Playing ARK: Survival Ascended with your friends is the best way to enjoy the game.
After all, Ascended is the successor of ARK: Survival Evolved and offers improved visuals, character creation, revamped UI, a map system, and other quality of life improvements across the game.
However, the new ARK: Survival Ascended visuals are powered by Unreal Engine 5. This makes the game demanding and hence requires a premium hosting provider that can handle the game.
So, if you’re coming from ARK: Survival Evolved, you are bound to enjoy the new experience, but need a new hosting provider that can handle ARK: Survival Ascended.
I’ll now list the 5 best ARK: Survival Ascended hosting servers, narrowing your search and helping you start enjoying the game without worrying about performance, price, and server setup.
1. GravelHost
GravelHost is an excellent choice for anyone looking to host ARK: Survival Ascended.
It is great for clans, friends, and casuals as they can play carefree due to their three-year server data-keeping policy. So, you can jump back after a long hiatus without worrying about losing your progress.
As for data centers, you can choose from their worldwide server locations, including in NA, AS, AU, and EU locations. These servers are strategically placed to give low ping to different geographically located players via the community servers.
Also, you can host the server on your choice of platform, be it PC (Steam), PlayStation, or Xbox, with support for crossplay.
The best part about GravelHost is the ability to host mods via their Curseforge mod integration. You can access mods directly from it and install them with ease.
Additionally, I found their custom game panel user-friendly. It helps admins manage the servers with access to all tools at their fingertips.
Features
- Beginner-friendly with easy signup and instant server creation
- Complete DDoS protection for worry-free gaming
- High-performance servers with NVMe storage
- User-friendly custom game panel
- Unlimited ARK slots
- 24/7 customer support via Discord.
Pricing
GravelHost pricing starts at $16 per month (for budget) and $19.89 per month (for premium), resulting in $0.8 per player cost per month.
The difference between budget and premium plans is the RAM speed (DDR4 vs. DDR5) and higher NVMe storage.
All plans come with a 72-hour money-back guarantee.
2. Nitrado
Nitrado lets you host ARK: Survival Ascended seamlessly if you want to enjoy the new ARK installation with your PC, PlayStation, and Xbox buddies. Yes, it supports cross-play and cross-play mods.
I recommend Nitrado for community-building and monetization. It supports easy management. Community admins can take full advantage of its built-in support for CurseForge mod management, making it easy to browse and install mods and plugins for optimum and customized player experience.
In terms of server choice, Nitrado offers 9 options, including Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, New York, and others. Choosing one is also easy, as it shows the ping directly from the webpage.
I found Nitrado servers to be reliable as they offer daily backups and DDoS protection. Furthermore, you can change to active game at that time (up to 5 games), if you want to play something else. That’s very handy for a group of friends who play multiple games.
Features
- Supports multiple admins with easy share access.
- Offers support via live chat and email (multiple languages supported).
- Highly reliable with daily backups and fail-safe server hardware
- Ability to upgrade and downgrade the server anytime
- Easy monetization options
Pricing
Nitrado pricing starts at $24.99 per month, which offers 20 slots. You can choose between a subscription (monthly) or a prepaid payment option.
Overall, Nitrado is slightly costlier than other ARK: Survival Ascended hosting.
Nitrado doesn’t have a money-back guarantee option for any of its plans.
3. GTXGaming
GTXGaming is a high-performance ARK: Survival Ascended hosting provider with the option to choose between a VPS server, a bare-metal VPS server, and a dedicated server.
I recommend GTXGaming for ARK clans and communities that want the best performance. Under the hood, GTXGaming offers enterprise hardware where you can select between Intel or Ryzen CPU processors.
Additionally, I found their server coverage extensive, with servers in 20 locations, including London, Chicago, Portland, Mumbai, and Hong Kong. You can select which server is best for you by checking the ping directly from their home page’s ping test.
Their servers are completely customizable, with the option to add any mods or plugins. Even with plugins, the server remains stable, ensuring a smoother gaming experience.
Once you get one of their ARK: Survival Ascended plans, your account is instantly set up and ready to use. They support fresh setups or let you upload your world from another hosting provider.
For backups, they offer an off-site backup option with the ability to schedule a backup task.
Features
- All ARK: Survival Ascended maps are supported with DLCs
- 24 hour refund on all plans
- 24/7 customer support
- Enterprise-level DDoS protection
- Offline scheduled backups
Pricing
In terms of pricing, GTXGaming’s price starts from £8.98 per month (for VPS) and £69.00 (for bare metal).
All plans come with a 24-hour money-back guarantee.
4. Apex Hosting
Apex Hosting is one of the best picks for hosting ARK: Survival Ascended as it offers unlimited player slots powered by high RAM servers and enterprise SSDs.
Apex Hosting’s unique selling point is its excellent infrastructure. Basic plans start with at least 12 GB RAM and use high-performance Ryzen processors. However, this also makes Apex hosting costlier compared to other ARK: Survival Ascended hosting providers.
With plenty of data center choices, you can ensure low ping and high stability. Right now, they are offering 15 servers with locations including Dallas, Miami, London, Tokyo, Mumbai, and Frankfurt.
Like other ARK: Survival Ascended hosting providers, Apex Hosting is also easy to set up and helps you get the server online instantly. They also support unlimited player slots and offer easy configurability via a powerful panel.
I liked that they give a free subdomain so that you can advertise your server and invite like-minded players to your community.
However, I didn’t find any mention of cross-play. So, if you’re looking for cross-play support, confirm it with their support before proceeding. You can also opt for other ARK: Survival Ascended hosting providers from the list.
Features
- Offers one-click modpacks
- Auto-updates servers automatically via Steam
- Top-notch infrastructure with enterprise SSDs
- Automated backups
- Ultra-low latency
- DDoS protection
Pricing
Apex Hosting ARK: Survival Ascended pricing starts at $29.24 for the first month, with recurring fees of $38.99. It offers 12 GB RAM and access to all modpacks.
All plans come with a 7-day money-back guarantee and free server transfers.
5. Cybrancee
Cybrancee is a user-friendly ARK: Survival Ascended Server hosting provider with its 90-day refund policy. So, it means you’ll get a refund for the rest of your subscription once cancelled.
With Cybrancee, you can get started instantly. Moreover, you get an easy-to-use game hosting control panel with a real-time overview, scheduled backups, and a file manager.
Depending on your friends or clan members’ geographical location, you can choose from one of its global server locations, including South America, North America, Australia, Asia, Europe, and Canada.
Under the hood, Cybrancee uses super-optimized servers offering low ping. These servers use NVMe SSDs paired with Ryzen CPUs clocked over 4 GHz.
Overall, Cybrancee is a great pick for ARK: Survival Ascended server hosting with powerful hardware, a 90-day refund policy, and global locations.
Features
- DDoS protection with no additional charge
- Easy-to-use game hosting control panel
- Scheduled backups and 99.99% uptime.
- Supports mods/plugins of your choice
- 24/7 customer support
Pricing
Pricing-wise, Cybrancee is one of the cheapest options, with prices starting at $19.99 per month. It offers 12 GB RAM, unlimited slots, bandwidth, and storage.
Noteworthy ARK: Survival Ascended Hosting Options
In addition to the above options, I suggest checking the following ones as well:
- Citadel Servers: Create an ARK: Survival Ascended server from its complete package with one-click mods, all DLC support, multi-server clustering, and ARK API support.
- Ultahost: Ultrahost offers an easy-to-manage ARK: Survival Ascended server with a focus on instant availability, in-built security, high performance, and 99.99% service uptime.
- RocketNode: RocketNode offers a solid hosting option for playing ARK: Survival Ascended with 24/7 support, the option to choose from 7 server locations, 3 databases, and off-site backups. However, their plans might not be affordable for users.
Can I host ARK: Survival Ascended myself?
Yes, you can host ARK: Survival Ascended yourself.
However, it is not easy and requires both technical and maintenance skills.
The DIY approach, if not done right, can lead to downtime, higher pings, and uneven player experience.
In case you decide to go for DIY hosting, we recommend using a VPS from Hostinger.
I suggest to pick VPS hosting if you want to self-host and have plenty of time to set up and maintain the server. Otherwise, it is wise to go with the above-mentioned managed hosting, such as GravelHost, GTXGaming, and Cybrancee.
Which server configuration should I choose?
Choosing the right server configuration is important for smooth and lag-free gameplay. It’ll also help you not to overspend as you get what you want.
For starters, always first look for how many people you’re aiming to buy the server for. Most providers list the recommended number of players, starting from 20 players for the basic plan. Additionally, each plan has a specified set of server resources at its disposal, be it RAM, storage, or CPU.
As ARK: Survival Ascended is a resource-hungry game, it’s best to pick a server with 12 GB of RAM and high-end Ryzen or Intel processors. You should also make sure to have good NVMe storage that can store not only the base game but also the additional mods and plugins that you will install later on.
It’s best to research beforehand, as it removes the need for upscaling or downscaling your server.
Where should I host ARK: Survival Ascended game?
It’s always best to choose a nearby location to host the game. It helps in low latency and smooth gameplay for all players. You can use the hosting provider’s ping test tool to see the ping before deciding. If there is none, ask the support for the ping or run it yourself by using the ping test tool and ping the server IP address.
