Written by: Deyan Georgiev
Updated: September, 3, 2024
A successful multiplayer gaming adventure requires a fast and reliable server. For that, we’ll look into one of the leaders – Scalacube. Here you’ll find all the independent ScalaCube reviews rolled into one – from features to performance to prices.
Highlights
ScalaCube hosting is based in Estonia, although they have servers worldwide. So, you can choose the closest one for the lowest ping times.
They’re well established and share a sizeable portion of the market when it comes to the Minecraft community. But they also provide specialized hosting for other games – like ARK, Project Zomboid, Rust, Hytale, and Valheim.
Automatic backups, a custom launcher, and the one-click mod installation give you the full experience of a professional game server.
Despite the gaming bias, ScalaCube also provides traditional web hosting. You can have your own website, domain, or forum with just a few clicks.
Here’s what it can offer:
Here’s what ScalaCube has in store for its customers:
All premium plans come with a pre-configured website and forum connected to your ScalaCube server. You can add your own content and customize it. On your website, you can monitor the performance of your server and the number of players online. Having a site for your server adds a layer of professionalism for your users, but it’s optional.
For $25 a year and a few clicks, you can get your own domain name. Although this is a fair price, you can buy a cheaper domain elsewhere and connect it to your ScalaCube server.
All ScalaCube pricing plans come with a FREE subdomain that you can use instead.
More than a thousand modpacks are available with any plan you choose. For any game, you host a server for, you get the option to add the most popular mods. You can also upload your modpacks.
There is everything an advanced user may want:
The ScalaCube backup system allows you to manually manage everything for free. You also have the option to activate automatic backups for a one-off fee of $10.
All ScalaCube plans are scalable and suitable for small and big servers. You can choose between 9 Minecraft plans, 9 Minecraft PE plans, 3 Rust plans, and 11 Ark plans. They all use faster (and more reliable) SSD storage and 3.4Ghz CPUs.
DDoS protection guarantees the safety of your data and protects your computer from hacker attacks. The firewall settings give you the option to allow or ban connections from specific addresses.
The number of game servers and slots is not set. This means you’re only limited by the memory and disk space of the plan that you choose. The player limit stated in the plans is only a suggestion.
For a one-off fee of $10, you can have your own ScalaCube Minecraft launcher that displays your server/s.
On your dashboard, you have all the performance stats that you could need. Tracking the memory and storage can help you decide if you’re using the right plan or need an upgrade.
ScalaCube hosting promises 99.9% monthly server availability for uninterrupted play, which is about the standard in the industry. You also have the uptime metric in your monitoring stats, so you know when that isn’t the case.
For any downtime, ScalaCube gives you double compensation in the form of an extended service subscription. But from what customer reviews say, interruptions are extremely rare.
You have to make sure you have a low latency to have the best possible gameplay. The vast majority of customer reviews state that they’ve had an excellent experience with their servers’ speed. Some, however, have complained about the high ping.
The latency between your computer and the dedicated server depends mainly on the distance. ScalaCube has servers located worldwide – in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Asia. Some providers have more than one server per continent so that you can choose more precisely. The exact ScalaCube server locations aren’t mentioned on the website.
This means that if the server location is on the other side of the continent that you live in, you won’t get the highest speed. More so if you live on a continent without one. The same goes for anyone who wants to join your server.
Will there be a noticeable ping increase?
For most, probably not, but the best practice is to test with the ScalaCube free plan. Alternatively, you can use a ping checker online to test it from your location. Test Server IPs are:
From a hardware point of view, you should have no problem as long as you have the right plan selected. They offer fast 3.4Ghz CPUs with SSD storage.
Compared with the competition, the ScalaCube customer service falls a step behind in some aspects. They answer inquiries from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday. In comparison, providers like Shockbyte and Apex provide 24/7, non-stop customer support.
For any problem, you can only submit a ticket directly from the control panel—a little disappointing in the age of live chat. Also, there is no phone support available. They have a presale chat used only for questions regarding your server before purchase.
For this ScalaCube review, I tested their presale customer service. They answered in minutes, as long as it was during working hours.
If their limited availability isn’t a huge drawback for you, I can say that the support team is very friendly and professional.
I also looked at some of the reviews from customers online, and it seems like the agents were given impressively high praise. This is an aspect that is hit or miss with server providers sometimes. I think ScalaCube won’t disappoint with their quality of help.
If you’re more of the DIY type, there’s a ton of detailed information on their website. What is more, they have a YouTube channel with easy-to-follow, well-narrated tutorials. Everything from server setup to mods installation is covered in a way that doesn’t require special technical experience.
The most significant difference between the two is that Aternos will never ask you for your credit card details. The only profit they make is from ads. So even though the service is free, you get what you pay for. You’re limited to 1.7GB of RAM, a maximum of 20 players on your server, and it’s only compatible with Minecraft.
Since its launch in 2013, Aternos has gained an impressive 28 million users. Well-known in the Minecraft community, it’s a tried and trusted service.
Besides the price, Aternos excels above ScalaCube with its customer support availability. They offer 24/7 help and are known to respond quickly.
Despite both being used by Minecraft players, they have different user bases. The limited resources of Aternos allow for casual play with a small number of friends. The ScalaCube player limit depends only on what you’ve paid for. Their servers give you everything you need for bigger-scale servers plus all the extras.
Both being well established on the market, they’re very similar in features, prices, and specs. Shockbyte has set plans but also allows you to create a custom one.
One difference is customer support. ScalaCube has a ticket system with representatives available only on working days and hours. Sockbyte offers very convenient 24/7 online chat support.
Where ScalaCube gains advantage is the unique features like custom Minecraft launcher, free pre-configured website, and forum. This makes it the preferred provider for people who want their server to appear more serious and professional.
The ScalaCube free server is an excellent option for testing. Shockbyte doesn’t offer any demo plan, but they have a 72-hour refund policy if you don’t like the service.
It may be only a small difference, but Shockbyte lets you set up automatic backups for free, which costs a $10 one-off fee with a ScalaCube server.
Any server you choose will be game-specific, with plans tailored for it. This is because different games require different resources. You need much more hardware power for a game like Rust compared to Minecraft, for example.
All game servers offer a free tier. They actively promote their “ScalaCube free-forever server” with the same specs as the mid-tier paid plans. We often see sales tactics like this, so we know to look out for the catch.
Something that isn’t immediately visible is that this tier is too limited for any other purpose than testing the service. Only one player slot is available on it. If you are new to launching game servers, this is a great start to see how the process goes. You can always upgrade to a paid plan later.
If you decide to get one of the paid plans, you should know that all purchases are final. No refunds are accepted. This is something often mentioned as a negative in customer reviews online. So in case you have a bad experience, better start with the ScalaCube free server.
Minecraft, Hytale, and Zomboid plans start with a 50% discount for the first month. From the second month onwards, regular rates apply.
Plan | Pricing | Details | |
Minecraft servers | From $5 | 10 Player Slots 768 MB RAM 3.4 GHz CPU 10 GB SSD Storage | Visit |
Hytale servers | From $10 | 20 Player Slots 1.5 GB RAM 3.4 GHz CPU 15 GB SSD Storage | Visit |
Rust server | From $24 | 150 Player Slots 32 GB RAM 8×3.4 GHz CPU 320 GB SSD Storage | Visit |
Zomboid servers | From $20 | 40 Player Slots 3 GB RAM 3.4 GHz CPU 30 GB SSD Storage | Visit |
Minecraft PE servers | From $10 | 30 Player Slots 1.5 GB RAM 3.4 GHz CPU 15 GB SSD Storage | Visit |
ARK server | From $20 | 20 Player Slots 32 GB RAM 8×3.4 GHz CPU 320 GB SSD Storage | Visit |
Valheim servers | From $14 | 10 Player Slots 12 GB RAM 8×3.4 GHz CPU 30 GB SSD Storage | Visit |
All of those plans can be upgraded later. Typically you should choose your plan depending on the number of players and slots you need.
Overall, if you’re looking for reliability and features over price, this is one of the best options on the market. The majority of ScalaCube reviews are positive (4.6 score on Trustpilot).
Some flaws like the limited ScalaCube refund policy and customer support are often mentioned as negatives which I would agree with. But apart from that, there is a lot to like here.
ScalaCubes’ free tier is great for those looking to create their first server or just test the service. The premium plans give you a professional experience that could attract a more significant player base to your server.
The excellent performance parameters, free website, forum, and custom ScalaCube Minecraft launcher justify the slightly higher than average price. All of that comes with a user-friendly control panel and one-click installs.
The company was founded in January 2019 by Kostiantyn Rohatkin. It’s headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia.
Despite the slightly higher than average prices, ScalaCube offers top-quality service. They provide features that are suitable for а high-level game server. The performance parameters are probably the best you can find, and the host is highly rated on Trustpilot (4.6/5 score).
Our ScalaCube review covers everything you need to know about the host.
The free tier of ScalaCube is only suitable for testing purposes as you only get one player slot. Of course, you can upgrade it to a paid plan anytime so you can add more. The paid plans start from $5 ($2.50 for the first month).
While Aternos is free, it’s very limited. Paid hosts like ScalaCube offer much more performance capability, features, and reliability. In short, Aternos is suitable for casual play with friends. ScalaCube is for high-performance servers that want to attract a bigger player base.
As long as you choose a server close to your location, you shouldn’t experience lag. It’s best to test their servers with their free tier before upgrading to a paid plan. ScalaCube reviews online also suggest that lag is a rare occurrence.