UpCloud Balanced (1 GB) vs. Linode Nanode (1 GB)

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Fresh benchmarks coming at ya. Today I've spun up brand new instance from Linode and UpCloud and ran some benchmarks. Each instance was spun up with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 and all resided in or around the New York / New Jersey area. Enough talk. Here's the data.

Overview

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Last Benchmarked Tue, 17 Feb 2026 12:00:52 GMT Wed, 18 Feb 2026 22:00:52 GMT
Linux Distro Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64
Kernel Version 6.8.0-87-generic 6.8.0-71-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 New York, NY Newark, NJ
Monthly Price €7.00 $5.00
RAM (GB) 1 1
CPU Cores 1 1
Storage (TB) 25 25
Storage Type SSD SSD
Transfer (TB) 1 1

CPU

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Vendor AuthenticAMD AuthenticAMD
Model Name AMD EPYC 9575F 64-Core Processor AMD EPYC 7713 64-Core Processor
Clock Speed (MHz) 3,295.46 2,000.00
CPU Cache Size (KB) 512.00 512.00
BogoMips 6,590.91 3,999.99
Events per Second 5,269.12 1,796.69
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.17 0.24
Average Latency (ms) 0.19 0.56
Maximum Latency (ms) 0.78 33.29
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0.2 2.52

Memory

Memory Read

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Operations per second 6,495,754.58 2,781,893.45
Mebibytes per second 6,343.51 2,716.69
Minimum Latency (ms) 0 0
Average Latency (ms) 0 0
Maximum Latency (ms) 5.62 8.48
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0 0

Memory Write

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Operations per second 6,653,943.56 3,003,981.67
Mebibytes per second 6,497.99 2,933.58
Minimum Latency (ms) 0 0
Average Latency (ms) 0 0
Maximum Latency (ms) 4.05 31.65
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0 0

File I/O

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Reads per Second 2,843.26 2,901.52
Writes per Second 1,895.51 1,934.35
Fsyncs per Second 6,077.14 6,191.21
Read Mebibytes per Second 44.43 45.34
Written Mebibytes per Second 29.62 30.22
Minimum Latency (ms) 0 0
Average Latency (ms) 0.09 0.09
Maximum Latency (ms) 130.72 15.73
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0.29 0.24

Mutex

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Minimum Latency (ms) 1,405.90 1,404.10
Average Latency (ms) 1,420.12 1,411.48
Maximum Latency (ms) 1,430.71 1,422.33
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 1,427.08 1,427.08

MySQL

MySQL Read-only

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 20,293.00 9,135.00
Queries per second 202,930.00 91,350.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.32 0.98
Average Latency (ms) 0.49 1.09
Maximum Latency (ms) 6.79 10.15
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0.62 1.27

MySQL Write-only

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 4,585.00 6,708.00
Queries per second 45,850.00 67,080.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.66 0.87
Average Latency (ms) 2.18 1.49
Maximum Latency (ms) 97.21 37.92
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 4.91 2.03

MySQL Read/Write

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 3,152.00 3,482.00
Queries per second 31,520.00 34,820.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 1.31 2.16
Average Latency (ms) 3.17 2.87
Maximum Latency (ms) 38.87 9.8
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 6.09 3.55

MySQL INSERT

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 7,436.00 10,885.00
Queries per second 74,360.00 108,850.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.44 0.58
Average Latency (ms) 1.34 0.92
Maximum Latency (ms) 47.68 6.79
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 1.96 1.12

MySQL Bulk INSERT

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 2,220,467.00 1,887,810.00
Queries per second 22,204,670.00 18,878,100.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0 0
Average Latency (ms) 0 0.01
Maximum Latency (ms) 240.79 322.52
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0 0

MySQL SELECT

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 716,229.00 203,558.00
Queries per second 7,162,290.00 2,035,580.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.01 0.04
Average Latency (ms) 0.01 0.05
Maximum Latency (ms) 3.14 13.04
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0.02 0.06

MySQL SELECT (Random Points)

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 8,118.00 11,192.00
Queries per second 81,180.00 111,920.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.23 0.21
Average Latency (ms) 1.23 0.89
Maximum Latency (ms) 12.44 6.53
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 1.79 1.18

MySQL SELECT (Random Ranges)

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 13,131.00 11,116.00
Queries per second 131,310.00 111,160.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.2 0.24
Average Latency (ms) 0.76 0.9
Maximum Latency (ms) 4.01 7.03
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 1.14 1.16

MySQL UPDATE (Indexed)

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 6,728.00 9,976.00
Queries per second 67,280.00 99,760.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.51 0.56
Average Latency (ms) 1.48 1
Maximum Latency (ms) 42.6 4.74
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 2.43 1.34

MySQL UPDATE (Non-Indexed)

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 5,255.00 10,150.00
Queries per second 52,550.00 101,500.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.51 0.54
Average Latency (ms) 1.9 0.98
Maximum Latency (ms) 42.38 41.86
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 4.18 1.27

MySQL DELETE

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
Transactions per second 259,230.00 101,100.00
Queries per second 2,592,300.00 1,011,000.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.01 0.04
Average Latency (ms) 0.04 0.1
Maximum Latency (ms) 67.05 8.67
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0.04 0.16

Redis

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
PING_INLINE per Second 87,719.30 54,734.54
PING_MBULK per Second 127,064.80 55,493.89
SET per Second 104,821.80 55,248.62
GET per Second 110,375.27 55,218.11
INCR per Second 125,786.16 55,648.30
LPUSH per Second 125,944.58 54,200.54
RPUSH per Second 133,511.34 54,141.85
LPOP per Second 134,228.19 53,418.80
RPOP per Second 128,534.70 54,525.63
SADD per Second 133,689.83 55,524.71
HSET per Second 127,713.92 53,078.56
SPOP per Second 142,247.52 54,614.96
ZADD per Second 143,884.89 54,975.26
ZPOPMIN per Second 152,905.20 55,066.08
LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) per Second 77,041.60 38,022.81
LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) per Second 31,836.99 20,230.63
LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) per Second 20,064.21 14,701.56
LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) per Second 19,708.32 13,066.77
MSET (10 keys) per Second 131,061.59 52,659.29

Redis Average Latency (ms)

UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) Linode – Nanode (1 GB)
PING_INLINE0.430.61
PING_MBULK0.260.59
SET0.320.60
GET0.300.59
INCR0.270.59
LPUSH0.270.62
RPUSH0.250.62
LPOP0.250.63
RPOP0.260.61
SADD0.250.59
HSET0.260.63
SPOP0.230.60
ZADD0.240.61
ZPOPMIN0.220.60
LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements)0.470.91
LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements)1.141.70
LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements)1.832.36
LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements)1.862.65
MSET (10 keys)0.280.67

Conclusion

From the friendly robots:

Based on the benchmark results, the Linode Nanode (1 GB) performs adequately but lacks the high throughput and low latency characteristics of the UpCloud Balanced (1 GB). The UpCloud instance excels in redis benchmarks with significantly higher request rates per second and lower average latencies across various operations, indicating superior performance for high-load, low-latency requirements such as caching and real-time data processing. While the Linode instance shows respectable performance, it lags behind in CPU-intensive and I/O-heavy workloads. The UpCloud instance also exhibits better file I/O performance, suggesting it might be more suitable for applications requiring frequent file access. For developers looking for cost-effective but high-performing VPS for web applications, caching solutions, or real-time data services, the UpCloud Balanced (1 GB) is the better choice due to its superior benchmarks. Conversely, for users needing a budget-friendly option with adequate but not exceptional performance, the Linode Nanode (1 GB) could still suffice.

From the friendly human:

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