Conversion GemsConversion Gems
UpCloud logo
Reviewed · Updated 2026-06-19

UpCloud

High-performance cloud hosting with fast servers, scalable resources, and robust infrastructure.

Reviewed by the Conversion Gems editorial team ·
Try UpCloud
Pricing
Paid
Best for
UpCloud is ideal for developers, startups, and businesses that require scalable, high-performance cloud hosting
Category
CDN & Performance
The bottom line

The go-to European IaaS alternative for database-heavy workloads that demand MaxIOPS performance, zero egress, and free 24/7 human support.

7.3
Our score
7.3 / 10
Conversion Gems editorial verdict
From $3.50/mo (Starter); €25 free credit
Features7/10
7 - MaxIOPS storage, zero egress, managed DB/K8s/GPU, firewalls, snapshots, and API are strong; ecosystem breadth lags hyperscalers.
Value8/10
8 - Zero egress, competitive Starter pricing, free support at all tiers, and €25 onboarding credit make the value proposition genuinely strong.
Ease of use7/10
7 - Clean web panel and well-documented API; Premium entry price and regional fraud screening add friction for new users.
Ecosystem6/10
6 - Solid REST API and Terraform provider; marketplace and integration library smaller than DigitalOcean or Vultr.
Support9/10
9 - Free 24/7 live chat and phone support with sub-90-second response SLA at every tier is exceptional for an IaaS provider.

Community ratings

4.0/ 5 aggregate · across 2 sources
G2
4.660+ reviews
Trustpilot
3.7150+ reviews

Third-party ratings shown verbatim; aggregate weighted by review volume.

What it really is

UpCloud — European IaaS cloud platform with proprietary MaxIOPS storage and zero egress fees.

Our take

UpCloud is a performance-focused cloud infrastructure provider (IaaS) headquartered in Finland, offering cloud servers, managed databases, Kubernetes, object storage, and GPU instances. The DB listed the entry price as $5/mo, but current Starter plans begin at ~$3.50/mo (€3/mo); the DB price_tier of 'paid' is more accurately 'usage' given UpCloud's hourly billing model. The platform's headline differentiators are MaxIOPS all-flash storage (benchmarked at 5–6× faster than competing premium SSDs) and a zero-egress policy, making it especially compelling for IOPS-intensive or transfer-heavy workloads.

Why we rate it

Zero egress fees and MaxIOPS storage make UpCloud a strong value play for any workload where competitors charge premium egress rates or throttle IOPS. Free 24/7 live chat and phone support — at every tier — is rare in the IaaS market and adds meaningful operational confidence.

The catch

Premium plan entry jumps to €40/mo (vs. Starter's €3), so production-grade 99.999%-SLA infra isn't cheap. x86-only (no ARM/Graviton options), Port 25 is blocked by default, and new accounts in some regions face 3+ day fraud-review delays.

Best for
IOPS-intensive database workloads needing maximum disk throughput
EU/GDPR-regulated teams requiring European data residency
High-transfer apps where zero egress fees deliver real cost savings
Not good for
Teams needing ARM-based compute or a broad managed-service catalogue
Developers wanting the cheapest-possible entry-level VPS (Hetzner undercuts at comparable specs)
Outbound email senders (Port 25 blocked; requires support unblock)
Friction report
Time to value
Fast: account signup and first server deploy take under 10 minutes; €25 free credit removes payment friction. Fraud-review delays can stall accounts in some regions.
Scale breakpoint
Premium plan pricing scales steeply with vCPU/RAM; at 20+ vCPUs teams may find hyperscalers more cost-competitive, and there is no ARM tier for CPU-efficient workloads.
Walled garden
Low: standard APIs, full SSH access, and portable VM images; no proprietary lock-in beyond MaxIOPS formatting. Managed services add mild stickiness.

A look inside

UpCloud product screenshot

Frequently Asked Questions

Alternatives

Step up

Hetzner Cloud or AWS EC2 for deeper managed-service catalogues or ARM compute options at scale.

Lighter alternative

DigitalOcean Droplets for a simpler onboarding experience and broader app marketplace at comparable entry pricing.

Ready to try UpCloud?
Opens the official site — we may earn a commission if you sign up.
Try UpCloud

Tags

#CloudHosting#Speed#Infrastructure

Explore related categories

Conversion Gems independently reviews every tool. We may earn a commission if you sign up through our links — it never affects our verdict or ranking.