Gcore (formerly EdgeCenter) is a European cloud provider focusing on edge computing. They offer VPS in over 20 locations worldwide, including less common regions like Brazil, South Africa, and India. I've tested their 1‑core 1GB plan for four months. Here's my review.
What Gcore Does Well
Global coverage. Data centers in North America (US, Canada), Europe (UK, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Italy), Asia (Singapore, Japan, India), South America (Brazil), Africa (South Africa), and Australia. Hard to find this many locations from one provider.
Built‑in DDoS protection. Basic DDoS mitigation included (up to 5 Gbps). Upgradable to higher levels. Useful for game servers or high‑risk sites.
KVM virtualization. Full root access, custom ISO, IPv6 support. Control panel is modern, with API access.
Hourly billing. Pay by the hour, destroy when done. Good for testing edge locations.
cdn integration. Gcore also offers a CDN; you can easily add it to your VPS for extra performance.
Where Gcore Falls Short
More expensive than budget providers. The $4.99/month plan gives 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB SSD, 1 TB traffic. Same specs from Vultr or Hetzner cost less.
Support can be slow. Ticket‑only, response times 4‑8 hours. No live chat for basic plans.
Interface has many features. The dashboard includes cloud, CDN, DNS, security – can be overwhelming for beginners.
No free backups. You must pay extra for automated backups.
Performance Benchmarks
I tested the $4.99 plan (1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB SSD) in the Frankfurt location running Ubuntu 24.04.
UnixBench single‑core: around 850. Disk I/O: ~400 MB/s. Network latency from Europe <15 ms, from US East ~85 ms. Good for web servers and small apps.
Locations farther away (like Cape Town) had higher latency but were consistent.
Plans and Pricing (2026)
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Traffic | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STD1G | 1 | 1 GB | 20 GB SSD | 1 TB | $4.99 | Small web, proxy |
| STD2G | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB SSD | 2 TB | $9.49 | WordPress, e‑commerce |
| STD4G | 4 | 4 GB | 80 GB SSD | 4 TB | $18.99 | Production apps |
All plans include one IPv4 and IPv6. Additional IPs cost $2/month.
Who Should Use Gcore?
Users needing global edge locations. If your audience is in South America, Africa, or India, Gcore is one of the few options.
Game server operators. Low latency locations and built‑in DDoS protection help.
CDN users who want integrated VPS. Gcore's ecosystem makes it easy to add CDN, DNS, and security.
Who Should Skip Gcore?
Budget‑conscious users. Hetzner or Contabo give better specs for the same money.
Beginners wanting simplicity. The dashboard has many features and can be confusing.
Users needing fast support. Ticket‑only and slow response.
Final Verdict
Gcore fills a niche. If you need edge locations in South America, Africa, or India, it's a strong choice. For typical US/Europe workloads, you can get better value elsewhere. The built‑in DDoS protection and CDN integration add value.
Score: 7.5/10
- Global coverage: 9/10
- Price/performance: 6/10
- DDoS protection: 7/10
- Ease of use: 6.5/10