nokyc.hostMethodology
How providers are scored
A transparent, reproducible ranking. Every KYC level cites the provider's own wording.
KYC level scale
Providers are scored on a 0–4 scale based on their Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. Each level is assigned from publicly available terms of service, policy documents, and verified user reports.
Guaranteed no KYC
Terms of service explicitly state that KYC will never be requested.
No KYC mention
No mention of current or future KYC requirements in any provider documentation.
Rare KYC
No routine KYC, but the provider may request it or block funds if compelled by authorities, legal orders, or internal risk review.
Possible KYC
May request KYC or block funds mid-flow via AML checks, transaction limits, or payment-partner rules.
Mandatory KYC
KYC is required for key features, or may be required arbitrarily at any time.
Overall scoring
Each provider receives an overall score (0–100, shown as 0.5–5 stars) from three weighted components:
KYC score
Calculated as (4 - kyc_level) / 4 × 100. Lower KYC levels receive higher scores.
Price score
Value for money: what you pay per vCPU and per GB of RAM. Each server plan's monthly price (converted to USD) is divided by its vCPUs plus its GB of RAM, and the provider's median plan is scored on a fixed scale: $1 or less per unit scores 100, $4 or more scores 0, on a curve in between. The scale is fixed, so a provider's score never changes because another provider was added. Providers whose plans don't list cores and RAM are scored on their starting price instead ($3/mo or less = 100, $30/mo or more = 0). Storage plans count only for providers that sell nothing else.
Reliability score
The average of our own measured support reply time and uptime. A first reply within 10 minutes scores 100; slower replies lose points fastest in the first hour, then more gradually (1 hour = 68, 4 hours = 44, 24 hours = 12), reaching 0 at 48 hours. Uptime of 99.95% or better scores 100 and 99.0% or worse scores 0, scaled evenly in between (99.9% = 95). Anything we haven't measured is left out, never counted as zero.
overall = kyc_score × 0.50 + price_score × 0.30 + reliability_score × 0.20
If price or reliability data is missing, that component is left out and the remaining weights are rescaled, so missing data is never counted as zero. Providers without a KYC level get no overall score and are shown as “Not yet scored” until reviewed.
Sponsored placement
Sponsored providers are labeled AD and may appear in pinned positions. Sponsored placement affects position only. It never changes KYC or reliability scores.
Data sources & verification
KYC levels are assigned based on:
- Provider terms of service and privacy policies
- Publicly documented policy changes
- Verified user reports and community feedback
Each KYC score includes a confidence level (high, medium, or low) and cites the source document. Data is refreshed periodically, and both the last refresh date and the last KYC scoring date are displayed on each provider page. Changes to key facts are logged in each provider's public change history.
Every term used here is defined in the glossary, and aggregate figures across all providers are on the statistics page. More on our verification process and corrections policy is on the about page. The full dataset is available as JSON and CSV.