No-KYC Hosting Glossary: KYC Levels, Crypto & Privacy Terms

KYC and identity

KYC (know your customer) #: The process of verifying a customer's identity, usually with a government ID, a selfie or video check, proof of address, or a phone number. It comes from banking regulation and is used by some hosting providers for fraud prevention, payment-processor rules, abuse handling, or local law.
KYC level #: nokyc.host's 0–4 score for how strictly a provider requires identity verification, assigned from the exact wording of the provider's own terms. Lower is more private. Every score quotes the clause it is based on and links to the source. See the methodology.
KYC level 0: guaranteed no KYC #: The provider's terms explicitly state that identity verification will never be requested. The strongest, written form of no-KYC hosting.
KYC level 1: no KYC mention #: The provider's documentation makes no mention of current or future identity verification. No ID is asked for in practice, but there is no written guarantee, so the policy could change.
KYC level 2: rare KYC #: No routine identity checks, but the provider reserves the right to request ID or block funds when compelled by authorities, legal orders, or internal risk review.
KYC level 3: possible KYC #: The provider may request ID or block funds mid-order through anti-money-laundering (AML) checks, transaction limits, or payment-partner rules. Checks can appear unexpectedly after payment.
KYC level 4: mandatory KYC #: Identity verification is required for key features, or can be demanded at any time.
No-KYC hosting #: A VPS, RDP, or dedicated server you can order without identity verification. On nokyc.host this means KYC level 0 or 1. See the no-KYC VPS list.
KYC confidence #: How certain a KYC level is: high when the terms are explicit, medium when the wording is indirect, and low when documentation is thin or ambiguous.
AML (anti-money laundering) #: Rules requiring financial institutions and payment companies to detect and report suspicious transactions. AML checks by a payment processor are a common trigger for unexpected identity requests at hosting providers.

Payments

Crypto-only hosting #: A hosting provider that accepts cryptocurrency and no other payment method: no cards, PayPal, or bank transfers. With no card processor involved, one common source of surprise KYC requests is removed. See the crypto-only hosting list.
Monero (XMR) #: A cryptocurrency that hides the sender, receiver, and amount of every transaction by default, using ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential transactions. Considered the most private payment method widely accepted by hosting providers. See how to pay for hosting with Monero.
Affiliate link #: A link that may earn nokyc.host a commission if you buy through it, at no extra cost to you. Every outbound link passes through a redirect page that says whether it is an affiliate link. Commissions never affect rankings or scores.
Sponsored placement #: A paid position in a list, always labeled AD. Sponsored placement affects position only. It never changes a provider's KYC level, price score, reliability score, or overall rating.

Privacy and jurisdiction

No-logs policy #: A provider's written commitment not to record connection metadata, IP addresses, or activity beyond what is needed to run the service. Billing records are usually still kept. See no-logs hosting explained.
Jurisdiction #: The country whose laws govern a hosting company, and therefore whose courts can order it to hand over data. It can differ from where the servers are located.
Server location #: The country and city where a provider's physical servers are. Local authorities there can access the hardware regardless of the company's jurisdiction.
Offshore hosting #: Hosting with a provider or servers outside your own country. Offshore does not mean anonymous: an offshore provider can still require ID. See offshore vs. no-KYC hosting.
Bulletproof hosting #: Hosting marketed as ignoring abuse complaints and takedown requests. It tends to attract malicious users, get blocklisted, and suffer seizures, and is not the same as privacy-focused hosting.
Warrant canary #: A regularly updated statement that a provider has not received certain secret legal orders. If it stops being updated, users can draw their own conclusions. Its legal effect is debated.

Scoring

Overall score #: A 0–100 score, shown as 0.5–5 stars: 50% KYC score, 30% price score, and 20% reliability score. Missing components are left out and the remaining weights rescaled, so missing data never counts as zero.
KYC score #: The KYC level converted to 0–100: (4 − KYC level) ÷ 4 × 100. Level 0 scores 100 and level 4 scores 0.
Price score #: Value for money: the median plan's monthly price in USD per vCPU plus GB of RAM, on a fixed scale ($1 or less per unit = 100, $4 or more = 0). Plans without listed specs are scored on starting price instead ($3/mo = 100, $30/mo = 0).
Reliability score #: The average of the measured support reply time (10 minutes or faster = 100, 1 hour = 68, 24 hours = 12, 48+ hours = 0) and measured uptime (99.95%+ = 100, 99.0% or worse = 0). Only measured values are used.
Change history #: A dated public log on each provider page of changes to key facts: KYC level, crypto payments, no-logs policy, jurisdiction, and starting price.
Archived source #: A Wayback Machine copy of the provider's terms saved when its KYC level was scored, so the quoted evidence can be checked even if the live page later changes.

Hosting types

VPS (virtual private server) #: A virtual machine with dedicated resources on shared hardware, usually running Linux with full root access.
RDP (remote desktop) #: A Windows server accessed through the Remote Desktop Protocol, usually with the Windows license included. See the RDP hosting list.
Dedicated server #: A whole physical server rented by a single customer, with no other tenants on the hardware.
Storage server (storage VPS) #: A server with a lot of disk space but modest CPU and memory, meant for backups, archives and file hosting. Storage prices are shown on provider pages but not used for the "From" price. See the storage hosting list.