Aternos vs Minehut vs exaroton vs WorldFolder

There’s no universal winner here, because these are four different business models: Aternos is free-only, Minehut is freemium, exaroton charges for actual running time, and WorldFolder keeps a permanent address with a free tier at €0 plus fixed monthly paid plans. WorldFolder is our product and is still in early access; this comparison uses public documentation, not a private performance test, and prices and limits were checked on August 10, 2026.

Comparison at a glance

Published limits still need context. Aternos says it doesn’t impose an arbitrary player-slot cap; Minehut publishes ten free slots. Neither number guarantees performance — the practical player count depends on the world, software, view distance, mods, CPU and memory. Use our separate Minecraft server RAM guide rather than treating a slot number as a speed rating.

Choose Aternos if the budget must be exactly zero

Aternos is the cleanest answer for a small group that will accept inconvenience in exchange for never paying. The company says there is no paid upgrade on Aternos itself. Its feature list covers Java and Bedrock server software, plugins, mods, preconfigured modpacks, custom worlds, access sharing and Google Drive backups. Current software and features are on the official Aternos site.

The trade-off is startup. When capacity is full, starting an Aternos server puts the owner in a queue; near the front, someone must confirm they’re still present or lose the spot. Aternos explains that directly in its queue documentation. Reasonable for an occasional world where someone prepares before the group joins. Frustrating when friends expect to connect spontaneously without the owner.

Aternos also controls what can be installed. Its addon library is broad, but a plugin or mod must meet requirements around supported download sources, popularity, active development, licensing and technical compatibility. An obscure private plugin, paid plugin or custom server build may not qualify. The official addon suggestion rules point users who need arbitrary file uploads toward exaroton.

For world ownership, Aternos lets you download a world and connect Google Drive for backups. Its own world-safety guidance recommends regular downloads instead of assuming the host is the only copy. That advice is worth following on every provider.

Aternos fits: a vanilla SMP, a supported modpack, a family world, or a school-friend group where €0 is non-negotiable and one person can handle startup.

Look elsewhere if: your group needs guaranteed immediate capacity, full file access, a custom jar, or hands-on paid support.

Choose Minehut for a free server with a community around it

Minehut isn’t simply “Aternos with different branding.” It’s a freemium platform with a lobby, server discovery, advertising tools, free capacity and paid upgrades. That makes it more attractive if you’re building a public minigame or community server — and less relevant to a private group that wants only a quiet address.

As of July 2026, Minehut says an account can have up to five free servers, each with 1 GB RAM and 10 player slots, and advertises unlimited plugin slots (though 1 GB still limits how many demanding plugins run well). Current figures are in Minehut’s plan overview and service description.

Minehut’s free online mode is documented as on-demand — the server starts when requested — with an Activate Server button in the dashboard and joining through a name.minehut.gg address or the Minehut lobby. In practice, test the exact cold-start flow your friends will use rather than assuming “on-demand” means instant or always-running. Paid custom plans add RAM, CPU, storage and a 24/7 option; the custom plan guide lists those controls.

Minehut is the strongest of these three when discoverability is the goal: servers are visible to users passing through the lobby, and it sells placement through a server-ad system. For a private survival world that ecosystem may be unnecessary; for a budding public server it can be useful.

Portability is reasonable but tier-dependent. Free users can download world files through the file manager, while SFTP access for moving a whole server requires a paid plan, per the world-download guide. Minehut also announced in July 2026 that free accounts are limited to five servers and excess inactive servers may enter a notified deletion process with a 30-day window to download files; see its free-server retention policy.

Minehut fits: a small plugin server, an owner who wants an upgrade path, or a public project that benefits from the Minehut lobby and community.

Look elsewhere if: 1 GB is too tight, a modpack or custom stack is essential, you want simple usage billing, or you don’t want platform-specific community features.

Choose exaroton for flexible control and pay-for-use hosting

exaroton is run by the Aternos team, but it removes many free-host constraints by charging for use. One credit equals €0.01, and a running server costs one credit per GB of RAM per hour. RAM ranges from 2 GB to 16 GB, and billing uses actual runtime rather than rounding every session to a full hour. A new account gets five trial credits, and exaroton says there’s no way to earn more for free. Those terms come from its official pricing page.

That makes the math unusually transparent:

• 4 GB for 10 hours in a month = 40 credits, or €0.40.
• 4 GB for 50 hours = 200 credits, or €2.00.
• 8 GB for 100 hours = 800 credits, or €8.00.

Stored servers have a 10 GB limit and a fee of up to 10 credits (€0.10) per month, but running credits spent on that server are deducted from the storage fee — a server using at least 10 running credits in the month has no additional storage charge. If the account can’t cover storage, exaroton warns the server may be removed, so keep an external backup.

The strongest usability feature is optional AutoStart: a player attempts to join the normal address and triggers startup without visiting the panel. It supports Java and Bedrock (with version caveats) and can be limited to whitelisted players or operators, per its AutoStart guide. AutoStop then prevents idle time from burning credits.

exaroton also offers more control than Aternos: plugin and mod libraries remain, but owners can upload their own files through the file manager. Aternos worlds can be copied straight into exaroton — player data, installed addons, software and settings — using the official import tool.

Backups can live in Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox, with configurable automatic backups when the server stops. Note these backups use an internal format meant to be restored through exaroton, so a separate ordinary world download is still the most portable copy — see the backup documentation.

exaroton fits: a group that plays a few evenings per month, wants players to trigger startup, needs custom files, or is moving off Aternos without paying for unused days.

Look elsewhere if: you need a predictable all-inclusive monthly bill, a server running continuously for many hours, more than 10 GB storage, or a genuinely free service.

Choose WorldFolder if you want the server handled for a small fixed price

Aternos keeps the bill at zero but makes someone the operator. exaroton bills only the hours the group plays. WorldFolder is the option where the server itself stops being anyone’s job: one permanent address, and the world starts itself when a player joins. Nobody presses start, nobody borrows an account, and the world is the same world every time.

The pricing is a two-part answer:

• Free at €0. A real free plan, not a trial: 2 GB RAM, about 4 players at once, 5 GB storage and a permanent address, included forever. It costs nothing whether you play or not. The trade-off: free worlds start when shared capacity is available, so they may wait briefly when the platform is busy.
• Fixed monthly plans from €1.99. A flat bill whether the group plays one evening or every night. The plan most friend groups want (Crew) is €4.99 for about 10 people playing together, with mods, plugins and Java–Bedrock cross-play. No hourly meter, no surprise at the end of the month.

In practice that means friends add the address once and join whenever they feel like it. The owner does not need to be online, and nobody else needs access to the hosting account.

WorldFolder fits: a private group of friends who want a permanent world without appointing a server admin.

Look elsewhere if: you need a host available today — WorldFolder is pre-launch and the waitlist is the only way in right now — or you want full file-level control over the server yourself.

The decision most groups should make

Work through it in this order:

1. Must the bill remain €0? Start with Aternos; consider Minehut if its plugin ecosystem or lobby is more useful.
2. Will strangers discover and join the server? Minehut has the clearest community/discovery angle.
3. Should anyone be able to start the world by joining? exaroton offers mature usage-billed AutoStart today; WorldFolder builds the same behavior into a permanent address with a free tier and fixed plans.
4. Do you need custom uploads today? exaroton is the least restrictive of the available services; check Minehut’s paid SFTP options if you prefer its platform.
5. Is this a heavy or frequently active server? Calculate monthly runtime first. At high usage, compare ordinary monthly hosts rather than assuming pay-per-use stays cheapest.

Before moving, stop the old server cleanly, make a fresh backup, download an ordinary copy you control, and verify player inventories and dimensions after import. Our backup and migration guide covers the provider-independent process.

For a deeper explanation of queues, sleeping servers and the limits behind “free forever,” read free Minecraft hosting without the start-button ritual.

Final verdict: Aternos wins when the budget must be exactly zero, Minehut wins when its community platform is part of the product, exaroton wins on pay-per-use control, and WorldFolder wins when a private group wants the server work handled at a fixed price — free tier at €0, paid plans from €1.99. Pick the constraint you care about most, then export a backup before that constraint changes.