How to Benchmark Cloud Servers (VPS)
Run disk, network, and CPU benchmarks on your VPS using YABS and other tools. Compare providers before you commit.
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Before picking a VPS provider, run a benchmark. Specs on a pricing page don’t tell you much — shared vCPU contention, noisy neighbors, and disk throttling all affect real performance. A quick benchmark shows what you actually get.
This guide covers what to test, which tools to use, and how to read the results.
What to benchmark
Three things matter most on a VPS:
Disk I/O. Random read/write speeds with small block sizes (4k) affect databases and web apps directly. Sequential speeds (1m blocks) matter for backups and large file operations. Look for NVMe storage — it’s standard on most providers now but some still use SATA SSDs.
Network throughput. If you’re serving users across regions, test speeds to multiple locations. A server with 10 Gbps uplink but poor peering to your target region is useless. Check both IPv4 and IPv6.
CPU performance. Geekbench scores give you a standardized number you can compare across providers. Single-core matters for most web workloads. Multi-core matters if you’re running parallel tasks.
YABS: the one-command benchmark
YABS (Yet-Another-Bench-Script) runs all three tests in one go. It uses fio for disk, iperf3 for network, and Geekbench 6 for CPU. No installation needed — it downloads portable binaries and runs them.
Run it:
curl -sL https://yabs.sh | bashThat’s it. Takes about 10-15 minutes depending on your server.
Useful flags:
-r— reduces iperf locations (less bandwidth usage)-i— skips network tests entirely-f— skips disk tests-g— skips Geekbench-5— runs Geekbench 5 instead of 6 (for comparing with older results)
You can combine flags: curl -sL https://yabs.sh | bash -s -- -r runs a lighter test with fewer network endpoints.
Reading the output
Here’s what a typical run looks like (Hetzner CX33, 4 vCPU AMD EPYC, €6.49/month):
# ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## #
# Yet-Another-Bench-Script #
# v2026-04-20 #
# https://github.com/masonr/yet-another-bench-script #
# ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## #
Thu Oct 16 11:32:39 AM UTC 2026
Basic System Information:
---------------------------------
Uptime : 0 days, 0 hours, 30 minutes
Processor : AMD EPYC-Rome Processor
CPU cores : 4 @ 2445.404 MHz
AES-NI : ✔ Enabled
VM-x/AMD-V : ❌ Disabled
RAM : 7.6 GiB
Swap : 0.0 KiB
Disk : 75.0 GiB
Distro : Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS
Kernel : 6.8.0-71-generic
VM Type : KVM
IPv4/IPv6 : ✔ Online / ✔ Online
fio Disk Speed Tests (Mixed R/W 50/50):
---------------------------------
Block Size | 4k (IOPS) | 64k (IOPS)
------ | --- ---- | ---- ----
Read | 115.01 MB/s (28.7k) | 988.49 MB/s (15.4k)
Write | 115.32 MB/s (28.8k) | 993.69 MB/s (15.5k)
Total | 230.34 MB/s (57.5k) | 1.98 GB/s (30.9k)
| |
Block Size | 512k (IOPS) | 1m (IOPS)
------ | --- ---- | ---- ----
Read | 1.78 GB/s (3.4k) | 2.16 GB/s (2.1k)
Write | 1.88 GB/s (3.6k) | 2.30 GB/s (2.2k)
Total | 3.66 GB/s (7.1k) | 4.46 GB/s (4.3k)
iperf3 Network Speed Tests (IPv4):
---------------------------------
Provider | Location (Link) | Send Speed | Recv Speed | Ping
----- | ----- | ---- | ---- | ----
Clouvider | London, UK (10G) | 5.16 Gbits/sec | 5.60 Gbits/sec | 17.8 ms
Eranium | Amsterdam, NL (100G) | 12.3 Gbits/sec | 12.8 Gbits/sec | 9.27 ms
Uztelecom | Tashkent, UZ (10G) | 1.96 Gbits/sec | 2.24 Gbits/sec | 94.6 ms
Leaseweb | Singapore, SG (10G) | 665 Mbits/sec | 841 Mbits/sec | 166 ms
Clouvider | Los Angeles, CA, US (10G) | 1.03 Gbits/sec | 1.21 Gbits/sec | 158 ms
Leaseweb | NYC, NY, US (10G) | 1.88 Gbits/sec | 2.53 Gbits/sec | 97.7 ms
Edgoo | Sao Paulo, BR (1G) | 616 Mbits/sec | 1.14 Gbits/sec | 219 ms
Geekbench 6 Benchmark Test:
---------------------------------
Test | Value
|
Single Core | 1508
Multi Core | 4919
Full Test | https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/14484522
YABS completed in 12 min 35 secWhat to look for in these results:
- Disk: 4k random IOPS above 20k is decent for a shared vCPU plan. The 115 MB/s at 4k block size here is typical for Hetzner’s cost-optimized tier. Dedicated or regular plans will be higher.
- Network: 12+ Gbps to Amsterdam is excellent — that’s nearby. The drop to 841 Mbps to Singapore is expected due to distance. Focus on speeds to regions where your users are.
- CPU: Geekbench 6 single-core of 1508 is solid for an EPYC-Rome shared vCPU. For reference, dedicated cores typically score 1800-2200+.
Other benchmark tools worth knowing
YABS covers the basics, but sometimes you need more detail:
bench.sh — tests disk and network speed. Faster than YABS, no CPU benchmark. Good for a quick check.
wget -qO- bench.sh | bashnench — similar to bench.sh but adds CPU tests and dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 speed tests by default.
curl -sL nench.sh | bashfio — the industry standard for disk benchmarking. YABS uses it internally, but running fio directly lets you customize block sizes, queue depths, and test patterns for your specific workload.
fio --randrepeat=1 --ioengine=libaio --direct=1 --gtod_reduce=1 \
--name=test --filename=test --bs=4k --iodepth=64 --size=1G \
--readwrite=randrw --rwmixread=75Geekbench — run it standalone if you only care about CPU scores. Version 6 is current (latest is 6.6 as of February 2026). Scores are standardized and comparable across providers.
sysbench — tests CPU, memory, file I/O, and MySQL/PostgreSQL performance. If you’re running a database, benchmark it with sysbench before going to production.
Tips for reliable benchmarks
- Run tests multiple times. Shared vCPU performance varies by time of day. Run benchmarks at different hours to see the range.
- Test during your traffic patterns. If you’ll run production workloads during business hours, benchmark during business hours.
- Compare same-tier plans. Don’t compare a $4/month shared vCPU against a $40/month dedicated core server. Compare like with like.
- Check the Geekbench browser. Search browser.geekbench.com for your provider and plan. Many people post results publicly.
- Save your results. YABS outputs a URL you can share. Keep a record so you can compare after provider changes.
Where to compare providers
These sites collect benchmark results from real users:
- VPSBenchmarks.com — side-by-side comparisons with real test data
- VPS Metrics — filterable benchmark database
- LowEndTalk — community forum where people post YABS results
If you’re considering Hetzner specifically, check this Hetzner Cloud review with benchmark results across multiple plan tiers.
