UpCloud Balanced (2 GB) vs. Vultr High Performance Intel (1 GB)
Same showdown, different day. Today I've spun up some brand new instance from UpCloud and Vultr 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. Time to see who showed up today.
Overview
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Last Benchmarked | Wed, 13 May 2026 07:00:52 GMT | Tue, 12 May 2026 02:00:52 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 | New York, NY | Newark, NJ |
| Monthly Price | €13.00 | $6.00 |
| RAM (GB) | 2 | 1 |
| CPU Cores | 1 | 1 |
| Storage (TB) | 50 | 25 |
| Storage Type | SSD | NVMe |
| Transfer (TB) | 2 | 2 |
CPU
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | AuthenticAMD | GenuineIntel |
| Model Name | AMD EPYC 9575F 64-Core Processor | Intel Xeon Processor (Cascadelake) |
| Clock Speed (MHz) | 3,295.48 | 2,992.97 |
| CPU Cache Size (KB) | 512.00 | 16,384.00 |
| BogoMips | 6,590.95 | 5,985.94 |
| Events per Second | 5,025.21 | 1,189.15 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.18 | 0.81 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.2 | 0.84 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 5.35 | 2.47 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.22 | 0.95 |
Memory
Memory Read
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations per second | 5,932,400.60 | 5,526,233.85 |
| Mebibytes per second | 5,793.36 | 5,396.71 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 2.22 | 1.06 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
Memory Write
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations per second | 6,706,599.41 | 5,497,468.92 |
| Mebibytes per second | 6,549.41 | 5,368.62 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 1.56 | 0.88 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
File I/O
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reads per Second | 3,214.64 | 4,359.61 |
| Writes per Second | 2,143.03 | 2,906.41 |
| Fsyncs per Second | 6,864.71 | 9,311.70 |
| Read Mebibytes per Second | 50.23 | 68.12 |
| Written Mebibytes per Second | 33.48 | 45.41 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.08 | 0.06 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 20.14 | 18.46 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.31 | 0.18 |
Mutex
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1,349.13 | 1,494.72 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1,353.60 | 1,505.74 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 1,361.99 | 1,513.45 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1,352.03 | 1,506.29 |
MySQL
MySQL Read-only
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 19,090.00 | 8,686.00 |
| Queries per second | 190,900.00 | 86,860.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.31 | 1.05 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.52 | 1.15 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 5.34 | 8.54 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.64 | 1.32 |
MySQL Write-only
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 3,974.00 | 9,029.00 |
| Queries per second | 39,740.00 | 90,290.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.87 | 0.75 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 2.51 | 1.11 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 38.67 | 6.01 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 5 | 1.55 |
MySQL Read/Write
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 2,830.00 | 3,603.00 |
| Queries per second | 28,300.00 | 36,030.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.29 | 2.16 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 3.53 | 2.77 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 56.72 | 8.09 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 6.32 | 3.43 |
MySQL INSERT
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 4,647.00 | 17,017.00 |
| Queries per second | 46,470.00 | 170,170.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.61 | 0.41 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 2.15 | 0.58 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 28.58 | 2.87 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 4.41 | 0.75 |
MySQL Bulk INSERT
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 2,249,592.00 | 1,317,592.00 |
| Queries per second | 22,495,920.00 | 13,175,920.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0.01 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 207.34 | 398.08 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
MySQL SELECT
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 645,161.00 | 229,474.00 |
| Queries per second | 6,451,610.00 | 2,294,740.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.01 | 0.04 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.02 | 0.04 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 2.26 | 5.67 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.02 | 0.06 |
MySQL SELECT (Random Points)
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 8,546.00 | 6,884.00 |
| Queries per second | 85,460.00 | 68,840.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.13 | 0.46 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.17 | 1.45 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 172.57 | 5.12 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.58 | 1.89 |
MySQL SELECT (Random Ranges)
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 11,562.00 | 8,214.00 |
| Queries per second | 115,620.00 | 82,140.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.22 | 0.43 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.86 | 1.22 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 4.07 | 3.8 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.27 | 1.58 |
MySQL UPDATE (Indexed)
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 4,711.00 | 15,965.00 |
| Queries per second | 47,110.00 | 159,650.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.73 | 0.42 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 2.12 | 0.62 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 30.41 | 3.1 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 3.96 | 0.94 |
MySQL UPDATE (Non-Indexed)
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 5,393.00 | 16,573.00 |
| Queries per second | 53,930.00 | 165,730.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.48 | 0.41 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.85 | 0.6 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 39 | 7.54 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 3.43 | 0.81 |
MySQL DELETE
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 101,195.00 | 138,973.00 |
| Queries per second | 1,011,950.00 | 1,389,730.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.01 | 0.04 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.1 | 0.07 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 39.3 | 4.78 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.17 | 0.12 |
Redis
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| PING_INLINE per Second | 130,208.34 | 50,403.23 |
| PING_MBULK per Second | 130,208.34 | 50,530.57 |
| SET per Second | 130,890.05 | 48,947.62 |
| GET per Second | 129,198.97 | 48,638.13 |
| INCR per Second | 128,534.70 | 48,899.75 |
| LPUSH per Second | 128,040.97 | 49,529.47 |
| RPUSH per Second | 126,582.27 | 48,923.68 |
| LPOP per Second | 124,688.28 | 48,192.77 |
| RPOP per Second | 127,226.46 | 47,505.94 |
| SADD per Second | 129,198.97 | 49,701.79 |
| HSET per Second | 133,511.34 | 49,043.65 |
| SPOP per Second | 139,275.77 | 49,925.11 |
| ZADD per Second | 130,039.02 | 49,504.95 |
| ZPOPMIN per Second | 129,701.68 | 50,075.11 |
| LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) per Second | 55,524.71 | 31,250.00 |
| LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) per Second | 28,785.26 | 16,220.60 |
| LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) per Second | 18,942.98 | 10,592.10 |
| LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) per Second | 17,038.68 | 9,463.42 |
| MSET (10 keys) per Second | 108,225.10 | 45,330.91 |
Redis Average Latency (ms)
| UpCloud – Balanced (2 GB) | Vultr – High Performance Intel (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| PING_INLINE | 0.25 | 0.66 |
| PING_MBULK | 0.25 | 0.66 |
| SET | 0.26 | 0.68 |
| GET | 0.26 | 0.68 |
| INCR | 0.26 | 0.68 |
| LPUSH | 0.26 | 0.68 |
| RPUSH | 0.27 | 0.68 |
| LPOP | 0.27 | 0.70 |
| RPOP | 0.27 | 0.71 |
| SADD | 0.26 | 0.67 |
| HSET | 0.26 | 0.69 |
| SPOP | 0.24 | 0.67 |
| ZADD | 0.26 | 0.69 |
| ZPOPMIN | 0.26 | 0.67 |
| LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) | 0.66 | 1.11 |
| LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) | 1.27 | 2.22 |
| LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) | 1.95 | 3.36 |
| LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) | 2.16 | 3.75 |
| MSET (10 keys) | 0.34 | 0.76 |
Conclusion
From the friendly robots:
The UpCloud Balanced instance shows stronger performance in most benchmarks, particularly with Redis operations and MySQL database tasks, achieving higher requests per second and lower latency, which suggests it's better suited for CPU-intensive and memory-demanding workloads. The Vultr High Performance Intel instance, while having solid performance, lags behind in several metrics, notably in Redis LRANGE operations and MySQL bulk inserts, indicating it might be less efficient for high-demand applications. Based on the benchmarks provided, the UpCloud instance is likely a better choice for demanding applications requiring high throughput and low latency, while the Vultr instance could suffice for less demanding workloads where the lower price might be more important than peak performance.
From the friendly human:
If you found this VPS Showdown helpful in your search for a hosting provider, please consider supporting my efforts by signing up using my referral links for UpCloud and Vultr.
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