Ever wanted to have your own Minecraft server. A place where you can put the [Owner] prefix in your name? But, you don't have enough money to start one up with it's own website and donation store? Well this guide is for you. Everything you need for a server with the best and cheapest companies... Let's start out with the most important part; the server itself.


I have used numerous hosts, both expensive and bad server boxes. SpartanHost is really is, "a bang for your buck." These guys offer 2 types of plans, Budget and Premium. Budget is cheaper, but it doesn't run on and SSD like Premium does. I recommend getting Budget to start out with and if it laggy, which is rare, just upgrade your RAM. If you want no lag whatso ever. Not one bit, get Premium. The Premium plans also give you free web hosting, which is always a plus. With all plans you get a free Mumble server and a subdomain pointing at your IP. For an extra 2$ you get a dedicated IP as well. Still doubtful? You can get a free trial to see if you like it. This is one of the best hosts I've ever used, and I've used about 10-15 hosts...
My Suggestion: Get a 3GB Budget Plan for a >100 player server. Get a 4GB Premium for <100 server.
www.spartanhost.org

Without webhosting, what's the point in a domain? You must have webhosting if you have a domain! Nothing will work. Web hosting will get your forums up and everything else. SpartanHost is great for webhosting as well. You can get 5GB of disc space for 1.50$ a month! That is a great deal! I rarely have downtime with myBB using SpartanHost. If you plan on having a bigger community, get a larger plan for 3$ a month.
My Suggestion: Get the 1.50$ plan
www.spartanhost.org



Now let's look into getting our domain; domains can be very expensive, depending on who you go with. Want a .com domain with GoDaddy? 10$ A MONTH! That is obsurd! What about 15$ a year? That sounds better! nameCheap offers that plan. Also, as of this post, there are many coupons including one that drops it down 5$!  You also get WhoIsGuard for free the first year. WhoIsGuard protects your informations, including your address and email. After the first year, it is about 2$ extra to your domain.
My Suggestion: Get a .com Domain with WhoIsGuard the first year.
www.namecheap.com




Last but never least, you can't be paying for the entire thing! Buycraft is very limited when it comes to the free version and if you want a few more features it is 6$ a month! I have found an alternate of this, it is called MinecraftMarket. This is like a Buycraft alternate, but you get many features for free, and if you want all of them is will cost you less than 5$ a month. If you want all of the Buycraft features, that would cost you around 16$ a month.
My Suggestion: Get MinecraftMarket free to see how it is then get the Premium.
www.minecraftmarket.com

Buycraft is a better alternative if you want less than 5 packages as there is only 1 ad.





Hopfully you liked my guide and I hope it helped you guys with your server. I feel many hosts overprice and I want to get the word out for the smaller, cheaper companies. I've spent a lot of time researching about this for you guys and my own MC server. I've used all of them and very few complaints. Good luck with your server, and if you PM me about it I would love to check it out!

Thanks for reading,
Brandon