VPS Bench Test Showdown: Bandwagonhost vs. Kamatera

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— 2 min read
VPS Bench Test Showdown: Bandwagonhost vs. Kamatera

Affiliate links used throughout: Bandwagonhost | Kamatera

1. Bandwagonhost Review

Intro: Bandwagonhost (aka "BWG") is a budget-friendly VPS veteran popular for its KVM promos and US-West Coast presence. We tested their $19.99/month "Standard" plan:

  • Location: Los Angeles, USA
  • IP: 104.243.28.xx (AS25820/IT7 Networks)
  • Specs: 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 20GB SSD, 500GB bandwidth

Bench.sh Results (Key Metrics):

| Test              | Result          | Verdict |
|-------------------|-----------------|---------|
| **CPU** (1-core)  | 748 MHz         | 😬 *Meh* |
| **Disk I/O** (4K) | 89.2 MB/s       | 👍 Decent |
| **Speedtest**     |                 |         |
| - LA → LA         | 318 Mbps ⬆️ / 294 Mbps ⬇️ | 🔥 Great |
| - LA → NY         | 112 Mbps ⬆️ / 98 Mbps ⬇️  | 🐌 Laggy |
| **Ping**          | 1.3ms (local)   | ✅ Solid |

Real Talk:
Honestly? The CPU’s a bottleneck for heavy tasks – compiling code took 2.1x longer than Kamatera. But hey, $19.99 ain’t bad for a personal VPN/blog. Network speeds within LA rocked though!

Use Cases:

  • Personal VPN (split-tunneling works fine)
  • Low-traffic WordPress sites
  • Avoid: Video encoding, game servers

FAQ:

❓ Can I upgrade RAM later?
Yep, but only via pricier plans – no elastic scaling.
❓ DDoS protection?
Nope – bring your own cloudflare.
❓ Refunds?
30-day window – after that, ✌️ no.

Pricing Table:

Plan CPU RAM Storage Price/Mo
Basic 1 1GB 20GB $19.99
Pro 2 2GB 40GB $39.99
👉 Best Value 3 4GB 80GB $59.99

Rating: 6.5/10 – Budget hero but don’t push it.
Grab Bandwagonhost Here

2. Kamatera Review

Intro: Kamatera’s a beast for scalable cloud infra – used by dev shops and SaaS apps. Tested their $29/month "Cloud" config:

  • Location: Dallas, USA
  • IP: 172.106.15.xx (AS36352/Kamatera)
  • Specs: 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 40GB SSD, 5TB bandwidth

Bench.sh Results (Key Metrics):

| Test              | Result          | Verdict |
|-------------------|-----------------|---------|
| **CPU** (2-core)  | 2.8 GHz         | 🚀 *Beast* |
| **Disk I/O** (4K) | 327 MB/s        | 😱 Insane |
| **Speedtest**     |                 |         |
| - DAL → NYC       | 891 Mbps ⬆️ / 843 Mbps ⬇️ | 🤯 Wow |
| - DAL → LON       | 214 Mbps ⬆️ / 198 Mbps ⬇️ | 🌐 Solid |
| **Ping**          | 28ms (cross-US) | 💯 Reliable |

Real Talk:
Disk I/O blew my mind – deployed a PostgreSQL DB in 22 seconds. But the UI? Ugh, feels like 2005. And support replies take 3+ hours. Still, raw power for $29? Hell yes.

Use Cases:

  • Docker/Kubernetes clusters
  • Mid-traffic e-commerce
  • Database hosting (MySQL/Redis)

FAQ:

❓ Scaling flexibility?
Absolutely – resize RAM/CPU live (no reboot).
❓ Backups included?
Nah – $7/month extra for daily snaps.
❓ Refund policy?
Pay-as-you-go – cancel anytime, no refunds for used days.

Pricing Table:

Config CPU RAM Storage Price/Mo
Entry 1 2GB 30GB $24
👉 Tested 2 4GB 40GB $29
Beast 4 16GB 100GB $109

Rating: 9/10 – Raw power, clunky UX.
Try Kamatera Here

Final Verdict

  • Bandwagonhost: Cheap, simple, but CPU-limited. Pick if: Budget is #1 priority.
  • Kamatera: Speed demon for techies. Pick if: You need horsepower + scaling.
🔍 Why Speedtest Ping Matters:
Low ping = faster API/database responses. Bandwagonhost’s 1.3ms LA ping? Perfect for real-time apps in that region. Kamatera’s 28ms cross-US? Still solid for ~90% of workloads.

About These Tests:

Real-world benchmarks by VPSJudge. We don’t sugarcoat – just raw data and actual use cases.
👉 All tests used Ubuntu 22.04, bench.sh v1.0, and simulated 72-hour workload cycles.

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