare the resource model and administration tools rather than choosing the smallest number on a price list.
Memory and CPU resources
Some hosts sell fixed RAM tiers while others sell player slots. RAM figures are easier to compare across providers, but a slot count is not a promise that every heavily modded or late-game map will run at the same simulation speed. Look for stated CPU information, storage type and whether resources are dedicated or shared.
Location
Choose a data center close to the majority of players. A long physical route can increase command latency even when the server has ample memory. If your group is spread across continents, a provider with a broad location menu is more useful than a slightly cheaper host in one country.
Game and mod support
Confirm that the panel can select Factorio 2.0, Space Age and the release channel you need. Check whether mods can be installed from the Mod Portal, uploaded through SFTP or managed only through a web interface.
Backups and recovery
“Backups included” is not enough information by itself. Check whether backups are automatic, manual, scheduled, verified, retained for a stated period and restorable without opening a support ticket. A single backup is better than none, but it gives you less protection from corruption or an unwanted map change.
Commercial terms
Compare the same billing period and currency. Confirm taxes, renewal pricing, promotional expiry dates, refund windows, upgrade billing and whether a short-term subscription renews automatically.
How do the Factorio hosting plans compare?
The table uses each provider’s published figures. Currency and billing period are shown exactly where stated; prices are not converted because exchange rates and tax treatment vary.
| Provider | Published plans | Resource or slot model | Notable features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flux | $2.49/mo (2 GB), $2.99/mo (4 GB), $5.49/mo (8 GB) | RAM tiers; no player-slot limit | 2–3 vCores, SSD/NVMe storage, unlimited bandwidth, automatic and manual backups, Space Age switch, 50+ countries |
| Novonode | $5/mo (4 GB), $8/mo (6 GB), $16/mo (12 GB) | RAM tiers; no player-slot cap | AMD Ryzen, NVMe, DDoS protection, SFTP, file manager, live console, Mod Portal installation, scheduled backups |
| Nitrado | $1.69 for 3 days/4 slots; $6.59 for 30 days/4 slots; $16.19 for 30 days/10 slots | Configurable 4–200 slots | Daily backups, DDoS protection, supported mods, eight listed locations, up to five games per server |
| Warp Hosting | A$19.95/mo (Starter), A$29.95 (Community), A$49.95 (Medium), A$59.95 (Large), A$139.95 (Ultra) | 10–200 stated player capacity; 8–32 GB RAM | Perth, Sydney, France and US locations, Space Age or base game, portable saves, verified automatic backups, 99.95% monthly uptime guarantee |
| FinlandHosting | €2/mo (DEV), €3.50 (SMALL), €5 (NORMAL), €8 (POWER) | 2–6 GB RAM | Finland location, unrestricted CPU resources, SSD storage, DDoS protection, one backup |
| Aquila Hosting | €9/mo (Small Biter), €13 (Medium Biter), €17 (Big Biter), €25 (Behemoth Biter) | 1–6 GB RAM | Dedicated machines, NVMe, map presets and generation settings, dashboard mod installation, autosave rollback, optional pausing while empty |
Is Flux the best cheap Factorio server?
Flux has the lowest published starting price in this comparison: $2.49 per month for 2 GB of RAM. Its 4 GB plan is $2.99 and its 8 GB plan is $5.49 per month, making the jump from the entry tier unusually small on the published price list.
What Flux includes
- Automatic and manual backups.
- SSD/NVMe storage, 2–3 vCores and unlimited bandwidth.
- No stated player-slot limit.
- Stable, experimental or fixed Factorio releases.
- A Space Age switch.
- A browser dashboard with RCON, settings, saves, mods and backup controls.
- Server placement in more than 50 countries.
Flux advertises a first week free for new users and a 30-day money-back policy, both subject to its conditions. Verify eligibility, renewal pricing and the exact backup retention policy before paying.
Choose Flux when your priority is low cost, flexible geography and a conventional control panel without a slot ceiling. The published figures do not establish how its CPU performance compares with another host under a large megabase or a heavy mod pack.
Is Novonode the easiest managed option?
Novonode is the clearest choice if you want routine administration exposed in one panel rather than managing files manually. It lists 4 GB for $5 per month, 6 GB for $8 and 12 GB for $16, with no player-slot cap.
Administration features
- AMD Ryzen processors and NVMe storage are stated for every plan.
- DDoS protection is included.
- File-manager and SFTP access support uploads and direct save management.
- A live console exposes server output and commands.
- Map and pollution settings are configurable.
- Mods can be installed from the Mod Portal.
- Scheduled automatic backups are documented.
- Upgrades are billed pro rata, so moving to a larger tier does not require paying the full new period again.
Novonode states a 24-hour refund window for a new service; renewals and add-ons are excluded. Its page also displays a 4.7 rating from 213 customer reviews, but that is provider-displayed customer-review information rather than an independent audit.
When does Nitrado make more sense than a RAM-priced host?
Nitrado is useful when you prefer to buy a defined number of player slots and want short renewable terms. Its US offer lists $1.69 for three days with four slots, $6.59 for 30 days with four slots and $16.19 for 30 days with 10 slots.
Configuration and locations
The service allows custom configurations from four to 200 slots. Listed locations include Frankfurt, London, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney. Prices and availability vary by region and selected term, so the US figures should not be treated as a worldwide price.
Nitrado states that supported server mods can be installed, daily backups and DDoS protection are included, and up to five games can be installed on one server. Slot-based billing is simple for groups that know their peak concurrent player count, but it gives you less direct information about the memory available to a large, heavily simulated world. Ask support or check the configuration page for the resource allocation behind your selected slot count.
Is Warp Hosting the best choice for Australia-Pacific players?
Warp is the most clearly regional option for players in Australia or nearby time zones because it lists Perth and Sydney alongside France and US locations. Its plans start at A$19.95 per month.
Warp’s published tiers
| Plan | Stated players | RAM | Monthly price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | Up to 10 | 8 GB | A$19.95 |
| Community | 20 | 12 GB | A$29.95 |
| Medium | 50 | 14 GB | A$49.95 |
| Large | 100 | 16 GB | A$59.95 |
| Ultra | 200 | 32 GB | A$139.95 |
Warp describes base-game or Space Age setup, map-generation controls, portable saves and automatic verified backups. It states a 99.95% monthly uptime guarantee. A guarantee is a contractual promise, not proof that every player will experience that uptime; read the service-credit terms and exclusions before relying on it for a public community.
What do FinlandHosting and Aquila offer in Europe?
FinlandHosting
FinlandHosting is the lower-cost euro option for a Finland-hosted world. DEV costs €2 per month for 2 GB of RAM, SMALL costs €3.50 for 3 GB, NORMAL costs €5 for 4 GB and POWER costs €8 for 6 GB.
Every listed plan includes unrestricted CPU resources, SSD storage, DDoS protection and one backup, with servers hosted in Finland. The page shows a first-billing-period discount valid until 31 October 2026; that promotion should not be mistaken for a permanent rate. The single-backup allowance is less flexible than a service offering multiple scheduled restore points, so confirm retention and restore procedure.
Aquila Hosting
Aquila’s Small Biter, Medium Biter, Big Biter and Behemoth Biter plans provide 1, 2, 4 and 6 GB of RAM at €9, €13, €17 and €25 per month, respectively. It describes dedicated machines and NVMe storage, plus map presets and generation settings.
Aquila’s dashboard supports mod installation and rollback to an autosave. It can also pause a server when nobody is connected, which may suit a private world that is used only on scheduled evenings. Pausing behavior, wake-up time and whether background tasks continue should be confirmed before choosing it for a continuously active community.
How much RAM does a Factorio server need?
There is no universal RAM number in the published offers because actual demand depends on the map, factory size, mod set and concurrent players. The providers in this comparison publish tiers from 1 GB to 32 GB, but none supplies an independent workload table that proves a specific tier will maintain a target simulation speed.
A practical starting point
- Small private world: start with a low tier, then watch memory use and simulation performance as the factory grows.
- Several players or moderate mods: choose a mid-range tier and leave room for future saves rather than buying exactly to today’s headcount.
- Large public group, Space Age or extensive mods: favor a higher-memory plan and confirm CPU allocation, because extra RAM alone does not guarantee acceptable update time.
Use a host’s upgrade policy as part of the decision. Novonode says upgrades are billed pro rata, while Flux and the other providers list tiered plans but do not state an equivalent billing rule in the supplied material.
Should you choose slot-based or memory-based Factorio hosting?
Slot-based plans are easier to budget when your community has a known maximum player count. Memory-based plans expose a resource that often matters as a world becomes more complex, and no-slot-cap plans avoid an artificial ceiling on invitations.
| Choose slot-based sizing when… | Choose RAM-based or no-cap sizing when… |
|---|---|
| You know the maximum concurrent players and want a simple capacity number. | Your player count varies or you expect the map and mod set to grow. |
| You value Nitrado’s short three-day or 30-day terms. | You want Flux or Novonode’s stated absence of a slot cap. |
| You are willing to verify the hardware behind the slot allowance. | You want to compare published memory tiers directly. |
Neither model replaces testing your own save. Keep a local copy and move up a tier if the game’s measured performance, not just the player count, begins to suffer.
How do you set up a hosted Factorio world?
The exact labels differ by panel, but the process is similar across these providers. Complete the following checks before inviting players.
- Select the location: pick the region with the shortest network path for most players. If your group spans continents, compare the provider’s listed regions before purchasing.
- Choose the game release: select Factorio 2.0 and decide whether the world uses the base game or Space Age. If you need an experimental or fixed release, confirm that the panel exposes it; Flux explicitly lists stable, experimental and fixed choices.
- Choose capacity: select RAM or slots with growth in mind. Do not assume a stated slot count describes performance for a heavily modded map.
- Install or upload mods: use Mod Portal integration where available, or upload files through SFTP/file management. Record the exact mod versions so every player can reproduce the set.
- Configure map generation: set presets, seed and resource settings before starting a new world. Aquila and Warp specifically describe map-generation controls.
- Import an existing save: upload the save through the provider’s file tools. Warp explicitly advertises portable saves; other providers should be checked for the permitted upload method and file-size limits.
- Configure backups: enable the shortest practical schedule, make a manual backup before major mod changes and verify that a restore option is visible. Included backups differ in frequency and retention.
- Test access: connect with the server address, confirm the correct game version and mods, and have another player join before announcing the server publicly.
- Monitor and resize: watch memory, update performance and save behavior as the factory expands. Use an upgrade path rather than waiting for a crash.
What backup and recovery details should you verify?
Backup wording varies considerably. Flux lists automatic and manual controls; Novonode lists scheduled automatic backups; Nitrado states daily backups; Warp describes automatic verified backups; FinlandHosting includes one backup; Aquila offers rollback to an autosave. Those descriptions do not establish identical retention periods or restore guarantees.
- How many restore points are retained?
- Are backups stored separately from the game server?
- Can you download a backup before changing mods?
- Is restoration self-service or support-mediated?
- Does a paused or expired server retain its backups?
Make a local copy of important saves even when a host advertises backups. A provider backup protects against some server-side failures; it does not protect against an administrator deleting the wrong world or a mod making an incompatible save unless you have an earlier restore point.
What are the main pitfalls when choosing a host?
Comparing currencies without comparing terms
A dollar, euro or Australian-dollar price is meaningful only with its billing period, taxes and renewal rate. Nitrado’s three-day offer, for example, cannot be compared directly with a recurring monthly plan.
Assuming “unlimited” means unlimited performance
Flux and Novonode state no player-slot cap, but that does not mean infinite CPU or memory. The world still uses finite resources, and the providers do not publish independent performance limits for every workload.
Ignoring geography
A low price in a distant region can create a worse experience than a higher-priced nearby server. Check the actual location available for your account, not only the provider’s general location list.
Treating a guarantee as a benchmark
Warp’s 99.95% figure is a stated monthly guarantee. It is useful when reading the contract, but it is not an independent measurement of latency or simulation speed.
Overlooking promotional and refund conditions
Flux’s free first week and 30-day money-back policy, Novonode’s 24-hour new-service refund window and FinlandHosting’s discount through 31 October 2026 all have conditions. Read the checkout terms and save a copy of them.
Which host should you pick?
Pick Flux for the lowest published monthly price, broad geography, no slot cap and flexible backup controls. Pick Novonode when SFTP, a live console, Mod Portal installation and a clear managed workflow matter more than the absolute lowest price. Pick Nitrado when slot-based sizing, short renewable terms and a large location menu fit your group. Pick Warp when most players are in Australia or the Pacific region and its listed locations and uptime guarantee justify the Australian-dollar price. Pick FinlandHosting for a small Finland-based world on a low euro budget, or Aquila when map generation, mod management and autosave rollback are the priority.
Before checkout, recheck the current currency, tax, renewal price, location capacity, backup retention and refund terms. Those details are volatile, and the published pages do not provide independent load or latency testing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I move an existing Factorio save between hosts?
Usually, yes, if the provider gives you a file manager or SFTP access and accepts save uploads. Warp explicitly advertises portable saves; for other hosts, confirm upload limits and whether support must import the world.
Do these plans include Factorio Space Age?
Flux and Novonode explicitly document Space Age support, while Warp lists base-game or Space Age setup. For the other providers, verify the current game-selection panel before ordering because the offer can vary by region or plan.
Are Factorio hosting prices shown here tax-inclusive?
The published figures do not establish a common tax treatment. Your checkout total can differ by country, currency conversion, billing term or promotional status, so use the final order screen rather than the headline price for budgeting.
What should I do before installing a large mod pack?
Download a local copy of the current save, create a manual backup where the panel allows it, and record the mod versions. Test the pack on a copy of the world first, since a failed mod change can require rollback.