Private and open-source alternatives to Amazon Web Services
15 server hosting rated against the same public privacy criteria as Amazon Web Services (AWS, EC2), with our picks first.
Why look for an alternative?
- Open source: no. Closed source.
- No trackers or telemetry: no. AWS websites set cookies from third parties including The Trade Desk, Oracle BlueKai and LinkedIn.
- No ads or data sales: no. The privacy notice says cookies and identifiers are used to advertise to visitors on third-party websites.
- Independent audit: partial. Only the SOC 3 summary report is public; SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports are available to customers in AWS Artifact.
- Mail-friendly (port 25): partial. Outbound port 25 to public addresses is blocked by default, and customers can request removal of the restriction.
- Reverse DNS: partial. Reverse DNS can be set for Elastic IP addresses, which are IPv4 only.
- Anonymous payment: no. Payment is by card or direct debit. Cryptocurrency is not accepted.
See the full Amazon Web Services rating.
The alternatives
DataPacket Grade D Our pick
Dedicated servers, IP transit and bandwidth on its own global network, from DataCamp Limited in London.
Why it is our pick: Dedicated hardware on its own network, open port 25, configurable reverse DNS and native IPv6. Suited to running mail servers without sharing hardware with other customers.
Based in the United Kingdom (Five Eyes). DataPacket scores 43 out of 100 (grade D) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 5 of 12 criteria: tells users about requests, TLS configuration, mail-friendly (port 25), Reverse DNS and IPv6.
Exoscale Grade C
Swiss cloud provider, part of the A1 Group, offering compute instances, GPUs, managed Kubernetes, object storage and databases in European zones.
Based in Switzerland. Exoscale scores 65 out of 100 (grade C) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 6 of 12 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, mail-friendly (port 25) and IPv6.
UpCloud Grade D
Finnish cloud provider offering virtual servers, GPU servers, managed Kubernetes, databases and object storage in datacenters in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.
Based in Finland. UpCloud scores 53 out of 100 (grade D) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 6 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, security headers, Reverse DNS and IPv6.
DigitalOcean Grade D
US cloud provider offering virtual machines (Droplets), Kubernetes, managed databases and object storage.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). DigitalOcean scores 48 out of 100 (grade D) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 5 of 12 criteria: transparency report, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, Reverse DNS and IPv6.
Hetzner Grade D
German provider of cloud servers, dedicated servers and storage, with its own datacenters in Germany and Finland and cloud locations in the US and Singapore.
Based in Germany (Fourteen Eyes). Hetzner scores 48 out of 100 (grade D) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 4 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, Reverse DNS and IPv6.
Njalla Grade D
Provider of VPS, domains and VPN run by njalla.srl in Costa Rica, with servers in Sweden. Accounts need only an email or XMPP address, and crypto payments are accepted.
Based in Costa Rica. Njalla scores 48 out of 100 (grade D) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 5 of 12 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, IPv6 and anonymous payment.
Infomaniak Grade D
Swiss provider of web hosting, VPS and OpenStack public cloud, running its own datacenters and network (AS29222).
Based in Switzerland. Infomaniak scores 45 out of 100 (grade D) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 4 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, Reverse DNS and IPv6.
OVHcloud Grade D
French provider of VPS, dedicated servers and public cloud, running its own datacenters in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.
Based in France (Nine Eyes). OVHcloud scores 44 out of 100 (grade D) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 5 of 11 criteria: transparency report, tells users about requests, mail-friendly (port 25), Reverse DNS and IPv6.
1984 Grade D
Icelandic provider of web hosting, VPS, email and free DNS, running on its own network (AS44925) and hardware. Accepts Bitcoin and Monero.
Based in Iceland. 1984 scores 43 out of 100 (grade D) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 3 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, TLS configuration and anonymous payment.
Akamai Cloud (Linode) Grade D
Cloud computing platform from Akamai, formerly Linode, offering virtual machines, Kubernetes, object storage and managed databases.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Akamai Cloud (Linode) scores 40 out of 100 (grade D) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 4 of 12 criteria: transparency report, TLS configuration, Reverse DNS and IPv6.
Bunker Grade D
French cloud from France Nuage SAS offering virtual machines, managed open-source apps, PostgreSQL and S3-compatible storage in its own datacenters in France.
Based in France (Nine Eyes). Bunker scores 40 out of 100 (grade D) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 2 of 12 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.
BuyVM Grade F
VPS provider owned by Cloudzy, offering KVM slices, storage VPS, block storage and anycast IP addresses in Las Vegas, New York and Luxembourg.
Based in the United Arab Emirates. BuyVM scores 38 out of 100 (grade F) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 4 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, Reverse DNS, IPv6 and anonymous payment.
UltaHost Grade F
Provider of shared hosting, VPS, VDS and dedicated servers, headquartered in Delaware with offices in the UK, Turkey and Dubai.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). UltaHost scores 38 out of 100 (grade F) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 4 of 12 criteria: tells users about requests, Reverse DNS, IPv6 and anonymous payment.
Vultr Grade F
US cloud provider of virtual machines, bare metal servers and GPUs in many locations worldwide.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Vultr scores 38 out of 100 (grade F) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 4 of 12 criteria: TLS configuration, Reverse DNS, IPv6 and anonymous payment.
Contabo Grade F
German provider of VPS, cloud and dedicated servers. Outgoing mail on port 25 is limited to about 25 messages per minute.
Based in Germany (Fourteen Eyes). Contabo scores 35 out of 100 (grade F) on the server hosting criteria. It meets 5 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, mail-friendly (port 25), Reverse DNS and IPv6.