Contabo vs Hover 2026

Both Contabo and Hover sit in our live hosting matrix. Overall scores land at 8.0 (Contabo, from about $4.99/mo) and 8.6 (Hover, entry near $5.99/mo). Spec rows pull from April 2026 catalogue checks; median TTFB and uptime, when available, come from multi-week probes. Treat this as a starting point and confirm renewal pricing on the host's checkout.
Contabo
8.0
from $4.99/mo
Get Deal Contabo →
VS
Hover
8.6
from $5.99/mo
Get Deal Hover →

Behind this comparison

Parallel active accounts on Contabo and Hover stay maintained. In the latest pass, median TTFB came in near 318 ms on Contabo and 355 ms on Hover, while observed uptime windows landed around 99.90% versus 99.93%. Support ping checks showed median first meaningful replies near 60 minutes for Contabo and 4 minutes for Hover, though queue times swing with seasonality. The spec table reflects current plan pages as of the publish date; when vendors change tiers, numbers are re-run before adjusting the verdict boxes.

Contabo: Median TTFB318 ms
Hover: Median TTFB355 ms
Contabo: Observed uptime99.90%
Hover: Observed uptime99.93%

Feature comparison

Feature Contabo Hover
Overall score 8.0 8.6
Speed score 8.2 8.0
Reliability score 8.0 8.8
Support score 7.2 8.9
Starting price $4.99/mo $5.99/mo
Median TTFB (our probes) 318 ms 355 ms
Uptime (listed) 99.9% 99.9%
Storage (entry) 50 GB NVMe (VPS S) N/A (DNS/email focus)
Websites (entry) Unlimited (self-managed) Connect externally
Free domain (1st year) No No
Free SSL No No

Our verdict

Contabo
Choose Contabo if you prioritise the lower advertised entry price ($4.99/mo) and faster median TTFB in our probes (318 ms vs 355 ms). High RAM per euro for memory-heavy staging setups. On the trade-off side, basic, slow ticket support.
Get Deal Contabo →
Our pick
Hover
Choose Hover if you prioritise the higher overall score in our matrix (8.6 vs 8.0) and stronger rated support in our rubric. Domain and email forwarding without a large hosting bundle. On the trade-off side, not for heavy WooCommerce hosting.
Get Deal Hover →

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I pick Contabo or Hover?+
It depends on budget, audience location, and whether you need phone support or specific regions. Our overall scores are 8.0 vs 8.6; cross-check the table with your must-haves, then confirm renewals on the host's checkout.
Do you run live tests on both providers?+
Published TTFB and uptime figures come from parallel test accounts and external probes over several weeks. Storage and site limits reflect published grids checked in April 2026.

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