Novahost VPS vs HostAfrica: Look Past the Sticker Price

Anyone who has bought a car in Nairobi knows the sticker price is only the start. Before you sign, you open the boot, check the mileage terms, ask about servicing, and look at the service history.

Comparing Novahost VPS with HostAfrica deserves the same test drive. At first glance, Novahost's monthly prices are lower. But a VPS is something you'll live with every day, so what matters is what comes with that price: room for your data, limits on your traffic, and how much work the server asks of you.

Let's take both for a spin.

Key Takeaways: Novahost VPS vs HostAfrica

HostAfrica is our recommended choice over Novahost VPS for Kenyan businesses and developers who expect to grow.

• More room on faster disks: At 2 vCPU and 4GB RAM, HostAfrica includes 100GB of NVMe storage, compared with Novahost's 60GB SSD.
• No transfer cap: Every HostAfrica VPS includes unlimited traffic, while Novahost's plans include 2TB to 12TB a month.
• Upgrades without disruption: HostAfrica scales servers live, so customers never notice the upgrade.
• Less hands-on admin: HostAfrica servers can be managed through an API, a CLI, or MCP, with Managed VPS available when you'd rather hand it over.
• A smaller starting point: HostAfrica's VPS plans start at KSh960 a month, VAT included, against Novahost's KSh1,200.

Compare HostAfrica Linux VPS plans

Same Model, Same Basics

Both providers sell unmanaged KVM VPS hosting in Kenya, with full root access, DDoS protection, a 99.9% uptime commitment, and M-Pesa payments. Both let you choose your operating system and upgrade your server without moving to a new one.

So the basics are covered either way. The differences are in what you get for the money, and what living with the server is like.

Novahost VPS vs HostAfrica at a Glance

Servers are matched on vCPU and RAM, at monthly prices. HostAfrica prices include VAT. Novahost's VPS page doesn't state whether its prices include VAT.

What you want	HostAfrica Linux VPS	Novahost VPS
A small server to start (close call)	1 vCPU, 2GB RAM: KSh1,600, 50GB NVMe	SSD-KVM-2GB: KSh1,200, 30GB SSD
A server for a busy site (close call)	2 vCPU, 4GB RAM: KSh3,200, 100GB NVMe	SSD-KVM-4GB: KSh1,900, 60GB SSD
Room for traffic	Unlimited traffic	2TB to 12TB transfer, by plan
Upgrading as you grow	Live, without service disruption	Without migrating to a new server
Managing the server	Web console, API, CLI, and MCP; Managed VPS available	SolusVM control panel; unmanaged plans
Keeping you online	99.9% uptime, DDoS protection	99.9% uptime, DDoS protection

Boot Space: How Much Room Your Data Gets

A car with a tiny boot is fine until the first big shopping trip. VPS storage works the same way. Product photos, customer records, logs, and backups pile up faster than most people expect.

HostAfrica gives you more room at every matched size. At 2 vCPU and 4GB RAM, you get 100GB of storage, compared with Novahost's 60GB, and it runs on NVMe drives rather than standard SSD.

The NVMe vs SSD difference matters most for databases. A WooCommerce store searching thousands of products, or an app writing orders all day, spends a lot of time reading and writing to disk. Faster storage helps those pages and queries stay quick as the business grows.

For room and speed, HostAfrica comes out ahead.

No Mileage Cap: Room for Traffic

Some car deals come with a mileage limit. It's fine until the month you need to drive further than planned.

Novahost's VPS plans come with a monthly transfer allowance, from 2TB on the smallest plan up to 12TB. HostAfrica includes unlimited traffic on every VPS plan, so a campaign, a mention on a popular blog, or a busy December doesn't have you watching a usage meter.

For a growing website or app, that's one less number to keep an eye on, and one less reason to upgrade before you really need to.

For traffic headroom, HostAfrica has the advantage.

The Sticker Price: A Close Call

Here's where Novahost catches the eye. For the same CPU and RAM, its monthly prices are lower: KSh1,200 for a 1 core, 2GB server and KSh1,900 for 2 cores and 4GB, compared with HostAfrica's KSh1,600 and KSh3,200. HostAfrica's prices include VAT, while Novahost's page doesn't say either way.

Both give you the processing power and memory your site or app needs. The difference is what comes with it. Novahost keeps the monthly bill lower. HostAfrica adds more storage, NVMe drives, and unlimited traffic, and its smallest plan starts lower, at KSh960 for a 1GB server.

Close call. If the lowest monthly price for a given size matters most, Novahost wins this one.

Upgrades With the Engine Running

Imagine being able to fit a bigger engine without pulling over. That's what scaling a VPS without downtime feels like for a business.

Both providers let you add CPU, RAM, or storage without moving to a new server. HostAfrica goes a step further: its VPS upgrades and downgrades happen live, without service disruption. So if you need more power on the busiest day of the month, customers keep browsing, booking, and paying while it happens.

That means no scheduling upgrades for the middle of the night, and no maintenance page when the business is busiest.

For upgrading without interruption, HostAfrica has the edge.

Who Does the Servicing?

On an unmanaged VPS, you're the mechanic: updates, software, and backups are yours to handle. Both providers' standard VPS plans work this way, and Novahost gives you a SolusVM control panel for tasks like rebooting and reinstalling your server.

HostAfrica helps you do less of that work by hand. Alongside a web console, every VPS can be managed through its API, CLI, or MCP. Connect an AI assistant like Claude or ChatGPT over MCP, and you can ask it in plain language to check disk space, review server health, or resize a VPS before a launch.

And when the team would rather not be the mechanic at all, HostAfrica's Managed VPS adds a cPanel or DirectAdmin control panel, priority support, and daily backups, on the same account.

For less hands-on admin, HostAfrica comes out ahead.

The Service History

You'd never buy a car without asking how it's been looked after. A hosting provider deserves the same check.

HostAfrica's customers rate it 4.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 2,816 reviews, and it was named VPS Hosting Champion of the Year at the 2026 Digitally Fit Awards Kenya. Its Kenyan servers run at Africa Data Centres' NB01 facility in Nairobi, it's an ICANN-accredited and KeNIC-accredited registrar, and every VPS comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee if it isn't the right fit.

It also studies the businesses it serves: its Kenya SMB Insight Lab found that 83% of its Kenyan customers are in Nairobi and the surrounding areas, and nearly half run teams of two to five people.

For a service history you can check, HostAfrica is the stronger choice.

Where the Road Goes Next

With HostAfrica, the route ahead is already mapped. Start on a Linux VPS with root access, keep backup copies of your data in HostAfrica's object storage in Kenya, and move to a Linux VDS with dedicated resources when the workload needs guaranteed performance.

It's the same account, the same support team, and the same M-Pesa bill all the way.

Our Recommendation

Choose HostAfrica if you want more room for your data, no transfer cap, upgrades that don't interrupt your customers, and less hands-on server admin. Novahost may suit you if the lowest monthly price for a fixed size is your main priority.

After the test drive, most Kenyan businesses that plan to grow will get more from HostAfrica:

• More boot space, with up to two-thirds more storage at matched sizes, on NVMe drives.
• No mileage cap, with unlimited traffic on every plan.
• Upgrades on the move, live and without service disruption.
• A strong service history, as VPS Hosting Champion of the Year 2026, rated 4.9 on Trustpilot.

Our recommendation: choose HostAfrica.

Get started with a HostAfrica Linux VPS

FAQs: Novahost VPS vs HostAfrica Comparison