Primal Hosted suits public communities of 50 to 300 players that want voice and community tools without assembling them. A slot-priced game host suits small private servers, where a low entry price matters most. Hosting it yourself suits groups with a spare, well-connected PC and the time to maintain it.
Side by side
| Primal Hosted | Typical slot-priced game host | Your own PC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Flat monthly price per server: $80 for 150 players, $110 for 300 | By player slots or RAM; small plans are often around $10 to $30 a month | No bill, but your hardware, power and bandwidth |
| Smallest size | 150 slots | Often 10 to 50 slots | Whatever your PC can carry |
| Proximity voice | Included free for every player | Varies: some include their own, many leave it to you | You set it up; Primal Voice is free on Windows servers |
| Discord bot and website | Optional bundle, $50/mo, with economy, shops, kill feed, leaderboards and moderation | Usually not offered; you assemble them from separate services | You assemble them |
| Updates on patch day | Automatic, on the correct branch | Usually automatic or one click | You run them |
| DDoS protection | DDoS filtering on Standard; always-on game firewall on Advanced | Usually included | Your home connection takes the hit |
| Regions | North America, Europe, Singapore | Large hosts offer many more | Where you live |
| Free trial or refund | No trial; full refund within 72 hours on a new server | Varies by host | Not applicable |
The middle column describes the market in general as of 2026-10-01, not any one company. Check the host you are considering on each row.
When Primal Hosted is the better choice
- You are running, or launching, a public server for 100 or more players.
- You want proximity voice that players install once and that keeps working after updates.
- You want a Discord bot, a website, an economy and moderation tools that already talk to each other.
- You want support from people who run Isle communities of their own.
When something else is the better choice
- A private server for a few friends. A slot-priced host, or your own PC, will cost less than $80 a month.
- Players far from our regions. If most of your players are far from Dallas, Gravelines and Singapore, a host with a datacenter near them will give lower ping.
- Full control of the machine. If you want to run anything you like on the box, rent a dedicated server or VPS and manage it yourself.
Questions to ask any host
- What is the price at the player count I actually need, after any first-month discount ends?
- Where is the datacenter, and what ping will my players get?
- What happens on patch day: automatic update, or do I do it?
- Is proximity voice included, and what does each player have to install?
- Do I get community tools, or am I assembling a bot and website myself?
- What is the refund policy if it does not work out?
Comparison questions
Why is Primal Hosted more expensive than some The Isle hosts?
Plans start at 150 player slots and include free proximity voice, because they are built for public communities. Per slot, a 300-player Standard server is $0.37 a month. For a 10 to 30 player private server, a host that prices by slot will usually cost less.
What is the best host for a The Isle Evrima server?
It depends on the server. For a public community that wants voice, a Discord bot, a website and an economy built in, Primal Hosted is designed for exactly that. For a small private server, a slot-priced host or your own PC is cheaper.