Vultr Cloud Compute (1 GB) vs. UpCloud Balanced (1 GB)
My friend, I'm so glad you're here! Today I've spun up some brand new instance from UpCloud and Vultr to run some benchmarks on. Each instance was spun up with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 and were created in the New York area (or close to it). Enough talk. Here's the data.
Overview
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Last Benchmarked | Tue, 09 Jun 2026 16:00:52 GMT | Wed, 10 Jun 2026 03:00:58 GMT |
| Linux Distro | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 |
| Kernel Version | 6.8.0-124-generic | 6.8.0-111-generic |
| MySQL Version | 8.0.46-0ubuntu0.24.04.2 | 8.0.46-0ubuntu0.24.04.2 |
| 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
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | GenuineIntel | AuthenticAMD |
| Model Name | Intel Core Processor (Broadwell, no TSX, IBRS) | AMD EPYC 9575F 64-Core Processor |
| Clock Speed (MHz) | 2,400.00 | 3,295.46 |
| CPU Cache Size (KB) | 16,384.00 | 512.00 |
| BogoMips | 4,799.99 | 6,590.91 |
| Events per Second | 818.79 | 5,705.40 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.02 | 0.16 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.22 | 0.18 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 4.29 | 1.27 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.37 | 0.19 |
Memory
Memory Read
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations per second | 4,016,644.99 | 8,056,617.47 |
| Mebibytes per second | 3,922.50 | 7,867.79 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 0.24 | 0.28 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
Memory Write
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations per second | 3,983,147.38 | 7,635,465.92 |
| Mebibytes per second | 3,889.79 | 7,456.51 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 0.35 | 0.72 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
File I/O
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reads per Second | 2,012.81 | 4,880.21 |
| Writes per Second | 1,341.84 | 3,253.44 |
| Fsyncs per Second | 4,294.21 | 10,411.32 |
| Read Mebibytes per Second | 31.45 | 76.25 |
| Written Mebibytes per Second | 20.97 | 50.83 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.13 | 0.05 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 5.76 | 25.28 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.35 | 0.19 |
Mutex
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 2,100.95 | 1,094.52 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 2,112.04 | 1,098.99 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 2,121.79 | 1,105.13 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2,120.76 | 1,109.09 |
MySQL
MySQL Read-only
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 5,273.00 | 27,863.00 |
| Queries per second | 52,730.00 | 278,630.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.65 | 0.28 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.89 | 0.36 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 13.42 | 4.23 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2.07 | 0.5 |
MySQL Write-only
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 3,981.00 | 8,234.00 |
| Queries per second | 39,810.00 | 82,340.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.77 | 0.51 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 2.51 | 1.21 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 128.86 | 109.78 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 3.3 | 1.7 |
MySQL Read/Write
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 2,042.00 | 5,658.00 |
| Queries per second | 20,420.00 | 56,580.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 3.94 | 1.02 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 4.89 | 1.77 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 58.24 | 29.92 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 5.88 | 2.43 |
MySQL INSERT
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 5,470.00 | 10,677.00 |
| Queries per second | 54,700.00 | 106,770.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.13 | 0.4 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.83 | 0.93 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 111.33 | 51.91 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 3.13 | 1.32 |
MySQL Bulk INSERT
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 996,869.00 | 3,065,346.00 |
| Queries per second | 9,968,690.00 | 30,653,460.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.01 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 648.81 | 175.55 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
MySQL SELECT
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 112,678.00 | 904,699.00 |
| Queries per second | 1,126,780.00 | 9,046,990.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.06 | 0.01 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.09 | 0.01 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 8.37 | 1.15 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.13 | 0.02 |
MySQL SELECT (Random Points)
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 4,976.00 | 18,275.00 |
| Queries per second | 49,760.00 | 182,750.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.83 | 0.16 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 2.01 | 0.55 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 8.19 | 4.14 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 3.02 | 0.81 |
MySQL SELECT (Random Ranges)
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 5,987.00 | 18,836.00 |
| Queries per second | 59,870.00 | 188,360.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.54 | 0.15 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.67 | 0.53 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 10.51 | 1.6 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2.18 | 0.77 |
MySQL UPDATE (Indexed)
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 5,883.00 | 9,429.00 |
| Queries per second | 58,830.00 | 94,290.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.98 | 0.41 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.7 | 1.06 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 4.44 | 70.38 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2.26 | 1.52 |
MySQL UPDATE (Non-Indexed)
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 6,195.00 | 10,777.00 |
| Queries per second | 61,950.00 | 107,770.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.18 | 0.4 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.61 | 0.93 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 30.16 | 41.92 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2.11 | 1.37 |
MySQL DELETE
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 23,800.00 | 318,714.00 |
| Queries per second | 238,000.00 | 3,187,140.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.06 | 0.01 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.42 | 0.03 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 2553.92 | 74.81 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 1.7 | 0.03 |
Redis
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| PING_INLINE per Second | 34,129.69 | 174,216.03 |
| PING_MBULK per Second | 35,248.50 | 171,232.88 |
| SET per Second | 34,352.46 | 170,357.75 |
| GET per Second | 34,806.82 | 179,856.11 |
| INCR per Second | 34,199.73 | 180,180.17 |
| LPUSH per Second | 33,840.95 | 168,634.06 |
| RPUSH per Second | 34,698.12 | 174,216.03 |
| LPOP per Second | 32,041.01 | 171,526.58 |
| RPOP per Second | 33,400.13 | 170,940.17 |
| SADD per Second | 33,568.31 | 166,666.66 |
| HSET per Second | 33,489.62 | 166,666.66 |
| SPOP per Second | 34,855.35 | 168,634.06 |
| ZADD per Second | 32,658.39 | 171,232.88 |
| ZPOPMIN per Second | 33,134.53 | 175,746.92 |
| LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) per Second | 22,158.21 | 89,206.06 |
| LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) per Second | 12,084.59 | 42,444.82 |
| LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) per Second | 8,313.93 | 25,866.53 |
| LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) per Second | 7,367.57 | 21,070.38 |
| MSET (10 keys) per Second | 30,807.15 | 145,137.88 |
Redis Average Latency (ms)
| Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) | UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| PING_INLINE | 0.96 | 0.19 |
| PING_MBULK | 0.93 | 0.19 |
| SET | 0.96 | 0.20 |
| GET | 0.94 | 0.18 |
| INCR | 0.97 | 0.19 |
| LPUSH | 0.98 | 0.20 |
| RPUSH | 0.95 | 0.19 |
| LPOP | 1.03 | 0.20 |
| RPOP | 0.99 | 0.20 |
| SADD | 0.97 | 0.20 |
| HSET | 0.98 | 0.20 |
| SPOP | 0.94 | 0.20 |
| ZADD | 1.01 | 0.20 |
| ZPOPMIN | 0.99 | 0.19 |
| LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) | 1.50 | 0.40 |
| LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) | 2.81 | 0.83 |
| LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) | 4.10 | 1.38 |
| LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) | 4.58 | 1.71 |
| MSET (10 keys) | 1.10 | 0.25 |
Conclusion
From the friendly robots:
After analyzing the benchmarks for both UpCloud's Balanced (1 GB) and Vultr's Cloud Compute (1 GB), it's clear that UpCloud's instance excels in Redis benchmark operations, achieving higher requests per second (rps) and lower latency across most commands compared to Vultr's instance. UpCloud also provides superior I/O performance with higher throughput and lower average latency for file operations, which indicates more efficient disk I/O handling. However, Vultr's CPU benchmark shows better performance with more events per second and lower average latency. Both providers show similar memory operation performance with low latencies and high throughputs. Considering the overall performance, UpCloud is better suited for workloads that demand high I/O efficiency and Redis operations, while Vultr is preferable for CPU-intensive tasks, given its stronger CPU performance metrics. For developers and sysadmins, UpCloud would be advantageous for applications relying on Redis and I/O operations, while Vultr might be more cost-effective for CPU-heavy applications.
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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