Top 16 Bare Metal Cloud Providers in 2026 (SMBs + Enterprises Compared)

You’re looking at bare metal cloud hosting because you need real performance, predictable costs, and no noisy neighbors slowing things down. But with so many bare metal cloud providers shouting for attention, it’s hard to tell who actually fits your workload and budget.

This guide walks through 16 leading bare metal providers in the cloud computing industry, how they differ, who they’re best for, and what you can realistically expect in pricing, uptime, and flexibility. By the end, you’ll know which short list to test first instead of blindly “trying everything.”

Bare Metal Server, In Plain Language

A bare metal server is a physical machine that only you use. No shared CPU, no shared RAM, no hypervisor layer you don’t control.

You (or your provider) install the OS directly on the hardware, then you run whatever stack you like: containers, virtualization, databases, AI workloads, or old-school monolith apps.

Compared with virtual servers:

• You get consistent performance (no noisy neighbors).

• You have full control over OS, kernel, and drivers.

• You can tune the machine down to the last I/O and NIC setting.

That’s why people running latency‑sensitive workloads, heavy databases, or serious AI/ML often end up on bare metal servers.

What Is Bare Metal Cloud?

Bare metal cloud is the same idea, just delivered as a service.

Instead of racking and managing your own servers, a bare metal cloud provider keeps the hardware in their data centers and lets you rent it remotely. You get:

• Dedicated physical servers

• API / panel to deploy and reinstall quickly

• Optional automation tools and integrations

• Support, power, cooling, and network handled for you

Compared with regular VPS or shared cloud:

• No mandatory hypervisor layer between you and the hardware

• Less resource contention

• Often better price‑to‑performance at higher loads

So you keep cloud‑style flexibility (spin up, tear down, pay monthly or hourly), but you get the raw power and predictability of dedicated servers.

Typical use cases:

• AI/ML training and inference

• Data science and big data pipelines

• High‑frequency trading and financial apps

• Gaming servers and media streaming

• Manufacturing, logistics, and IoT platforms

• Latency‑sensitive APIs and microservices

If you want to actually feel that difference in performance, it’s worth testing on a live box, not just reading specs.

👉 Launch a GTHost bare metal server in minutes and benchmark your real workload on dedicated hardware

Once you’ve seen your app run on bare metal, it’s much easier to judge which provider tier (SMB or enterprise) you really need.

How These Bare Metal Cloud Providers Were Chosen

The providers here are based on a mix of market research and what actually matters when you’re deploying:

• Scale and reach – how many regions, how robust the network is

• Service breadth – bare metal, storage, networking, and managed services

• Automation and tooling – APIs, orchestration, DevOps friendliness

• Pricing models – predictable, flexible, and transparent

• Innovation – how quickly they ship new hardware and features

• Target audience – SMBs, enterprises, or both

To make things easier, we split them into two groups:

• 8 providers that tend to fit small and medium‑sized businesses (SMBs)

• 8 providers aimed more at large enterprises

8 Top Bare Metal Cloud Providers for SMBs

These are good starting points if you’re a startup, indie team, or small to mid‑sized business that wants strong performance without enterprise‑grade complexity.

1. Cherry Servers (Lithuania)

What they do: Lithuania‑based bare metal cloud provider focused on developers and SMBs. They offer a wide range of dedicated servers with flexible configurations and instant provisioning.

Highlights:

• Prebuilt and fully customizable servers

• DDoS protection and automated resource management

• Integrations for DevOps workflows and APIs

• Good fit for light to heavy workloads (AI, gaming, e‑commerce)

Best for: Teams that like to tweak hardware specs and want a European bare metal footprint without big‑enterprise pricing.

2. OVHcloud (France)

What they do: One of Europe’s biggest hosting providers, with a mix of bare metal, private cloud, and public cloud.

Highlights:

• 40+ data centers across 4 continents

• Self‑built servers and fiber network for better cost control

• Solutions for AI/ML, big data, and private cloud setups

Tradeoffs: No automatic backups by default on some plans and no free website migration. You’ll need to wire those bits yourself.

Best for: Larger SMBs and mid‑market companies that want European infrastructure at competitive prices, with room to scale globally.

3. DigitalOcean (US)

What they do: Very developer‑friendly cloud provider that now includes bare metal–style instances alongside their classic Droplets.

Highlights:

• Simple dashboard and API

• Predictable, flat pricing and good documentation

• Managed platforms (like Cloudways) built on top of their infrastructure

Pricing ballpark: Bare metal options start around $150/month, with costs scaling as you add CPU, RAM, and storage.

Best for: Startups and tech‑savvy SMBs that value ease of use and clear pricing for app deployment.

4. Joyent (US)

What they do: Early player in containers and bare metal cloud, backed by years of open‑source work.

Highlights:

• Focus on containerized and microservices architectures

• Global compute, storage, networking, and security services

• Cloud management tools: identity & access management, APIs, reports

Pricing ballpark: Starts around $500/month for base configurations.

Best for: Enterprise‑leaning users and high‑performance workloads that need strong container and microservices infrastructure on bare metal.

5. HPE GreenLake (US)

What they do: Hewlett Packard Enterprise offers bare metal cloud as part of its GreenLake platform, mixing on‑prem feel with cloud‑like flexibility.

Highlights:

• Modular stack: infrastructure, software, and services

• Strong support for data protection, big data, machine learning, and private cloud

• Focus on hybrid cloud and complex migrations

Pricing ballpark: Entry‑level servers start around $100/month, but large deployments can reach several thousand per month.

Best for: Enterprise‑grade SMBs and regulated industries (finance, healthcare, government) that need managed, hybrid environments.

6. Scaleway (France)

What they do: French provider known for ARM‑based servers and object storage, plus a solid bare metal cloud lineup.

Highlights:

• Dedibox: 100+ hardware configurations with full server control

• Elastic Metal: hybrid flexibility and predictable performance

• Apple Silicon options for CI/CD on iOS/macOS

Pricing ballpark: Bare metal plans start around €9.99/month for 4 GB RAM.

Best for: Startups and SMBs that like experimenting with different architectures (x86, ARM, Apple Silicon) and want European data residency.

7. PhoenixNAP (US)

What they do: US‑based data center and cloud provider with bare metal cloud hosting and colocation.

Highlights:

• High‑density deployments and flexible service options

• Redundant infrastructure and 24/7 live support

• Pay‑per‑use model that can be very efficient for bursty workloads

Pricing ballpark: Single CPU bare metal instances start at around $89/month for 64 GB RAM.

Best for: Disaster recovery setups, hybrid deployments across North America, and SMBs in finance, healthcare, and tech that want strong uptime guarantees.

8. Hetzner (Germany)

What they do: Well‑known German provider offering sharp pricing on bare metal servers, cloud VMs, and storage.

Highlights:

• Bare metal with load balancers, firewalls, snapshots, and backups

• Block storage volumes for scalable SSD storage up to 10 TB

• Very competitive price‑to‑performance ratio

Tradeoffs: Some users report occasional hardware issues compared with more premium providers, so monitoring and backup strategy is important.

Pricing ballpark: Dedicated vCPU plans start around €11.99/month for 8 GB RAM.

Best for: Price‑sensitive startups, developers, and SMBs looking for strong performance in EU regions without breaking the bank.

8 Largest Bare Metal Cloud Providers for Enterprises

These are the bigger, more complex platforms that large enterprises usually shortlist when they care about global reach, certifications, and advanced automation.

1. IBM Cloud Bare Metal (US)

What they do: IBM is a major bare metal cloud provider with a long history in enterprise infrastructure.

Highlights:

• 60+ IBM Cloud data centers in 19 countries

• 11+ million possible server configurations

• Hourly, monthly, or reserved capacity pricing

Tradeoffs: Generally on the expensive side. Some users note long OS reload times on certain configurations.

Pricing ballpark: Classic bare metal servers start around $2,625/month.

Best for: Enterprises with complex requirements in finance, healthcare, and research that need heavy customization and global distribution.

2. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (US)

What they do: Oracle offers bare metal instances optimized for high‑core, high‑memory, and high‑bandwidth workloads.

Highlights:

• Scales up to very large CPU counts and RAM

• Up to 1 PB of block storage

• Strong performance for Oracle databases and enterprise apps

Tradeoffs: Can be complex to implement, with higher costs and some customization limits. Vendor lock‑in is a real concern.

Pricing ballpark: Bare metal compute estimates are around $2,468/month, depending on configuration.

Best for: Big enterprises, especially those already deep in Oracle databases and applications.

3. AWS Bare Metal (US)

What they do: Amazon Web Services offers bare metal variants of EC2 instances, alongside its massive cloud ecosystem.

Highlights:

• Wide choice of bare metal instance families

• Integrates with the entire AWS stack (RDS, S3, EKS, etc.)

• Good fit for video encoding, scientific computing, and multiplayer gaming

Tradeoffs: AWS is powerful but complex. Costs can spike without careful planning, and downtime, while rare, still happens.

Pricing ballpark: Bare metal instances often land around $1,500/month for typical enterprise‑grade configurations.

Best for: Companies already inside AWS who need direct hardware access for parts of their stack without leaving the ecosystem.

4. Lumen Edge Bare Metal (US)

What they do: Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) focuses on edge computing with distributed bare metal servers.

Highlights:

• Edge locations to cut latency for real‑time processing

• Customizable OS, hardware configurations, and pricing models

• Secure, single‑tenant servers with fine‑grained firewall and encryption options

Tradeoffs: Some users find the interface slower or less polished than newer cloud platforms.

Pricing ballpark: Starts around $360/month for 96 GB RAM, with both monthly and pay‑as‑you‑go models.

Best for: Media, entertainment, and healthcare workloads that care a lot about low latency and edge presence.

5. Rackspace Technology (US)

What they do: Rackspace provides fully managed dedicated bare metal, with a strong emphasis on support.

Highlights:

• Custom bare metal hosting solutions designed with their cloud experts

• High uptime and strong SLAs

• Managed services for security, operations, and infrastructure

Tradeoffs: Higher hosting costs, more homogenous hardware, and fewer options for external instance storage.

Pricing ballpark: Typically $500–$1,000/month for basic bare metal setups, more for complex designs.

Best for: Organizations that want a partner to “own” the infrastructure side so internal teams can focus on applications.

6. Horizoniq (formerly INAP) (US)

What they do: Horizoniq offers bare metal servers, optimized networking, and managed services, with a strong focus on predictable performance.

Highlights:

• Dedicated performance with full server control

• 24/7/365 support

• Compass portal for console access, API control, reboots, and OS reinstalls

Tradeoffs: Some customers report wanting more hands‑on support at times.

Pricing ballpark: Affordable bare metal starts around $100/month, with Intel Xeon CPUs, up to 128 GB RAM, and up to 12 TB storage.

Best for: Online retailers, telecoms, energy, and logistics companies that want solid connectivity and predictable costs.

7. Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator (US)

What they do: Dell leans into large‑scale deployments with Bare Metal Orchestrator, targeting telcos and big enterprises.

Highlights:

• Manages multi‑vendor servers at massive scale from one UI

• Reduces manual errors and speeds up deployments

• Good fit for core, edge, and RAN (radio access network) operations

Tradeoffs: Some users find it hard to add servers with completely independent parameters, so flexibility has limits.

Best for: Communication service providers and enterprises standardizing on Dell hardware and needing centralized lifecycle management.

8. Microsoft Azure Bare Metal (US)

What they do: Azure offers bare metal VMs and dedicated hosts for specialized workloads, integrated into the broader Azure platform.

Highlights:

• High‑performance storage options (NFS, iSCSI, Fibre Channel)

• Very low latency (~0.35 ms) between Azure VMs and bare metal instances

• Advanced data features: snapshots, archives, mirroring, cloning

Tradeoffs: Azure’s breadth is both a strength and a challenge. It takes time and expertise to navigate all the options and configurations.

Best for: Enterprises already using Azure services that now need single‑tenant, high‑performance bare metal in the same ecosystem.

How to Pick the Right Bare Metal Cloud Provider

Instead of trying all 16 providers, narrow your shortlist with a few practical questions:

• Workload type: Are you running AI training, databases, gaming, or simple web apps? Some providers are stronger in specific areas.

• Latency needs: Do you need edge locations close to users, or will a few core regions do?

• Budget and billing: Do you prefer flat monthly pricing, or do you want pay‑per‑hour / pay‑per‑day flexibility?

• Automation level: Will you manage infra by hand, or do you need APIs, Terraform modules, and CI/CD hooks?

• Regulation and data residency: Any compliance or “must be in EU/US” requirements?

If you just want to quickly try bare metal without over‑committing, a fast‑setup provider can save days of back‑and‑forth with sales.

👉 Test GTHost bare metal servers with instant deployment and see how your apps behave under real production‑grade hardware

Once you have real benchmarks from a live bare metal environment, the rest of your provider comparison becomes much more grounded.

Conclusion

Bare metal cloud providers are growing because people want more control, more consistent performance, and more predictable costs than typical shared cloud setups can give. The 16 providers here cover both sides of the market: flexible options for SMBs and heavyweight platforms for enterprises that need global scale and advanced automation.

If you’re still at the “let me just try this” stage, that’s exactly why GTHost is suitable for fast, high‑performance bare metal tests when you want instant servers without long contracts. Start small, measure how your workload behaves, and then commit to the bare metal cloud provider that matches your performance, compliance, and budget needs.