Linode Nanode (1 GB) vs. UpCloud Balanced (1 GB)
My friend, I'm so glad you're here! Today I've spun up brand new instance from Linode and UpCloud and ran some benchmarks. All instances were running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 and were created in or around the New York / New Jersey area. Without further ado, here's the results.
Overview
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Last Benchmarked | Fri, 29 May 2026 15:00:53 GMT | Thu, 28 May 2026 18:00:52 GMT |
| Linux Distro | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 |
| Kernel Version | 6.8.0-111-generic | 6.8.0-111-generic |
| MySQL Version | 8.0.45-0ubuntu0.24.04.1 | 8.0.45-0ubuntu0.24.04.1 |
| Redis Version | 7.0.15 | 7.0.15 |
| Location | Newark, NJ | New York, NY |
| Monthly Price | $5.00 | €7.00 |
| RAM (GB) | 1 | 1 |
| CPU Cores | 1 | 1 |
| Storage (TB) | 25 | 25 |
| Storage Type | SSD | SSD |
| Transfer (TB) | 1 | 1 |
CPU
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | AuthenticAMD | AuthenticAMD |
| Model Name | AMD EPYC 7642 48-Core Processor | AMD EPYC 9575F 64-Core Processor |
| Clock Speed (MHz) | 2,300.00 | 3,295.46 |
| CPU Cache Size (KB) | 512.00 | 512.00 |
| BogoMips | 4,599.99 | 6,590.91 |
| Events per Second | 1,022.23 | 5,659.06 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.61 | 0.16 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.98 | 0.18 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 5.4 | 1.22 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2.39 | 0.19 |
Memory
Memory Read
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations per second | 5,296,233.64 | 7,861,995.86 |
| Mebibytes per second | 5,172.10 | 7,677.73 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 3.05 | 0.26 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
Memory Write
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations per second | 5,154,651.90 | 7,750,432.19 |
| Mebibytes per second | 5,033.84 | 7,568.78 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 3.06 | 0.29 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
File I/O
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reads per Second | 2,055.76 | 4,762.84 |
| Writes per Second | 1,370.51 | 3,175.19 |
| Fsyncs per Second | 4,389.22 | 10,171.17 |
| Read Mebibytes per Second | 32.12 | 74.42 |
| Written Mebibytes per Second | 21.41 | 49.61 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.13 | 0.05 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 12.79 | 13.45 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.35 | 0.2 |
Mutex
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1,633.32 | 1,251.91 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1,644.62 | 1,256.03 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 1,653.29 | 1,262.64 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1,648.20 | 1,258.08 |
MySQL
MySQL Read-only
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 7,575.00 | 23,963.00 |
| Queries per second | 75,750.00 | 239,630.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.22 | 0.29 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.32 | 0.42 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 4.67 | 115.43 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.42 | 0.56 |
MySQL Write-only
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 5,800.00 | 7,314.00 |
| Queries per second | 58,000.00 | 73,140.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.15 | 0.59 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.72 | 1.37 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 12.35 | 24.88 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2.39 | 2.26 |
MySQL Read/Write
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 2,955.00 | 4,842.00 |
| Queries per second | 29,550.00 | 48,420.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 2.64 | 1.09 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 3.38 | 2.06 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 22.69 | 31.78 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 4.41 | 2.81 |
MySQL INSERT
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 8,921.00 | 10,222.00 |
| Queries per second | 89,210.00 | 102,220.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.65 | 0.39 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.12 | 0.98 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 8.92 | 23.2 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.42 | 1.5 |
MySQL Bulk INSERT
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 1,288,467.00 | 3,035,967.00 |
| Queries per second | 12,884,670.00 | 30,359,670.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.01 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 398.24 | 161.86 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
MySQL SELECT
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 170,179.00 | 829,406.00 |
| Queries per second | 1,701,790.00 | 8,294,060.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.05 | 0.01 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.06 | 0.01 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 7.27 | 1.88 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.08 | 0.02 |
MySQL SELECT (Random Points)
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 7,819.00 | 15,660.00 |
| Queries per second | 78,190.00 | 156,600.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.42 | 0.2 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.28 | 0.64 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 6.03 | 111.51 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.64 | 0.95 |
MySQL SELECT (Random Ranges)
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 7,328.00 | 17,794.00 |
| Queries per second | 73,280.00 | 177,940.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.3 | 0.16 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.36 | 0.56 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 4.97 | 2.85 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.76 | 0.9 |
MySQL UPDATE (Indexed)
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 8,603.00 | 9,797.00 |
| Queries per second | 86,030.00 | 97,970.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.69 | 0.41 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.16 | 1.02 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 6.97 | 40.23 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.7 | 1.47 |
MySQL UPDATE (Non-Indexed)
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 7,719.00 | 9,458.00 |
| Queries per second | 77,190.00 | 94,580.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.65 | 0.45 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.29 | 1.06 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 54.76 | 32.96 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.73 | 1.47 |
MySQL DELETE
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 80,451.00 | 402,481.00 |
| Queries per second | 804,510.00 | 4,024,810.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.05 | 0.01 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.12 | 0.02 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 16.14 | 20.2 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.42 | 0.03 |
Redis
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| PING_INLINE per Second | 44,052.86 | 161,030.59 |
| PING_MBULK per Second | 44,563.28 | 156,985.86 |
| SET per Second | 44,072.28 | 137,362.64 |
| GET per Second | 44,345.89 | 172,117.05 |
| INCR per Second | 42,535.09 | 176,366.86 |
| LPUSH per Second | 41,545.49 | 168,067.22 |
| RPUSH per Second | 37,299.52 | 161,550.89 |
| LPOP per Second | 43,327.55 | 152,439.02 |
| RPOP per Second | 43,103.45 | 156,985.86 |
| SADD per Second | 43,994.72 | 165,837.48 |
| HSET per Second | 43,956.04 | 154,083.20 |
| SPOP per Second | 44,130.62 | 162,866.44 |
| ZADD per Second | 42,390.84 | 168,634.06 |
| ZPOPMIN per Second | 43,159.26 | 166,112.95 |
| LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) per Second | 28,843.38 | 84,459.46 |
| LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) per Second | 15,153.81 | 41,459.37 |
| LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) per Second | 10,595.47 | 25,412.96 |
| LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) per Second | 9,122.42 | 21,335.61 |
| MSET (10 keys) per Second | 40,112.31 | 144,300.14 |
Redis Average Latency (ms)
| Linode – Nanode (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| PING_INLINE | 0.78 | 0.20 |
| PING_MBULK | 0.77 | 0.21 |
| SET | 0.78 | 0.24 |
| GET | 0.77 | 0.19 |
| INCR | 0.80 | 0.19 |
| LPUSH | 0.82 | 0.20 |
| RPUSH | 0.90 | 0.21 |
| LPOP | 0.80 | 0.22 |
| RPOP | 0.80 | 0.22 |
| SADD | 0.78 | 0.20 |
| HSET | 0.79 | 0.22 |
| SPOP | 0.77 | 0.21 |
| ZADD | 0.81 | 0.20 |
| ZPOPMIN | 0.79 | 0.20 |
| LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) | 1.23 | 0.43 |
| LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) | 2.38 | 0.87 |
| LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) | 3.44 | 1.41 |
| LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) | 3.96 | 1.71 |
| MSET (10 keys) | 0.88 | 0.25 |
Conclusion
From the friendly robots:
After analyzing the benchmark results from both instances, it is clear that the UpCloud Balanced (1 GB) outperforms the Linode Nanode (1 GB) in most metrics. The UpCloud instance shows significantly higher Redis request rates per second and lower latency, especially for complex commands, indicating superior performance for high-demand, real-time data processing applications. The UpCloud instance also demonstrates better CPU and memory throughput along with faster file I/O operations. Conversely, the Linode instance provides better thread fairness and lower maximum latency in some benchmarks, which could be beneficial for workloads that prioritize fairness over sheer throughput. For applications that require high data processing speeds and low latency, such as caching services or real-time analytics, the UpCloud instance is the better choice. However, if the priority is on maintaining fair thread execution even in complex operations, the Linode instance might be more appropriate.
From the friendly human:
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