Right now i'm using aternos because i don't need a lot of resources and it's free, but when i need to get a better server normally i buy a VPS server from OVH. They are relatively cheap (compared to minecraft server pages) and you have full controll of the server through SSH.
The only "downside" is that you need to know how to configure the server from a clean linux, but that's really easy and definitely worth the time.

If you have a spare computer with at least 8 GB RAM (16 preferred), run it off of that and don't use a service. It's 100% free and you're in complete control of everything since you own the hardware. Been doing that for almost a year and i will never migrate back.



Only downside obviously is this requires good internet and a good pc that always has to be on.

hey, im currently using, ouihberg, if you're searching for a powerful server for cheap, this is the way to go.



if you don't want or simply can't invest in a server host, i recommend using gamever https://gamever.io/

its pretty bar bones as its in its beta stage but don't search futher if you want powerful minecraft server for free that stays online 24/7 without any noticable lag.



hope this helps !