Survival gamer & server nerd
Updated Expert-reviewed
🇬🇧 UK GUIDE

Free ARK: Survival Evolved Server Hosting

Evolved’s lighter hardware footprint makes it genuinely easier to get a proper free trial or self-host than Ascended’s heavier requirements allow.

Why this differs from the Ascended version

Evolved’s lighter footprint changes what’s practical

Evolved’s 8-12GB requirement is roughly half of Ascended’s 16GB floor, which matters most for the self-hosting route below — a much wider range of home PCs can genuinely run an Evolved server smoothly, something worth knowing before assuming your existing hardware isn’t up to it. If self-hosting is not an option, our best ARK: Survival Evolved server hosting comparison covers the paid hosts once a trial ends.

Running Ascended instead? The hardware maths there is different — see our separate free Ascended hosting guide.

Our top pick
Indifferent Broccoli
2-day free trial · No card required
2 days free
then from £4.50/mo ($5.99)
Ryzen 9 9950X / 7950X No card to start No RAM cap

Two full days on the same hardware paying customers get, with no card required to activate it — enough time to test a modpack via our mods guide and see how your group’s actual playtime plays out before committing.

The genuinely £0 option

Self-hosting, for real free

The dedicated server tool is free with your existing game files. Evolved’s lighter 8-12GB requirement means a wider range of home PCs can realistically handle it compared to Ascended.

Full connection steps are in our playing with friends guide, and configuration in our server settings guide. If something isn’t working, our troubleshooting guide covers the common causes.

Quick comparison

Trial vs self-hosting

Option Cost Duration Always online?
Indifferent Broccoli trial Free 2 days ✅ Yes, for the trial period
Self-hosted Free forever Unlimited Full control, only while your PC is on
FAQ

Free ARK: Survival Evolved hosting — common questions

Nothing is charged automatically since no payment details are collected to start it. Upgrade to a paid plan before the 2 days are up to keep your world running, or it simply stops.
Yes, mods cost nothing extra on a self-hosted server. See our mods guide for the Steam Workshop install process.
Generally yes, since the lighter 8-12GB hardware requirement is more achievable on an average home PC, and settings like ServerPort behave more predictably in the config file compared to Ascended’s launch-parameter-only quirks.
2 days is enough to test connectivity, basic settings and a small mod list, but a heavier modpack benefits from more runway to see how it holds up over a longer session. If that’s your situation, self-hosting for free is unlimited in duration, or you can move straight to a paid plan once you’re confident — see our best ARK: Survival Evolved server hosting comparison for options.
Keep reading

More ARK: Survival Evolved guides

How to Play With FriendsConnection, step by step Server Settings GuideThe full config layout Server TroubleshootingLag, crashes & more Best ARK: Survival Evolved Hosting UKCompare all providers
About the author
Linus Pierre – founder of Game Server Hosting
GSH Founder

Lifelong survival gamer · Server nerd · Sweden/UK

I'm an avid gamer from Sweden with a lot of time spent in England in the last 5 years who loves survival games — ARK, Palworld, Valheim, Sons of the Forest, V Rising and plenty of WoW and Dota 2 on the side. I created this site to help other gamers find the best server hosting without wasting money on laggy providers.

I've been hosting my own game servers since Minecraft first came out, from Hamachi LAN nights with friends to modded survival worlds and dedicated servers for ARK, Valheim and Palworld. Years of running, breaking and fixing servers taught me what actually makes a host worth paying for, and that's what I share here.

How we compare: Prices, specs and server locations are checked against each provider's own website and compared on price-to-performance.

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