Hostinger
KVM 2 · 2 vCPU · 8 GB
Regions in the Americas, Europe and Asia
Keep your Aternos world. Lose the queue.
Playkeeper runs your server on a VPS you rent, so it's on whenever your friends are, with the memory you pick.
curl -fsSL https://playkeeper.io/install | sudo sh
At a glance
| Aternos | Playkeeper on your VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, with ads | Free software, plus your VPS |
| Queue | At busy times, with a confirmation step | None |
| Always on | Stops when everyone leaves | Yes, unless you turn on sleep |
| Memory | Assigned for you, can't be bought | You pick it, up to what your VPS has |
| Storage | 4 GB | Your VPS's disk |
| Who owns the world | Hosted by Aternos | You, on your VPS |
When Aternos is the better choice
You want free, with nothing to rent
Aternos costs nothing. A VPS costs a few dollars a month.
You play now and then
If a short queue doesn't bother you, a free host is hard to beat.
You'd rather not look after a server
Aternos's paid sister, exaroton, runs servers without a queue.
Move your Aternos world in minutes
Download your world from Aternos
It's a .zip file with everything in it.
Upload it to Playkeeper
New server › A world. The upload resumes if the connection drops.
Check what's inside, then start
The version, data packs and anything left behind, before anything changes.
What it costs
Playkeeper is free. You rent a VPS, sized for your group.
Fits 5–10 friends on Vanilla or Paper: 6 GB of memory, 2 fast cores
The Vultr link below is a referral link: Playkeeper earns a commission when you buy through it, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which providers we list or how we order them.
DigitalOcean
Premium AMD · 2 vCPU · 8 GB
Regions on four continents
Vultr
High Performance · 4 vCPU · 8 GB
Regions on six continents
Plans checked 28 Sep 2026.
Questions
Is Aternos safe?
Yes. It's a long-running, popular free host. The trade-offs are the queue, the memory you're given and servers that stop when empty.
Is Playkeeper free?
Yes: free and open source (AGPL-3.0). You pay only for the VPS, and the cost guide compares it with free hosts, Realms and game hosts.
Can I keep my plugins?
The world comes over; plugins and mods stay behind. Add them again from the Plugins tab, where one search covers Modrinth and Hangar. For a modded world, the modded server guide goes step by step.
