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How we test
Prices
Every plan is copied by hand from the provider's official pricing page, and each provider shows the date we last checked. Annual, semi-annual and quarterly prices are divided by the number of months so they can be compared with monthly billing. The provider's checkout page is always the final word.
Machines
Every benchmarked machine is bought with our own money. We do not accept free review units, and providers cannot pay to change results or ordering.
Benchmarks
- CPU: Geekbench, with a link to the public result page so you can verify the score.
- Disk: fio random read/write at 4k, 64k, 512k and 1m block sizes, run through the open-source YABS script.
- Network: iperf3 to public servers in Europe, Asia and North America, also via YABS.
- Routes to mainland China: ping and traceroute to China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile targets. These matter mostly to our Chinese readers and are covered in depth on the Chinese edition.
Right now each machine is tested once after purchase. We do not yet have peak-hour or long-term uptime data, and every benchmark page says so. We will describe continuous monitoring here once it is running.
Affiliate links
Some "Visit" buttons are affiliate links and are labeled as such. If you buy through one we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate status does not change prices shown, benchmark results or the order of any list.