Minehut is the undisputed king of "free" Minecraft hosting. If you've ever wanted to host a server for zero dollars, Minehut is probably where you started. They’ve made it incredibly easy for anyone to get online, but as any growing community knows, "free" often comes with queues, advertisements, and massive performance bottlenecks.

If you’re ready to graduate from a "freemium" network to a professional, independent server that actually respects your time, it’s time to see how Fern is the ultimate upgrade.

The 30-Second Verdict

Go with Minehut if: You want a 100% free experience for a small group (10 slots), you don't mind wait times or ads, and you want to be part of a large public lobby where random players can find your server.

Go with Fern if: You want a professional, high-performance server that is 100% yours. No ads, no queues, and absolute privacy. Fern’s credit-based billing (including our $5 Phase campaign) ensures you get enterprise-grade NVMe hardware for the price of a coffee, paying only for the hours your community is active.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Feature	Minehut	Fern (fern.host)
Pricing Model	Freemium / Monthly Subs	Flexible Credits (Pay-as-you-go)
Entry Price	Free (Limit 4h/day, ads)	$5 = 2-Week Phase (Starter/Vanilla)*
Server Status	Sleeps after 5m inactivity	You control the 'Stop'
Wait Times	Queues for free users	Instant Deployment
Performance	Basic (Shared vCPU)	Dedicated NVMe + High GHZ CPUs
Cross-play	Mod-based / Traditional	Native (Java + Bedrock)
Management	Web Panel + Shared Network	Private Mission Control Dashboard

Deeper Dive: The "Free" Pricing Trap

The biggest problem with Minehut isn't the service, it's the limitations that come with "free."

Beyond the "Freemium" Queue

Minehut’s free servers are a great starting point, but they are built for their network hub, not your individual project.

The Minehut Grind: Free servers are limited to 1GB of RAM and have a daily limit. To get more, you have to buy monthly "credits" which essentially act as a recurring subscription for specific resource caps.
The Fern Way: We don’t do queues or ads. For $5, you get a 2-Week Phase* of high-performance Starter (Vanilla) tier runtime. You’re in control of your uptime. Your server starts instantly, every single time.

Professional Power for Real Projects

While Minehut's platform is optimized for thousands of tiny "instances," Fern is built for Stability.

Real Hardware: We don't compromise. Whether you’re on our 2GB Vanilla tier or our 7GB modpack tier, you’re running on modern, game-tuned NVMe infrastructure.
Manage players like a human: Fern’s dashboard lets you manage your community with visual tools. Kick, ban, or promote players without hunting down commands in a terminal.
Stop the Burn: Unlike Minehut servers that automatically sleep (and take forever to wake back up), Fern gives you a precision "Stop" button. When you stop your server, the billing halts instantly. Save your credits for the actual fun.

The "Phase" Factor

Minecraft ownership is all about momentum. You have a two-week "Phase" where the Discord is buzzing, followed by a month of quiet while people focus on other things.

Minehut’s subscription plans charge you to keep those extra slots and RAM "enabled," even when the server is empty. Fern’s $5 Phase campaign is built for this cycle. You spend $5, play your intensive phase with professional hardware, and then just hit Stop. Your world stays safe for free, your remaining credits stay in your account, and you can pick up exactly where you left off months later for $0.

For modded players, our 7GB tier provides ~41 hours of elite performance for that same $5, which is power that Minehut’s standard tiers simply can't handle without lagging.

Final Verdict

Minehut is the perfect starting point if you're 12 years old and have zero budget, or if you just want to test a quick idea with a couple of friends on a shared network.

But for the creator who wants a professional, independent Minecraft home and a billing model that is as fair as it is powerful, Fern is the clear winner. For $5, you graduate to a higher class of hosting.

Ready to upgrade your community?

Launch your server on Fern for $5 →

<small>*Based on 166 hours of metered runtime, equivalent to ~12 hours/day for 2 weeks of active play.</small>