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Aternos Alternatives: Six Hosts Compared

By Justin, founder of Alpenglow Hosting · Facts checked on 5 October 2026

Short answer: for a group of friends, our pick is Alpenglow: no queue, no ads, you choose the RAM, the server wakes when a friend joins, and it costs about €1 to €2.50 a month after 50 free credits. If you want the Aternos panel without the queue, use exaroton, made by the same team. If you want to stay free, use Minehut (1 GB, wakes on join) or FalixNodes (2.5 GB, starts can queue).
Try Alpenglow Free: 50 CreditsAbout 25 hours on a 2 GB server · No card required

We run Alpenglow, so read our own entry with that in mind. The facts about the other five hosts come from their own websites and help centres, linked at the bottom of the page.

Why people look for an alternative

Aternos is good at what it promises: a Minecraft server that costs nothing, with no playtime limit. It pays for that with advertising, and it says so openly. The limits follow from being free, and four of them are what send people searching:

  • The queue. When its machines are at full capacity, you wait in line before your server starts, and you have to confirm with a click when it is your turn.
  • The RAM. Aternos decides it by software and version. You cannot buy or choose more.
  • The mod rules. Mods and modpacks come from its own library. You cannot upload a mod you downloaded, or change single mods inside a pack.
  • Starting it. Someone has to open the panel and press start. Joining only starts the server through Aternos' own launcher.

If none of these bother your group, stay on Aternos. If one does, the table below shows which host removes it.

Which one fits you

We are a few friends who play some evenings a week
Alpenglow
No queue, no ads, you choose the RAM, and it costs about €1 to €2.50 a month.
My friends should be able to join without me starting anything
Alpenglow
The server wakes when a player connects. exaroton and Minehut do this too.
We play a modpack and it keeps breaking
Alpenglow
One-click packs, your own pack uploads, and crash explanations in the console.
I want to try a paid host before paying anything
Alpenglow
50 free credits without a card. exaroton gives 5, and RespawnHost starts with a €5 top-up.
I like Aternos and want to keep its panel
exaroton
Same company, same panel, and your Aternos server imports directly.
I want to keep paying nothing
Minehut or FalixNodes
Minehut wakes on join with no time limit but gives 1 GB. FalixNodes gives 2.5 GB with a possible queue.
The server must be online all day for a public community
A monthly plan, for example Server.pro
Above roughly eight hours a day, a flat monthly price beats paying per hour.

Aternos and six alternatives, side by side

Aternos
Free
PriceFree, paid for by ads
RAMSet by Aternos per software and version (a Vanilla 1.20.1 server gets 2,400 MB)
Starting the serverStart in the panel. When capacity is full you join a queue and confirm with a click.
Limits to knowAds, ad blockers are detected. Mods and modpacks only from its own library. 4 GB storage.
Alpenglow
Pay per hour
Price€0.01 per GB of RAM per hour, down to about €0.0077 with larger credit packs
RAM2 to 12 GB, your choice
Starting the serverWakes when a player joins, in about 30 to 60 seconds. The first join attempt times out, so you reconnect.
Limits to knowBilled per started hour, after a free first five minutes. Servers in Germany only. Java Edition.
exaroton
Pay per hour
Price€0.01 per GB of RAM per hour, billed to the second
RAM2 to 16 GB, your choice
Starting the serverStarts when a player connects. An optional lobby holds players while it boots.
Limits to knowStorage fee of 10 credits a month unless you spend at least 10. 5 free credits, uploads locked until the first purchase.
RespawnHost
Pay per hour
PriceAbout €0.0166 an hour for 2 GB, billed per second, capped at €11.97 a month
RAM2 to 32 GB
Starting the serverAn auto-stop shuts the server down after a set time without players. Its docs describe starting from the panel.
Limits to knowMinimum top-up €5. The balance must cover four hours to start. No free credits listed.
Minehut
Free
PriceFree plan. Paid plans from 600 Minehut credits a month for 2 GB.
RAM1 GB on the free plan, 2 to 14 GB on paid plans
Starting the serverSleeps when empty and wakes when a player joins. No playtime limit.
Limits to know10 players on the free plan. SFTP only on paid plans.
FalixNodes
Free
PriceFree plan, no card. Paid plans add more RAM and CPU.
RAM2.5 GB shared on the free plan
Starting the serverStarts can queue when a free machine is busy.
Limits to knowFree plan open in 40 countries. One shared CPU core, 10 GB storage.
Server.pro
Free demo, then monthly
PriceFree time-limited demo. Paid: $7 a month for 4 GB, $15 for 8 GB.
RAM2 GB in the demo, 4 to 32 GB paid
Starting the serverThe demo is renewed by hand every hour. Paid plans run all the time.
Limits to knowIts plan table lists “no queue” and “ad-free” for paid plans only. Demo data is kept 24 hours and needs a paid plan to access.

Prices and limits as published by each host on 5 October 2026. Hosts change their plans often, so check the linked sources before you decide.

The six, one by one

Three charge by the hour, three are free or start free. We start with our own. Each gets the same treatment: what it does well, what you give up, and who it suits.

1. Alpenglow

Pay per hourThat's us

Best for: A group of friends that plays a few evenings a week, with or without mods.

What it does well
  • No queue and no ads. The server wakes on its own when a friend joins, so nobody has to open a panel.
  • 50 free credits without a card, enough for about 25 hours on a 2 GB server. That is ten times exaroton's trial.
  • CurseForge and Modrinth modpacks install in one click, you can upload your own pack, and a crashed modded server explains the cause in plain language.
  • Larger credit packs add up to 30% bonus credits, and the founder answers support questions on Discord.
What you give up
  • It is not free once the 50 credits are used. A typical group then pays about €1 to €2.50 a month.
  • Billing counts started hours. The first five minutes after a start are free.
  • Servers are in Germany, so it suits players in Europe best.
Try Free: 50 CreditsAbout 25 hours on a 2 GB server · No card required

2. exaroton

Pay per hour

Best for: Aternos users who want the same panel without queue and ads.

What it does well
  • Made by the same company as Aternos, with an import for Aternos servers.
  • You choose the RAM, and you can upload your own mods, plugins and modpacks.
  • Servers in Europe and North America at the same price.
What you give up
  • The free trial is 5 credits, and file uploads stay disabled until you buy credits.
  • A stopped server still costs 10 credits a month in storage unless you spent that much running it.
  • The price per credit is the same at every purchase size.

Coming from exaroton instead? Alpenglow and exaroton compared in detail.

3. RespawnHost

Pay per hour

Best for: Groups that play other games too and want one host for all of them.

What it does well
  • A low hourly rate: about €0.0166 an hour for a 2 GB server, billed per second.
  • A monthly price cap of €11.97 at 2 GB, so a server left running has a ceiling.
  • Locations in Germany, the United States and India, and many other games besides Minecraft.
What you give up
  • We found no free credits to try it: the minimum top-up is €5.
  • We found no mention of the server waking when a player joins.
  • Its pages disagree on what happens to a server that stays stopped for weeks, so check that first.

4. Minehut

Free

Best for: A small Paper server with plugins that should cost nothing.

What it does well
  • Up to five free servers, each with 1 GB of RAM and unlimited plugin slots.
  • The server wakes on its own when someone joins, and there is no daily time limit.
  • Every server gets its own address, and players can also find it through the Minehut lobby.
What you give up
  • 1 GB and ten players is tight for anything beyond a light Paper server.
  • Its help centre lists Paper, Velocity and Fabric. We found no mention of Forge or NeoForge modpacks.
  • Only the largest paid plan stays online around the clock.

5. FalixNodes

Free

Best for: The most free RAM on this page, if you live in a supported country.

What it does well
  • 2.5 GB of RAM on the free plan, the most of the free options on this page.
  • Unlimited player slots and 10 GB of storage on the free plan.
  • Sign-up needs an email address and no card.
What you give up
  • The RAM is shared, and a start can queue when the free machines are busy.
  • The free plan is limited to 40 countries, and free servers run in Europe.
  • Read its help centre for the rules on keeping a free server running before you move a world over.

6. Server.pro

Free demo, then monthly

Best for: Trying a server for an evening, or a fixed monthly price for an always-on server.

What it does well
  • A long-running host from Sweden with nine data centres worldwide.
  • A modpack installer for CurseForge, Modrinth and Feed The Beast, and no player limits.
  • Paid plans include a file manager, SFTP and daily backups.
What you give up
  • The free tier is a demo: you renew it by hand every hour.
  • Paid plans bill for the whole month, whether anyone plays or not.
  • Prices are in US dollars.

Two options that are not really alternatives

Minecraft Realms costs $7.99 a month for Java Edition and lets you and ten friends play at the same time. It is the easiest setup of all and built for vanilla worlds. For four friends who play on weekends, it is also the most expensive way to do that.

Classic monthly hosts charge about €8 to €16 a month for a 4 GB server that is always on. That is the right tool for a public community. For a group that plays a few evenings a week, most of that money pays for an empty server. The Minecraft server cost guide has the numbers for every kind of host.

What "not free" means on Alpenglow

1 credit = 1 hour of 1 GB RAM. A 4 GB server your group plays on 6 hours a week uses about 104 credits a month, which is about €1. When nobody is online, the server sleeps and costs €0. No subscription, nothing to cancel.

Claim 50 Free Credits

Up to 25 hours of play · No card required

Common questions

What is the best free alternative to Aternos?

It depends on what limits you. Minehut gives five free servers with 1 GB of RAM and ten player slots each, no playtime limit, and the server wakes when a player joins. FalixNodes gives 2.5 GB of shared RAM and unlimited slots, but a start can queue and the free plan is open in 40 countries. If you want to stay free and Aternos' RAM is your problem, try FalixNodes. If the queue is your problem and a light Paper server is enough, try Minehut.

Is there an Aternos alternative without a queue?

Yes. The pay-per-hour hosts start your server on demand. Alpenglow wakes it when a player connects, usually within 30 to 60 seconds, and exaroton also starts on connect. RespawnHost advertises a server that is online about 90 seconds after you press start. Among the free hosts, Minehut wakes a sleeping server when a player joins. Aternos itself queues you when its machines are at full capacity.

Which alternative lets me upload my own mods?

Aternos only installs mods and modpacks from its own library, and you cannot change individual mods inside a pack. Alpenglow and exaroton both let you upload your own mods, plugins and complete server packs. Server.pro and RespawnHost offer installers for CurseForge and Modrinth packs and file access over SFTP.

Can I move my Aternos world to another host?

Yes. Aternos lets you download your world as a zip file from its panel. On Alpenglow you stop the server, choose Upload world and pick that zip. exaroton has a direct import for Aternos servers. Our guide on moving a Minecraft world to a new host walks through it step by step.

Is Alpenglow free like Aternos?

No. Aternos is free and paid for by ads. Alpenglow charges for the hours your server runs: one credit is one hour of 1 GB RAM, and a credit costs one cent or less. A group that plays a few evenings a week on a 4 GB server pays about €1 to €2.50 a month. You start with 50 free credits and no card, so trying it costs nothing.

How much does a pay-per-hour Minecraft server cost?

On Alpenglow, €0.01 per GB of RAM per hour, and about €0.0077 with the larger credit packs. A 4 GB server costs 4 cents for each hour it runs and nothing while it sleeps. For a group that plays around 26 hours a month on 4 GB, that is roughly €1 a month. exaroton charges the same €0.01 base rate, and RespawnHost lists about €0.0166 an hour for a 2 GB server.

Moving a world over? How to move a Minecraft world to a new host.

Sources

All pages read on 5 October 2026. Aternos and exaroton are trademarks of Aternos GmbH. Minehut, FalixNodes, Server.pro, RespawnHost and Minecraft Realms are trademarks of their respective owners. Alpenglow Hosting is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them. Found something outdated? Tell us and we will correct it.