How much does a server cost in 2025?

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In this guide, we’ll cover everything about server costs – from what a server is used for to the pros and cons of renting vs owning and what they cost in 2025.
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How much does a server cost in 2025? | Pleo Blog
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Servers are essential for growing businesses – whether you’re storing files, hosting applications or managing databases. But how much does a server cost, and should you rent or buy one?

In this guide, we’ll cover everything about server costs – from what a server is used for to the pros and cons of renting vs owning and what they cost in 2025.

Key takeaways:

  • Server costs vary based on your business needs and setup preferences, and whether you rent or buy a server significantly affects your costs.
  • Renting a server offers scalability, simplicity and speed – it’s particularly great for growing businesses or startups.
  • Owning a server gives you full control and long-term value, which is especially good if your business handles sensitive data or needs custom configurations and high performance.
  • Monthly rental fees can add up, but so can maintenance costs. Total cost of ownership is an important factor to consider.
  • There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The best choice depends on your budget, IT resources, workload stability and how quickly your business expects to grow. Flexibility favours renting; control and predictability favour owning.

What’s a server used for?

Business servers are used for a variety of purposes that vary based on the nature, size and scope of the business.

Before we get into server costs and what’s the right option for your business, it’s important to have an idea of what you’ll be using the server for.

Some of the tasks servers are typically used for include:

  • Application hosting
  • E-mail hosting
  • File storage/sharing
  • Windows domain controllers
  • Printer servers
  • DNS servers

Renting vs owning a server

When it comes to setting up a business server, there are a few options for how to go about it. You can either:

  1. Rent the server from a service provider for a fixed monthly price or
  2. Buy the server and store it yourself.

Finally, there’s also the option of buying the server and hosting it in a data centre – this is known as colocation. To keep things simple, in this article we’ll be focusing on the two options above.

There are pros and cons to both approaches – you can get a better idea of these in the tables below.

Renting a server

Renting a server involves leasing a server from a third-party data centre. This involves two types of solutions:

  • Cloud servers – virtualised, scalable and ideal for flexibility
  • Dedicated (bare metal) servers – physical machines rented from providers; better for high performance or compliance needs

As the user, you pay a monthly or annual fee for the hardware. In return, the hosting provider is in charge of most of the server-related responsibilities, giving you a flexible solution that’s easy to scale.

Pros of renting a server:

Cons of renting a server:
  • Lower upfront costs: You pay monthly fees, which helps with budgeting and cash flow.
  • Scalability: You can scale your resources up or down based on your business needs and without the hassle of upgrading physical hardware.
  • Maintenance free: No need to worry about maintenance, security, uptime and backups – your hosting provider handles it all.
  • Faster setup: With cloud and dedicated hosting services, you can deploy servers quickly without needing to physically set up hardware.
  • Flexibility: To improve performance and reduce latency for global customers, you can choose to host servers in different data centres around the world.
  • Business continuity: Renting through cloud platforms often includes built-in redundancies. Backups and failover systems are provided – and that means lower risk of downtime or data loss.
  • Monthly costs: Monthly fees add up over time, which can make renting more expensive in the long run.
  • Limited control: You have less control over the physical hardware and infrastructure – and you may be limited in what software or configurations you can implement.
  • Vendor dependency: You’re reliant on the hosting provider’s uptime, support and pricing. If their services or policies change, it can impact your operations.
  • Performance limits: With shared cloud services, your performance might be affected by other users – especially if you’re not on a dedicated server plan.
  • Data privacy concerns: Sensitive data is stored on third-party servers, which may raise concerns about privacy or compliance with certain regulations.

Owning a server

In many ways, owning a server is more demanding than renting a server. To own a server, you need to buy, assemble and install it on your premises, and you’re responsible for maintaining it, too. However, it also offers advantages such as better reliability, customised security and high performance.

Pros of owning a server:

Cons of owning a server:
  • Full control: You’re in control of your hardware, software and security. You can customise your server and configure it in any way you like.
  • Long-term savings: Although the initial investment is high, owning your server can save you money over time compared to paying ongoing rental fees.
  • Increased security: You have more direct control over physical security, network configuration and data handling – and that’s ideal if you’re dealing with sensitive information.
  • No vendor dependency: You’re not tied to a specific hosting provider’s pricing or services. You can upgrade and maintain the server based on your needs without relying on third parties.
  • Performance and reliability: You don’t share resources with other users, ensuring consistent performance. With your physical hardware on site, you also have faster access to data – especially for internal operations.
  • High upfront cost: Server hardware isn’t cheap. For small businesses or startups with limited budgets, it’s often a difficult investment to make.
  • Maintenance responsibility: As its owner, you’re responsible for maintaining the server. This includes upgrades, repairs, backups and security patches – and that can require hiring IT staff or contracting external support.
  • Scalability challenges: Scaling up means buying and installing new hardware, and that can be slow and costly. If your business is growing fast, you may need to frequently upgrade or replace your servers.
  • Risk of downtime: If your server fails or you have hardware issues, it can result in downtime if you don’t have redundancy and failover systems in place.
  • Space, power and cooling: To host a server, you need a dedicated space with the right power supply and cooling capabilities. This adds to your operational costs – especially if you have a small office.

Server costs: Should you buy or rent a server?

As you can see, renting and buying a server both have their advantages and disadvantages. In the end, whether you should rent or buy a server comes down to your business needs.

In the table below, we’ve made an overview of the server costs for renting and owning different types of servers, as well as what the different types of servers are best suited for.

Keep in mind that the prices in the table are a rough estimate – the exact cost may vary depending on the server specifications and vendor.

Server type

Renting cost

Owning cost (hardware)

Best suited for

Examples

Entry-level/

basic server

Cloud hosting: £15-£50/month


Dedicated hosting: £50-£150/

month

£400-£1,250

Small tasks like file storage, share printing or light applications – e.g. an internal website

Dell PowerEdge T40, HPE ProLiant MicroServer

Mid-range server

Cloud hosting: £50-£200/

month


Dedicated hosting: £150-£300/

month

£1,200-£4,100

Businesses that need to handle multiple applications, databases or more intensive software

Dell PowerEdge R340, Lenovo ThinkSystem SR250

High-

performance server

Cloud hosting: £200-£500+/month


Dedicated hosting: £300-£500+/

month

£4,100-£12,300

Businesses that run demanding software, handle large amounts of data or have higher security needs

Dell PowerEdge R740, HPE ProLiant DL380

So – which option is best for you?

That depends on your business size, budget, IT expertise and growth expectations.

Renting a server is an ideal solution if you’re looking for a low-cost, flexible solution without the need for hands-on management. It’s especially useful for businesses that expect to scale quickly or need to minimise upfront costs.

On the other hand, owning a server is better for you if you want full control over your infrastructure – especially if you have specialised needs or expect your server to run for several years without significant changes. It may also be the more economical choice for you if you require high performance and have predictable workloads.

When making your decision, ask yourself:

  • ‘Do I have the in-house IT resources to maintain a server?’
  • ‘Am I expecting rapid growth and needing to scale quickly?’
  • ‘Is data compliance or physical security a major concern?’
  • ‘What’s my budget – upfront vs long-term?’

In the end, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to server costs and whether to rent or buy a server. It all comes down to your business needs and your budget.

You might also be interested in: IT asset management: What is it, and how’s it done?

Final thoughts

If your business is growing rapidly, you’ll likely need a server soon. If you’re just starting out or need flexibility, renting is likely your best bet. But if you have the resources and expect consistent, predictable workloads, owning a server might save you money in the long run.

Ultimately, it’s all about finding the right balance between control, cost and convenience for your business.

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