Compare bandwidth billing

Unmetered vs Metered Bandwidth

Two ways to bill the traffic your server moves. Here is how flat-rate unmetered compares to usage-based metered billing.

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Unmetered and metered bandwidth. When talking about traffic your server is sending or receiving, and your server's hosting provider's policy for billing such traffic, the term 'unmetered' refers to an 'unmetered transfer pipe' (or 'unmetered bandwidth'), which is a port of fixed speed that you pay a flat monthly fee for - a 'transfer line'. Here at ServerWala we offer unmetered bandwidth, because we find the more predictable billed model is important for the type of providers, streamers and hosts we're trying to service.

Unmetered bandwidth is ideal for customers with large data transfer requirements and like to have a fixed monthly charge. Metered bandwidth is best for smaller sites, with variable usage and customers want to pay for what they actually use.

Side by side

Unmetered and metered bandwidth compared

Comparison of unmetered and metered bandwidth billing on cost, predictability and fit.
Criteria	Unmetered	Metered
Billing basis	Fixed port speed, flat monthly fee	Measured usage or sampled throughput
Monthly cost	The same every month	Varies with traffic
Traffic spikes	Absorbed within the port speed	Can raise the bill
Per-gigabyte fees	None	Possible, depending on plan
Cost predictability	High, easy to forecast	Lower, depends on volume
Best for	Heavy, steady or growing traffic	Light or unpredictable traffic
Typical use	CDN origins, streaming, mirrors, game backends	Low-traffic and early-stage services

When to choose what

Which billing model fits your traffic

Choose unmetered when

CDN origins, video streaming, large file mirrors, and game backends (all high volume, constant traffic).
These types of workloads have very high traffic volumes but cannot afford to be charged for large spikes in traffic as though they were taking a huge hit to their bill for the month.
Instead, they want to be able to project out their monthly bill and there be no additional per-gigabyte style charges on top.
Workloads with long life and growing amounts of data over time.

Choose metered when

For light or seasonal workloads where the total amount of data transfer is less than the cost of a flat-fee port.
This is a good model for projects where you want to pay for the data that you actually move.
This is especially good for early-stage services where the volume of traffic is unknown.
For internal or very low-traffic usage scenarios where the transfer rate rarely reaches the high end of the port speed.

Want predictable bandwidth billing?

Our unmetered plans keep the transfer line on your invoice flat every month. Tell us your traffic profile and we will recommend a fit.

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