Best How to Fish Server Hosting UK (Nov 2026)
If you are trying to find the best dedicated server for How to Fish, the market is much messier than a normal co-op game. Availability, prices and product wording come from each provider’s own site. Right now there is no official dedicated server from Dazed Games, so most groups are really choosing a Windows VPS to run the community Driftwood server on.
GTXGaming Windows VPS- ✓ London route available for UK groups
- ✓ 8GB lands on our realistic buying floor for Driftwood
- ✓ Monthly billing with no contract and DDoS protection
The clearest fit for a small UK co-op group: London is listed, the monthly 8GB plan is sensible, and you are not tied into long terms while Driftwood is still evolving.
Full verdict ↓
The only provider we found with a named managed How to Fish product. The catch is important: it is listed as preorder, so treat it as promising rather than live.
Full verdict ↓
Appealing if you care most about high clock speeds and want a Windows-ready VPS, but its realistic 8GB tier costs more than three times the GTX equivalent.
Full verdict ↓Because Dazed Games does not provide an official dedicated server, the market is mostly self-managed Windows VPS hosting. Use the setup section below if you want the straight answer on what that means day to day.
See how it works ↓Only one major provider currently lists managed How to Fish hosting, and it is not live yet
That is the big thing to understand before you buy anything. Of every major host compared, only ZAP-Hosting had a dedicated How to Fish product page, and that page was marked preorder. Everything else in this guide means renting a Windows VPS, installing your own Steam copy of How to Fish, then running the community-made Driftwood dedicated server on top. If you were expecting a normal one-click game panel across the whole market, that market simply does not exist yet.
We rank the best practical buy, not the prettiest headline price
Driftwood needs Windows, your own game install, Git and the .NET 8 SDK to build, plus open ports for UDP 22003 and TCP 22004. That makes a realistic 8GB Windows box more important than a teaser price on a tiny plan. We therefore treat 8GB as the safe floor recommendation for most groups, note that 4GB is tight, and do not pretend a 1GB or 2GB VPS is a serious long-term How to Fish answer.
How to Fish is brilliant for co-op, but the default game flow is still host-based
How to Fish by Dazed Games released on 20 August 2026 and has done very well, sitting at Overwhelmingly Positive with 95% of 29,317 English reviews, with recent reviews at 94% of 12,962. It sells for £6.39. Official co-op lobbies support up to 8 players since patch 1.0.4, but they are host-based, so the world stops when the host leaves. That is exactly why dedicated hosting is attractive, even though the current dedicated route is community-led rather than official.
The 3 How to Fish hosting options worth your time right now
This is a tiny market today. Provider availability and wording come from each provider’s own site.
GTX does not sell a managed How to Fish server, but its Windows VPS line is the most sensible buy for British groups. London is listed, the 8GB plan is affordable, billing is monthly with no contract, and you can grow to 16GB or 32GB without jumping to enterprise pricing straight away.
Read full verdict ↓
ZAP is the only brand we found listing a dedicated product page for How to Fish itself. It promises Driftwood pre-installed, DDoS protection, FTP, a web panel and upgrades, which is exactly what many buyers want. The reason it is not number one is simple: preorder means not live yet, and the page leaves key details unstated.
Read full verdict ↓
Host Havoc’s VPS line is interesting because the CPU clocks are clearly stronger on paper than GTX’s older Xeon VPS range. If you value snappy single-thread performance and already accept DIY Windows server admin, it is a credible option. The problem is price: the 8GB tier is steep, and the VPS page does not list locations.
Read full verdict ↓Compact How to Fish hosting comparison table
This table keeps the decision practical: which route you are really buying, whether the product is actually live, what the cheapest entry looks like, and what an 8GB choice costs if you want a believable 4–8 player setup.
| Provider | Route | Status | Entry price | 8GB price | Location | Driftwood | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTXGaming | Windows VPS | Live | £6.99 | £8.99 | London (also New York) | You install it yourself | #1 verdict |
| ZAP-Hosting | Managed How to Fish product | Preorder | £4.21 ($5.60) | Not stated | Not stated | Advertised as auto-installed | #2 verdict |
| Host Havoc | Windows-ready VPS | Live | £3.67 | £29.39 | Not stated | You install it yourself | #3 verdict |
Conversion used: £1 = $1.33
Every ranked How to Fish provider reviewed properly
What we look at: what they actually sell, whether it fits Driftwood, where the value is, and the reason we would hesitate before buying.
GTXGaming Windows VPS
GTXGaming gets the top spot because it is the most practical answer to the current How to Fish situation, especially for a British friend group. There is no managed How to Fish product here, but there is a clear Windows VPS range with a London option, monthly billing and a genuinely affordable 8GB tier. That matters because Driftwood is not just a tiny command-line utility; it still needs a Windows x64 environment, your own installed copy of How to Fish, open firewall rules, and enough RAM headroom to keep the world available without babysitting it constantly.
The plan that makes sense for most groups is VPS2 at £8.99. It includes 3 cores, 8GB RAM and 100GB NVMe, which is right where we would start a persistent 4–8 player server. GTX also offers VPS1 at £6.99 with 2 cores and 4GB, but we view that more as a trial box than the long-term answer for a normal group. If your world becomes the default evening hangout and you want more breathing room, the ladder above that is easy enough to understand: VPS3 £17.99 with 5 cores and 16GB, then VPS4 £34.99 with 9 cores and 32GB.
The main advantage here is not glamorous marketing; it is fit. GTX lists London directly, which is the cleanest route for UK-based groups and still perfectly workable for nearby EU players. The hardware listing is older Intel Xeon E5-2640 v4 @ 2.30GHz rather than shiny modern Ryzen branding, so this is not the flashiest CPU spec in the guide. Even so, for a game whose dedicated route is still community-driven, the combination of price, monthly flexibility and London availability is stronger than paying far more for theoretical CPU wins you may never notice in a small fishing co-op world.
Be realistic about what you are buying. This is self-managed. You will need to RDP in, install Steam, install How to Fish with your own account and game copy, install Git and the .NET 8 SDK, then build or deploy Driftwood yourself. You will also need to open UDP 22003 and TCP 22004. GTX does not hide any of that because it is selling a VPS, not pretending this is a one-click panel product.
- ✓ Best overall price for a realistic 8GB How to Fish setup
- ✓ London is listed, ideal for UK groups
- ✓ Monthly billing with no contract
- ✓ Clear upgrade path from 4GB to 32GB
- ✓ NVMe storage and DDoS protection are included
- ✗ Full DIY setup: Steam, game install and Driftwood are on you
- ✗ Older Xeon clocks look less attractive than Ryzen VPS rivals
- ✗ Windows licence fee is not stated on the plan page
ZAP-Hosting
ZAP-Hosting is the most interesting listing in the market because it is the only major provider we found actually naming How to Fish server hosting on a dedicated product page. If your ideal purchase is “just give me the game server and do not make me build anything on Windows”, ZAP is the closest current answer. Its page advertises Driftwood auto-installed, along with DDoS protection, FTP access, a web interface and the ability to upgrade resources. On paper, that is exactly the shape this market needs.
The problem is that this product is listed as preorder. That single word changes the whole buying conversation. A preorder product can still be worthwhile if you want to monitor it or be early when it launches, but it is not the same as a live, proven service you can deploy tonight for the lads. The page also leaves some of the details advanced buyers will care about marked or implied rather than explicit. For example, location is not stated on the product page, so we do not credit it with a UK route. Likewise, there is no public 8GB price on that listing, which makes a fair like-for-like comparison with GTX harder.
There is also a small wording mismatch buyers should notice. ZAP’s product text talks about co-op for up to four players. That may simply be the provider’s page wording, but the known game context today is that official host-based co-op supports up to 8 players since patch 1.0.4, and Driftwood itself defaults to 8 slots configurable in the server setup. That does not make ZAP wrong about its own planned package design, but it does mean you should not assume player handling from the page alone.
So why still rank it second? Because for many people, a proper managed How to Fish service would be the best user experience if and when it goes live. You would skip most Windows admin, skip the build step, and likely get a more familiar game panel workflow. The cheap headline entry of £4.21 per month ($5.60), is also the lowest sticker price in this guide. There is even a lifetime option from £46.26 ($61.60), which is unusual enough to be worth mentioning if you expect to play for months. Today, though, preorder keeps it behind GTX’s available London VPS route.
- ✓ The only provider currently listing a dedicated managed How to Fish product
- ✓ Driftwood is advertised as auto-installed
- ✓ Cheapest headline monthly price in the guide
- ✓ No Windows admin or build steps in the ideal version of the product
- ✓ Lifetime option is available if you like long-term ownership maths
- ✗ Preorder means it is not live yet
- ✗ Location for this product is not stated
- ✗ 8GB price is not stated
- ✗ Product wording mentions up to four players, which needs clarifying against current co-op expectations
Host Havoc Ryzen VPS
Host Havoc’s VPS range is here for one main reason: it advertises the strongest CPU story of the three ranked options. The page describes a Windows Ready KVM VPS on VirtFusion using Ryzen 3.4–4.9GHz. For games that benefit from good per-core speed, that is appealing. If you already know you want to self-manage Windows and would rather pay extra for newer clock speeds than settle for an older Xeon family, Host Havoc makes that case more clearly than GTX does.
The trouble is the value curve for How to Fish specifically. Yes, the entry prices start low enough on paper: VPS-1 £3.67 for 1GB, VPS-2 £7.35 for 2GB, and VPS-4 £14.69 for 4GB with 2 vCPU. But those are not the plans we would point a normal group toward. Driftwood on Windows plus the game install is one of those cases where an ultra-small box can make your life harder than the sticker price suggests. The first tier we would treat as a comfortable starting point for up to 8 players is VPS-8 at £29.39 with 8GB RAM and 4 vCPU. That is a huge step up in cost.
There are also some product-page unknowns. The VPS page did not state locations, so we do not assume London, Manchester, Frankfurt or anything else without being told. That matters because network route is one of the few things you cannot patch later. By contrast, GTX lists London clearly, which is worth real money for a UK-heavy group. Host Havoc also does not make the setup simpler: it is still a DIY VPS route, so you are responsible for the Steam install, game ownership on the server, Driftwood deployment, firewall rules and whatever scheduled restart or watchdog approach you use, because Driftwood itself does not auto-restart after a crash.
For a small private group with money to spare, Host Havoc remains a valid choice. The best argument for it is straightforward: if you dislike older Xeon VPS hardware and want more modern CPU clocks, it probably has the most attractive compute profile of the three. The best argument against it is just as simple: for this particular game, the realistic 8GB plan is expensive enough that most UK buyers will be happier with GTX or will wait to see whether ZAP’s managed preorder becomes a proper live product.
- ✓ Best stated CPU clocks in this guide
- ✓ Windows-ready VPS positioning fits Driftwood requirements
- ✓ Clear RAM ladder up to 16GB
- ✓ Could suit buyers who prioritise raw VPS performance over price
- ✗ 8GB costs more than three times GTX’s 8GB plan
- ✗ VPS locations are not listed on the product page
- ✗ Still fully DIY to install and maintain
- ✗ Cheap entry tiers are too small to be our normal recommendation
Providers with no live How to Fish product listing
The following hosts did not have a current How to Fish product listing. Some may add support later, especially if Driftwood stabilises and the game keeps growing.
Hosts such as Indifferent Broccoli, LOW.MS and DatHost are not missing because we forgot them. They are absent because they do not have a current How to Fish product listing.
This is exactly the kind of market that can move quickly. If providers launch a proper managed product or document a supported VPS route more clearly, the ranking can change.
A live managed panel product, stated region choices, honest slot guidance and a clear note about Driftwood updates after game patches would improve this market immediately.
How much RAM does a How to Fish server need?
There is no published official headless RAM figure from Dazed Games, and Driftwood itself does not publish a formal hosting table either. So this section is a buying recommendation, not fake precision. Our view is simple: 8GB is the safe floor for a Windows box running Driftwood plus the game install, especially if you want a persistent server that a normal 4–8 player group can rely on. 4GB can work for a tiny trial group, but it is tight. We would not build our main group world around anything smaller.
CPU matters too. We recommend at least 2 cores, and 3 or more for an 8-player target. That lines up neatly with GTX’s VPS2 plan, which is why it comes out so well in this guide. For context, the game’s client minimum specification already includes 8GB RAM on the player side, alongside Windows 10+ 64-bit, an i5-5257U or Ryzen 3 1200, GTX 1050 and 1GB of storage. A dedicated setup is not identical to a full player client, but it does underline that this is not a featherweight modern game.
| Players | Recommended cores | Recommended RAM | Buying advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2–3 players | 2 cores | 4GB minimum | Only sensible as a short trial or very light private world; expect tightness |
| 4–5 players | 2–3 cores | 8GB | Best starting point if you want less friction and room to grow |
| 6–8 players | 3+ cores | 8GB | Our default recommendation for an always-available co-op group |
| Busy private community | 4+ cores | 16GB if needed | Upgrade when you want overhead, not because a marketing page told you to panic |
For most UK groups, buy like you expect the server to become your regular evening world, not a weekend experiment. That means 8GB first, then judge whether you actually need more after a few weeks. It is cheaper and less annoying than trying to save a couple of pounds on a box that spends its life on the edge.
How to Fish dedicated hosting today means running Driftwood on Windows
Because there is no official dedicated server from Dazed Games, the dedicated path is currently the community-made Driftwood project, which is MIT licensed and not affiliated with Dazed Games. The latest release noted here is v0.1.13 dated 27 October 2026. It hosts game 1.1.x and was tested against 1.1.3. One important maintenance note: releases before 0.1.9 do not start on 1.1.x, so after game patches you should keep Driftwood updated as well.
Driftwood needs Windows 10/11 or Windows Server x64. It also needs your own Steam copy of How to Fish installed on the server, plus Git and the .NET 8 SDK to build. Default networking is a game port on UDP 22003 with the companion TCP 22004. It defaults to 8 slots, and those can be configured. Useful features include snapshot backups using --snapshot, a pinned build check, pauseWorldWhenEmpty, a server console, chat commands such as !help, !stuck and !top, a Discord webhook, and autoSaveMinutes with a default of 5.
There is one operational warning worth repeating because buyers often miss it: Driftwood does not auto-restart after a crash. So either set a scheduled task or watchdog yourself, or choose a host and workflow where you are comfortable handling that. That is another reason we lean toward a modest but sensible VPS rather than squeezing everything onto the smallest possible machine.
+ Driftwood app or DriftwoodConnect mod
+ TCP port 22004
(game port + 1)
+ your own copy of How to Fish 1.1.x
- World pauses when empty
- Autosave every 5 minutes
- Snapshot backups
- Console and chat commands
You want the world online when the host is away, your group plays at different times, or you want something sturdier than a friend’s gaming PC acting as the permanent host.
You only play occasionally with the same few mates, can tolerate the world stopping when the host leaves, and do not want to touch Windows server admin at all.
Basic How to Fish dedicated setup in 7 steps
If you go the VPS route, this is the simple version of the job. It sounds like a lot written out, but for anyone comfortable with remote Windows admin it is manageable.
Pick a Windows-capable VPS with at least 2 cores and preferably 8GB RAM if this is meant to be your real shared world.
Log in over Remote Desktop, apply any basic Windows updates you want handled first, and make sure you have admin access.
You need your own copy of the game installed on the server because Driftwood depends on the game being present.
Driftwood needs Git and the .NET 8 SDK to build. Use the current Driftwood release, not an older build left behind after patches.
Configure the game port, then open UDP 22003 and TCP 22004 in both Windows Firewall and any provider-side firewall panel.
Set slots, autosave behaviour and pauseWorldWhenEmpty. Driftwood defaults to 8 slots and autosaves every 5 minutes.
Players join using the Driftwood app or the DriftwoodConnect mod version 0.1.4. Before game updates, take –snapshot backups, then update Driftwood after patches and add a scheduled restart or watchdog in case of crashes.
Cheapest How to Fish Server Hosting UK
Price-only rankings can be misleading for this game, because the very cheapest route may not be the one you actually want to live with. Still, if you just want the cheapest available starting point, here is the current order by price.
Important caveat: we do not call the smallest teaser the real How to Fish price if it is not the plan we would actually run. For a group of 4–8 players, plan around an 8GB machine. In practice that means GTX VPS2 at £8.99 is our realistic budget floor. ZAP’s lifetime option is unusual and may interest long-term groups, but remember that the product is still preorder.
How to Fish servers in the UK and Europe
If your entire group is in Britain, start by favouring a provider that clearly states a London route. On their own product pages, GTXGaming is the only ranked option here that explicitly listed London for the VPS route we are recommending. That gives it an obvious advantage for UK buyers.
- GTXGaming — London is listed for the VPS route, along with New York
- ZAP-Hosting — location for this How to Fish product is not stated
- Host Havoc — VPS locations are not stated
If you are buying from outside the UK but still within Europe, the same rule applies: ask where the actual node is before purchase if the product page does not say. It is better to confirm than to guess. Shorter routes usually matter more than tiny hardware differences for a relaxed co-op game.
My simple advice for mixed UK/EU groups: pick the server location closest to the middle of the friend group if London is not available, and avoid buying blind when the provider does not state region choices for the specific product page you are looking at.
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See the full directory of game-specific hosting pages for more dedicated, co-op and private server recommendations.
How we compared How to Fish server hosts
We compare How to Fish hosts on published price and renewal clarity, RAM and hardware for your player count, UK or nearby EU location, backups and recovery, and support or trial terms. Figures come from each provider’s public plan page and are re-checked when this article is refreshed.
Read the full method: how we compare game server hosts.
How to Fish server hosting questions
What is the best dedicated server for How to Fish?
Right now our top practical pick is GTXGaming Windows VPS, specifically the £8.99 VPS2 plan with 3 cores and 8GB RAM. There is no official dedicated server from Dazed Games, so what you are really buying is a Windows VPS suitable for running Driftwood. GTX comes out on top because London is listed, the 8GB price is sensible, and the monthly no-contract model suits a fast-changing game and toolchain.
Is there an official dedicated server for How to Fish?
No. Dazed Games does not provide an official dedicated server for How to Fish. The dedicated route available today is the community-made Driftwood server, which is MIT licensed and not affiliated with Dazed Games.
How many players can a How to Fish server support?
Official host-based co-op supports up to 8 players since patch 1.0.4. Driftwood defaults to 8 slots and those slots are configurable. If you are comparing provider pages, pay attention to their own wording, because ZAP’s page mentions co-op for up to four players even though Driftwood itself defaults to eight slots.
How much RAM do I need for a How to Fish dedicated server?
There is no published official headless RAM figure, so this is guidance rather than a measured rule. We recommend 8GB as the safe floor for a Windows server running Driftwood plus the game install. 4GB can be used for a tiny trial group, but it is tight. For CPU, aim for at least 2 cores, and 3 or more if you want to target 8 players comfortably.
Can I host How to Fish on my own PC instead?
Yes, and for some groups the official host-based co-op lobby is enough. The downside is that the world stops when the host leaves, which is exactly why people look for dedicated hosting. A rented VPS makes more sense when different friends want to drop in at different times.
Does How to Fish dedicated hosting work on Linux?
Not in the way covered on this page. Driftwood requires Windows 10/11 or Windows Server x64. That is why the best options in this guide are Windows VPS products rather than standard Linux game hosting plans.
What happens after a How to Fish game update?
Keep Driftwood updated after game patches. The current important compatibility note is that releases before 0.1.9 do not start on How to Fish 1.1.x. Take –snapshot backups before updating, then update the game and Driftwood together. It is also wise to have a scheduled task or watchdog because Driftwood does not auto-restart after a crash.
What is the cheapest How to Fish server hosting option?
By headline monthly price, ZAP-Hosting is the cheapest at £4.21 ($5.60). However, it is currently a preorder. For a live VPS route, GTX VPS1 at £6.99 is the cheapest ranked live option, but we think GTX VPS2 at £8.99 is the more realistic buy because it provides 8GB RAM.
Is ZAP-Hosting live for How to Fish yet?
No. The How to Fish product page is marked preorder. That makes it promising, but not the same as a live managed server you can rely on today.
Which provider has a UK location for How to Fish?
Among the ranked options here, GTXGaming explicitly lists London for the VPS route we recommend. For ZAP-Hosting and Host Havoc, the specific product pages do not state a location, so ask before buying if UK routing matters to your group.
For most UK groups, the £8.99 8GB VPS2 plan is the best blend of London routing, realistic resources and low commitment while the How to Fish dedicated market is still immature.
View GTX VPS plans →Prices and product details checked on each provider’s own site in October 2026. We may earn a commission from some links at no extra cost to you. Prices, specs and product status come from each provider’s own pages, checked in October 2026.
