Colocation Compared: Rack Space, Power and Bandwidth in 2026

Colocation in 2026: what you actually pay for

Colocation is priced by space, power and network. Space is sold by the rack unit (a 1U or 2U slot for a single server), by the quarter or half rack, or by the full cabinet. Power is sold in amps or kilowatts per slot or rack, and for dense hardware it can cost more than the space itself. Bandwidth comes either as a committed port, for example 1 Gbps unmetered, or as a data allowance. On top sit IP addresses, cross-connects to carriers and remote hands — technicians who reboot a server, swap a disk or check cabling for you, usually billed per incident or per hour.

Public colocation prices (live sample)

Only a few providers publish a colocation price list. These are the offers our tracker follows:

Live prices from our tracker. Colocation offers often add setup fees, power upgrades and minimum terms that a headline price does not show — confirm them in the order form.

Quote-only colocation

Hivelocity, NovoServe, Selectel and 3HCloud also sell colocation, but we do not track a public colocation price for them — ask each for a quote. Hivelocity is a natural starting point for US deployments, with 42 data centers and SOC 2 and PCI DSS certified facilities; NovoServe's data centers are in the Netherlands, Denmark and New York, behind its own 18 Tbps backbone; Selectel serves customers in Russia from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk; and 3HCloud runs locations in Miami, Dallas, San Francisco, Warsaw and Manila.

What to ask before you sign

• Power: how many amps or kilowatts are included per unit, what an upgrade costs, and whether you get redundant A and B feeds.
• Network: port speed, whether traffic is unmetered or committed, one upstream or a blend of carriers, and how many IPv4 addresses come with the slot.
• Remote hands: how many minutes are included and the hourly rate after that — it matters the first time a disk fails at night.
• Access and contract: whether you can visit the facility, the minimum term, setup fees and the notice period.
• Compliance: if you handle card data or regulated information, ask for audit reports. Hivelocity lists SOC 2 and PCI DSS certified data centers; Selectel lists ISO 27001, PCI DSS and SOC 2.

Colocation or a dedicated server?

Colocation makes sense when you already own hardware, need a specific configuration or run enough machines that buying beats renting. For one or two servers, renting is usually simpler and often cheaper: you skip the hardware purchase, the shipping and the remote-hands bills. The cheapest dedicated server in our tracker costs $10.41 a month, while InterServer's single 1U slot costs $100.00 before you buy the machine. See our dedicated server comparison for rental options.

Which colocation provider should you choose?

• Transparent US pricing: InterServer — public prices from a single 1U slot to a quarter rack, with 24/7 phone, chat and ticket support.
• A fixed price in Europe: Hetzner — a published 1U price of $113.40, on a network with multiple 100 Gbit/s uplinks.
• Widest US footprint: Hivelocity — 42 data centers, SOC 2 and PCI DSS certified facilities and 24/7 phone support; quote-based.
• Network-heavy workloads in Europe: NovoServe — its own 18 Tbps backbone with 800+ peering partners; quote-based.
• Russia: Selectel — its own backbone, ISO 27001, PCI DSS and SOC 2; quote-based.

Prefer head-to-head reads? See Hetzner vs InterServer or Hetzner vs Hivelocity, or build your own matchup on the Compare hub.