Vultr Cloud Compute (1 GB) vs. UpCloud Balanced (1 GB)

vs.

Same showdown, different day. Today I've spun up 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). Let's get into the numbers.

Overview

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Last Benchmarked Thu, 21 May 2026 23:00:52 GMT Fri, 22 May 2026 11:00:52 GMT
Linux Distro Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64
Kernel Version 6.8.0-117-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

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) 2,394.45 3,295.45
CPU Cache Size (KB) 16,384.00 512.00
BogoMips 4,788.90 6,590.90
Events per Second 859.04 5,248.20
Minimum Latency (ms) 1.14 0.18
Average Latency (ms) 1.16 0.19
Maximum Latency (ms) 2.42 1.79
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 1.25 0.2

Memory

Memory Read

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Operations per second 4,179,696.98 6,801,282.43
Mebibytes per second 4,081.74 6,641.88
Minimum Latency (ms) 0 0
Average Latency (ms) 0 0
Maximum Latency (ms) 0.23 2.29
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0 0

Memory Write

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Operations per second 4,151,553.00 5,773,502.12
Mebibytes per second 4,054.25 5,638.19
Minimum Latency (ms) 0 0
Average Latency (ms) 0 0
Maximum Latency (ms) 0.59 3.02
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0 0

File I/O

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Reads per Second 2,403.90 3,347.40
Writes per Second 1,602.60 2,231.60
Fsyncs per Second 5,132.41 7,151.99
Read Mebibytes per Second 37.56 52.30
Written Mebibytes per Second 25.04 34.87
Minimum Latency (ms) 0 0
Average Latency (ms) 0.11 0.08
Maximum Latency (ms) 3.04 45.95
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0.32 0.25

Mutex

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Minimum Latency (ms) 2,066.64 1,448.88
Average Latency (ms) 2,071.43 1,453.66
Maximum Latency (ms) 2,075.26 1,458.86
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 2,082.91 1,453.01

MySQL

MySQL Read-only

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 5,409.00 186.00
Queries per second 54,090.00 1,860.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 1.74 0.33
Average Latency (ms) 1.85 54.83
Maximum Latency (ms) 13.71 1519.77
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 2 320.17

MySQL Write-only

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 4,997.00 7.00
Queries per second 49,970.00 70.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 1.47 1299.84
Average Latency (ms) 2 1584.29
Maximum Latency (ms) 10.54 1904.57
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 2.61 1903.57

MySQL Read/Write

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 2,422.00 1.00
Queries per second 24,220.00 10.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 3.55 16296.58
Average Latency (ms) 4.13 16296.58
Maximum Latency (ms) 12.42 16296.58
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 4.82 16224.31

MySQL INSERT

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 9,166.00 92.00
Queries per second 91,660.00 920.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.71 1.47
Average Latency (ms) 1.09 110.5
Maximum Latency (ms) 6.03 255.29
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 1.39 204.11

MySQL Bulk INSERT

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 937,763.00 2,307,842.00
Queries per second 9,377,630.00 23,078,420.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0 0
Average Latency (ms) 0.01 0
Maximum Latency (ms) 661.15 293.41
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0 0

MySQL SELECT

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 117,346.00 613,969.00
Queries per second 1,173,460.00 6,139,690.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.07 0.01
Average Latency (ms) 0.08 0.02
Maximum Latency (ms) 7.11 211.08
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 0.11 0.02

MySQL SELECT (Random Points)

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 5,731.00 36.00
Queries per second 57,310.00 360.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.62 132
Average Latency (ms) 1.74 280.61
Maximum Latency (ms) 6.81 683.5
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 2.18 411.96

MySQL SELECT (Random Ranges)

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 6,416.00 33.00
Queries per second 64,160.00 330.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.47 107.87
Average Latency (ms) 1.56 311.59
Maximum Latency (ms) 4.83 710.24
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 2 493.24

MySQL UPDATE (Indexed)

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 8,258.00 756.00
Queries per second 82,580.00 7,560.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.72 0.6
Average Latency (ms) 1.21 13.32
Maximum Latency (ms) 35.33 591.87
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 1.79 82.96

MySQL UPDATE (Non-Indexed)

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 8,930.00 22.00
Queries per second 89,300.00 220.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.71 288.94
Average Latency (ms) 1.12 468.04
Maximum Latency (ms) 20.29 695.61
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 1.39 612.21

MySQL DELETE

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
Transactions per second 50,174.00 128.00
Queries per second 501,740.00 1,280.00
Minimum Latency (ms) 0.07 18.77
Average Latency (ms) 0.2 77.86
Maximum Latency (ms) 18.49 170.32
95th Percentile Latency (ms) 1.1 116.8

Redis

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
PING_INLINE per Second 36,643.46 93,370.68
PING_MBULK per Second 37,230.08 114,285.71
SET per Second 36,724.20 72,254.34
GET per Second 36,982.25 57,636.89
INCR per Second 36,941.26 114,547.53
LPUSH per Second 36,483.04 54,054.05
RPUSH per Second 37,091.99 121,951.22
LPOP per Second 36,643.46 76,745.97
RPOP per Second 36,764.71 102,145.05
SADD per Second 37,523.45 89,445.44
HSET per Second 36,995.93 93,720.71
SPOP per Second 37,565.74 92,081.03
ZADD per Second 37,009.62 81,900.09
ZPOPMIN per Second 34,916.20 99,601.60
LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) per Second 23,557.13 48,473.10
LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) per Second 12,960.08 17,497.81
LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) per Second 9,176.00 14,285.71
LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) per Second 7,776.65 10,760.79
MSET (10 keys) per Second 31,017.37 91,074.68

Redis Average Latency (ms)

Vultr – Cloud Compute (1 GB) UpCloud – Balanced (1 GB)
PING_INLINE0.890.40
PING_MBULK0.880.30
SET0.900.55
GET0.890.70
INCR0.890.30
LPUSH0.910.74
RPUSH0.890.29
LPOP0.910.51
RPOP0.900.35
SADD0.880.42
HSET0.890.40
SPOP0.870.40
ZADD0.900.44
ZPOPMIN0.960.37
LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements)1.400.80
LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements)2.572.31
LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements)3.742.73
LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements)4.363.65
MSET (10 keys)1.090.43

Conclusion

From the friendly robots:

Upon analyzing the benchmark results for both the UpCloud Balanced (1 GB) and Vultr Cloud Compute (1 GB) instances, it is evident that UpCloud delivers slightly superior performance in most metrics, particularly with higher throughput rates and lower latencies in both CPU and memory operations. UpCloud's instance with an AMD EPYC processor showcases higher Redis request rates per second and lower latencies across various Redis commands, as well as better file I/O and CPU performance. Vultr, on the other hand, exhibits more affordable pricing but lags behind in raw performance metrics, especially evident in Redis and MySQL benchmarks where it shows lower request rates per second and higher latencies. Given these results, UpCloud is better suited for CPU-intensive and I/O-heavy workloads where high performance is crucial, while Vultr offers a more cost-effective option for applications where performance requirements are less stringent.

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.

You can also support me directly by buying me a coffee.