Re-checked September 2026 against their public pages. is*hosting has 40+ locations and 20 years of experience. Sounds impressive on paper. But when you look at what actually matters for privacy hosting, the picture changes fast. Here's the real comparison.
| Feature | Servury | IS*HOSTING |
|---|---|---|
| Signup requirement | Nothing. 32-char credential only | Email required |
| Encrypted memory (AMD SEV-SNP) | Yes, Blackbox line from $9.99 | No |
| Measured boot (verifiable boot chain) | Yes, reproducible artifacts and a published verifier | No |
| Host access to your VM | None on Blackbox: no guest agent, disk encrypted inside the guest | Standard: the host can read the VM |
| Crypto processing | Own nodes, no third-party gateway | Not stated |
| KYC / ID verification | None, ever | Users report being asked for ID after purchase |
| VPS entry price | From $9.99 a month | From $5.94/mo |
| Short rentals | Yes, 7-day minimum, custom renewal cycles | Monthly billing only |
| Server locations | 8 (US, CA, UK, NL, FR, DE, SG, HK) | 40+ countries |
| Jurisdiction | Canada (Montreal) | Estonia: WEBRAIN OÜ, Tallinn, Estonian law (their terms) |
| Owned hardware | Yes (Montreal) | No (resold infrastructure) |
| Disk encryption | LUKS2 FDE, your passphrase only | Not available |
| BYOIP | Yes, RPKI ROA verified | Not available |
| Reverse DNS | Yes (Montreal) | Yes |
| Deployment speed | ~30 seconds | Minutes (manual provisioning possible) |
| Crypto payments | BTC, XMR, LTC, ETH, BNB, TRX, USDT, USDC | BTC, ETH, LTC |
| Card payments | Stripe (Visa, MC, etc.) | Visa only (reported) |
| Cash by mail | Yes, any currency | No |
| Proxy services | Datacenter, residential, rotating (availability varies) | No |
| Reseller API | Full REST API, white-label | No |
| OS options | Debian 12/13, Ubuntu, Rocky, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Windows | Linux, Windows, macOS |
| Zero logs | Yes | Not explicitly stated |
| Tor / I2P access | Yes (.onion + .i2p mirrors) | No |
| SMTP ports | Open | Blocked by default |
| DDoS protection | No (bring your own) | Free, included |
| Works without JavaScript | Yes. Every page works with JavaScript off, signup and checkout included; Stripe's script loads only if you pick card. | Site is a JavaScript app with server-rendered pages; checkout without JavaScript not verified |
is*hosting advertises crypto payments and "anonymous VPS." But multiple users on public review sites report being asked for government ID after purchasing, with accounts restricted to Visa-only payments. That's not anonymous. Servury requires nothing. No email, no phone, no name. You get a 32-character credential and that's it. Pay with Monero if you want. We genuinely cannot identify you because we never asked in the first place.
Servury offers real LUKS2 full disk encryption on our Montreal hardware. You set the passphrase via a Dropbear SSH session. We never see it, store it, or transmit it. Your root partition is encrypted with argon2id key derivation. is*hosting offers no client-controlled disk encryption. Their backups are "encrypted," but that's provider-level encryption where they hold the keys. Not the same thing at all.
is*hosting operates in 40+ locations, which sounds great until you realize it's all resold infrastructure. They don't own the hardware. Servury's Montreal location runs on servers we physically own in a colocation facility. That's how we can offer features like disk encryption, BYOIP, and reverse DNS. Fewer locations, but the ones we have are genuinely ours.
Credit where it's due: is*hosting has 40+ locations (we have 8), free DDoS protection on all plans (we don't), and 20 years of operational history. If you need a server in a specific country we don't cover, or if DDoS protection is critical for your use case, is*hosting has more options. They also offer macOS VPS, which we don't.
Servury starts from $9.99 a month, with a seven-day minimum and renewal cycles you set yourself. is*hosting starts at $5.94/mo and bills monthly only. That flexibility matters when you're running short-term workloads or testing something quickly.
What is*hosting says where customers look, next to what the same company says in its own terms, privacy policy or page source. Quoted verbatim, source under each pair, checked 5 September 2026. Every provider, same test.
“All transactions (including initial registrations) on the blockchain are anonymous, fully protecting your financial and personal information.”
Their own policy says“KYC verification is conducted on a selective basis. The decision is made based on our internal risk assessment system [...] Payment method characteristics [...] Government-issued photo identification (passport, national ID, driver's license) [...] Proof of address dated within 90 days [...] Biometric selfie verification [...] Source of funds documentation”
Their blog sells crypto as anonymity. Their KYC policy lists the payment method as a trigger for asking for your passport and a selfie.
“Our VPN network has a strict policy against storing logs of users' online activity, which enhances privacy and security.”
Their own policy says“computer-related information (browser type you used, your Internet Protocol address, last URL visited, and the date and time of day of your login) [...] we may retain and use PI for such periods of time as required or permitted by law or best business practices”
“We do not store your documents”
Their own policy says“Customer Verification Records | 5 years after account closure | Regulatory compliance and AML requirements”
Help centre versus the KYC policy's own retention table.
They accept crypto, but require an email to sign up. Multiple users report being asked for government ID after purchase. If true anonymity matters to you, Servury is the safer choice: no email, no KYC, no identity of any kind.
No. is*hosting offers encrypted backups (provider-controlled) but no client-side disk encryption. Servury offers LUKS2 full disk encryption on our Montreal hardware where only you hold the passphrase.
is*hosting resells infrastructure from providers in 40+ countries. That gives them geographic reach but zero control over the hardware. Servury owns hardware in Montreal and partners with providers in 6 other locations. We prioritize control and features over raw location count.
No. BYOIP (Bring Your Own IP) is a Servury exclusive on our Montreal infrastructure. You prove ownership via RPKI ROA and we announce your prefix over BGP. Fully automated, zero admin review.
No email, no KYC, crypto accepted, live in thirty seconds across eight locations.
Debian 13
YunoHost 12
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
Rocky Linux 9
AlmaLinux 10
FreeBSD 15
OpenBSD 7.9
Windows Server 2025
