About SliceScope

SliceScope is an independent guide to self-managed servers — unmanaged VPS and dedicated boxes where you get root, choose your own Linux distribution, and administer the machine yourself. We exist because most "best VPS" lists are ranked by affiliate payout, which is how the two best-value providers in the market keep getting left out. We rank on the numbers instead.

How we score

Every provider gets one composite score from five criteria: price-per-resource, performance consistency, network and locations, control (root, distro choice, API) and support. Scores rest on providers' published specs and advertised prices, each carrying the date we read it (September 10, 2026 for this launch). We do not run benchmarks and we never publish performance numbers we didn't measure — where consistency matters, we point you to independent benchmark sites to verify. Prices change, so every figure is framed as advertised and dated.

How we stay independent

Some outbound links are affiliate links that pay us a commission at no cost to you. That commission never changes a ranking — the proof is that our top two value picks, Hetzner and Linode, run no cash affiliate program and still rank in the top four. We also flag when a program pays in account credit rather than cash, as Vultr's does. The full accounting is in our affiliate disclosure.

Scope

We cover server hosting only: VPS, dedicated servers and the developer tooling around them. We don't review website builders, and we treat fully managed cloud platforms as a separate lane, because renting a metered platform is a different decision from renting a server you administer. Provider names and logos, where they appear, are used only to identify the products we're comparing; SliceScope is not affiliated with any host.