How Much Does a Sons of the Forest Server Cost?
For a normal co-op world, the meaningful comparison is not a headline “slots” number. Check the billing period, RAM, CPU, location, backups, refund terms, and whether the plan respects the game's documented eight-player maximum. Prices below were checked on 29 August 2026 and can change by region, tax, promotion, or renewal term.
Editorial disclosure: Supercraft sells game-server hosting and is included for comparison. The competitor figures are public offer snapshots, not hands-on performance tests or paid rankings.
Published price snapshots
| Provider | Published offer checked | Useful detail |
|---|---|---|
| Supercraft | From the plan selector | Managed setup, backups, file access, and region selection; see the current checkout for the exact term. |
| Shockbyte | $19.99/month displayed for an 8-player, 8 GB+ plan | Game-specific plan, backups, and a 72-hour refund claim on the public page. |
| Nitrado | €10.49 for 8 slots / 30 days | PC offer with multi-region and game-switching features; verify renewal and local tax. |
| Host Havoc | About $20/month starting listing | 8-player SOTF offering with TCAdmin and several locations. |
| GPORTAL | Short-term offer from $2.78 for 3 days | Do not compare this three-day price directly with a monthly plan. |
Source pages: Shockbyte, Nitrado, Host Havoc, and GPORTAL. Offers move; use the linked checkout before deciding.
What you are actually paying for
- Capacity: the documented dedicated-server setting supports 1–8 players. A “16-slot” label is not proof of a 16-player SOTF session.
- Resources: CPU headroom, RAM, fast storage, and a location near the group affect the experience more than an unverified RAM table.
- Operations: backups, restore access, updates, DDoS protection, logs, and support reduce the cost of maintaining a persistent world.
- Billing: compare monthly renewal, setup fees, tax, refunds, backup retention, and whether a promotion ends after the first term.
Self-hosting versus renting
| Option | Best fit | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Home PC | Testing or a small group that plays together | No hosting fee, but the machine, upload, firewall, power, and backups are yours. |
| VPS | Admins who want OS-level control | Flexible, but you install, secure, update, monitor, and back up the server yourself. |
| Managed game host | Persistent co-op with low administration overhead | Higher recurring cost in exchange for a panel, support, backups, and provider operations. |
Quick decision guide
- Small private group: choose the lowest reputable plan that passes an eight-player or expected-group test.
- Long-running world: prioritize backups, restore access, region, and support over the cheapest first month.
- Self-host experiment: use the setup guide, open the three UDP ports, and keep an independent save copy.
Related guides
- RAM and hardware sizing
- dedicatedserver.cfg reference
- Backup management
- Sons of the Forest server wiki
See current Supercraft availability and pricing on the Sons of the Forest hosting page.