CoalHost vs Apex vs Bisect vs Shockbyte — Best EU Modpack Hosting in 2026?
The four hosts EU modpack owners actually compare, side by side — price per GB, CPU reality, support, and what happens when your pack crashes at 3am. Full disclosure: we're one of them.
Disclosure & quick verdict
This guide is published by CoalHost. We rank based on the metrics we can actually measure and publish — price per GB, CPU architecture, modpack boot-test results and documented features — and we show every number so you can check our work. Where a competitor is a better fit for your use case, we say so directly (see the FAQ on small vanilla servers).
EU modpack servers: CoalHost. Flat €2/GB, dedicated CPU, 37 packs with published boot data + 308 curated one-click packs.
Beginners who want tutorials and brand safety: Apex. Priciest of the four, but the deepest library.
Hand-holding with EU latency: Bisect. Great tooling, but you want the Premium tier.
Cheapest vanilla entry: Shockbyte. Fine if you rarely need support.
CoalHost
infra: Hetzner Cloud (dedicated cpx VMs)
The modpack-first EU host that boot-tests packs in public.
Pros
Flat €2/GB, every tier — 25 player slots included, no 'premium support' upsell
37 packs with published boot + TPS results, plus 308 curated one-click packs — every one boot-tested on the exact hardware customers get
Dedicated CPU: no shared-node neighbour stealing TPS on raid night
AI crash-doctor + recipe DB patches known crashes and restarts before you notice
EU datacenter (Helsinki) — 30-50 ms for most of Europe
Free migration from any host, world + player data + modpack pinned
Cons
Young company — short track record, small customer base so far
Helsinki only today (premium regions worldwide, US coming Q4)
2 GB entry tier is vanilla-only sizing — modpacks realistically start at 6 GB
Fewer hand-holding tutorials than Apex's library
Best for
EU modpack communities and SMPs that want a pack that boots first try, a CPU that holds TPS under load, and support that fixes crashes instead of filing tickets.
Apex Hosting
infra: Mixed AMD Ryzen / Intel Xeon fleet
The biggest name, with the biggest tutorial library.
Pros
Hundreds of written and video tutorials — great for first-time owners
Polished panel and guided setup
200+ one-click modpack installs
Long track record and brand recognition
Cons
Pricing sits near the top of the market — roughly €4-5/GB list
CPU lottery by location; you can't pick which chip you land on
Dedicated IP is a paid add-on (~$5/mo)
No EU datacenter on standard plans
Best for
Beginners who want step-by-step guidance and brand safety over price, mostly in North America.
BisectHosting
infra: Ryzen 9 5900X-class on Premium; shared CPU on Budget
The modpack veteran with the best historical tooling.
Pros
Excellent modpack tooling and version rollback
Well-reviewed human support
EU datacenters available on Premium tier
Trusted since 2011
Cons
Budget tier shares CPU aggressively — experienced admins push you to Premium
Premium lands around €3-4/GB, roughly double the entry price
Hardware trails the newest Ryzen generations
Best for
Owners who want hand-holding and don't mind Premium pricing to get EU latency and performance isolation.
Shockbyte
infra: AMD EPYC / Intel Xeon E-2236
The cheapest entry, with the trade-offs you'd expect.
Pros
Very low pricing, plans from ~€2.50/GB
Unlimited player slots
Long track record
Cons
Widely reported slow support — multi-day ticket waits
Older server-class CPUs with modest single-thread speed
No EU datacenter (US / AU)
Dated Multicraft panel
Best for
Budget vanilla servers run by self-sufficient admins who rarely need support.
Price per GB — same RAM, same workload
CoalHost is a flat €2/GB on every tier with 25 player slots included. Competitor figures are public list prices (snapshot 2026-05) — they often run promos that lower these temporarily, and may add paid extras like dedicated IPs. See the full breakdown on our comparison page.
RAM
CoalHost
Apex
Bisect
Shockbyte
2 GB
€4
~€10
~€5
~€5
4 GB
€8
~€20
~€10
~€10
8 GB
€16
~€40
~€18
~€20
12 GB
€24
~€60
~€25
~€28
16 GB
€32
~€80
~€35
~€40
Feature comparison
Feature
CoalHost
Apex
Bisect
Shockbyte
Flat €/GB with no tier upsell
✓ €2.00/GB
✗
✗
~€2.50/GB
Dedicated CPU (no shared-node neighbours)
✓
✗
Only Premium
✗
AI crash auto-fix
✓
✗
✗
✗
Public modpack boot-test data
✓ 37 published + 308 curated
✗
✗
✗
EU datacenter
Helsinki
✗
Premium tier
✗
Free migration from other hosts
✓
✗
✗
✗
Refund window
7 days
Varies
7 days
72 hours
Discord support
✓
✓
✓
✓
Feature claims are based on publicly documented capabilities as of 2026-05. If anything is inaccurate, email [email protected] and we'll correct it. We're not trying to disparage competitors — many are good hosts for the right use case.
What the boot-test data shows
The real difference between hosts shows up in the first 10 minutes after you install a modpack. We boot-test packs on the same Hetzner cloud hardware a paying customer gets, with simulated players wandering spawn, over a 24-hour soak — and we publish every result.
37
packs with published boot + TPS results on dedicated cloud hardware — not a laptop
28
marked verified: booted, held TPS ≥18 with simulated players, survived a 24-hour soak
6
marked broken in public — packs that crash dedicated-server boot, with the reason documented
308
curated one-click packs, every one installed and boot-tested end-to-end on the same hardware — the /modpacks catalog
“All modpacks supported” on Apex, Bisect or Shockbyte means they'll let you install it — you figure out the rest. On CoalHost it means the pack was booted, held TPS ≥18 under load and survived 24 hours, or it's publicly marked broken with the reason (usually pack-author-side client-only mods) so you don't waste €18/mo finding out yourself.
FAQ
Is CoalHost actually cheaper than Apex, Bisect and Shockbyte for modpacks?+
For the 6-16 GB range where modpacks actually run, yes — CoalHost is a flat €2/GB on dedicated CPU. An 8 GB ATM10 server is €16/mo at CoalHost, roughly €40/mo at Apex list price, ~€18-20/mo at Bisect/Shockbyte. Bisect's Budget tier can look cheaper per GB, but it runs on shared CPU and experienced admins routinely recommend their Premium tier for modpacks, which doubles the effective price. Apex is the most expensive of the four at roughly €4-5/GB.
Why does 'all modpacks supported' mean different things at different hosts?+
Most hosts advertise every modpack as supported and mean 'we'll let you install it, you figure out the rest'. A heavy kitchen-sink pack like ATM10 or a Forge pack with client-only mods can crash dedicated-server boot in ways a panel can't fix. CoalHost boot-tests packs on real server hardware and publishes the results: 37 packs carry published TPS/stability data — 28 verified, 6 marked broken with the reason documented (usually modpack-author-side issues like client-only mods) — and a further 308 curated packs are installed + boot-tested end-to-end. You can check whether your pack is verified before you pay.
Does dedicated CPU really matter for a Minecraft server?+
Yes — Minecraft's main game loop runs on a single thread, so your TPS ceiling is set by single-thread CPU performance, not core count or RAM. On shared-CPU nodes a neighbour's laggy server steals your cycles at peak hours. Apex runs a mixed fleet where you can't choose your chip; Bisect shares CPU on Budget; Shockbyte runs older EPYC/Xeon chips. CoalHost runs dedicated Hetzner cpx VMs so no other customer touches your cores.
Can I migrate my existing server from Apex, Bisect or Shockbyte?+
Yes — CoalHost has a free migration flow for every host: upload your world ZIP and we import it, including player data, inventories, datapacks and the modpack version pinned so launchers don't break. No downtime tool needed, and the migration is included rather than a paid add-on service.
What happens when a modpack crashes on CoalHost?+
The AI crash-doctor reads the crash log, matches it against a recipe DB of past fixes (mod conflicts, missing dependencies, JVM flags, config values), applies the fix and restarts — usually before your players even ping you. Packs that can't be fixed get auto-quarantined and you get an email with the failure line instead of an infinite crash loop. On Apex, Bisect and Shockbyte, a 3am crash means a ticket and a wait.
Is CoalHost a good fit for a small vanilla server with 2-4 friends?+
For a tiny vanilla server that never grows, CoalHost now has a 2 GB plan at €4/mo — that's the right size for 2–5 friends. It's still worth noting that CoalHost is built for modded servers and communities: the dedicated CPU, AI crash-doctor and 37-pack published benchmark data matter most at 6–16 GB where modpacks actually run. If your only goal is a $1-2/mo vanilla box, a pure budget host is still cheaper.
Check your pack before you pay
Browse the full benchmark table — 37 packs with published verified / experimental / broken status, plus 308 curated one-click packs — then start a server from €2/GB. No credit card to create an account.