Selectel vs Timeweb: Which Russian Provider Fits Your Project?
Selectel and Timeweb are both from St. Petersburg and both are among Russia's best-known hosting companies, but they serve different customers. Selectel, founded in 2008, is an infrastructure provider: an hourly-billed cloud, a large catalog of ready dedicated servers, GPU systems and colocation in its own Tier III data centers, with the compliance Russian businesses need for personal data. Timeweb, founded in 2006, is best known for shared hosting and VDS for websites, with a free trial and data centers in Russia and abroad. Prices below are live from our tracker; both bill in rubles, and the currency switcher converts them.
At a glance
| Selectel | Timeweb | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2008, St. Petersburg | 2006, St. Petersburg |
| Focus | Cloud, dedicated servers, GPUs, colocation | Shared hosting, VDS, dedicated servers |
| Entry VDS | VDS 1-1-10: $2.42/mo (1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 10 GB NVME SSD · 3 TB traffic · 1 Gbps) | Custom VDS: from $16.67/mo, built in a configurator |
| Shared hosting | Not offered | From $3.82/mo |
| Dedicated configurations we track | 41, from $103.16/mo | 77, from $87.82/mo |
| GPU configurations we track | 53 | 2 |
| Data centers | Own Tier III sites in Moscow and St. Petersburg, plus a partner site in Novosibirsk | 14 in Russia, Kazakhstan, Europe, Turkey and the US |
| Trial and refunds | Prepaid balance, no money-back guarantee | 10-day free trial on shared hosting, no money-back guarantee |
Virtual servers
Selectel's fixed VDS packages start with VDS 1-1-10 at $2.42 a month for 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 10 GB NVME SSD · 3 TB traffic · 1 Gbps; its larger cloud platform bills by the hour and adds preemptible VMs. Timeweb sells NVMe VDS through a configurator from $16.67 a month, with daily billing and unlimited traffic on a 1 Gbps port; hourly cloud billing lives on its separate Timeweb Cloud platform.
Dedicated servers and GPUs
Both keep large dedicated catalogs. We track 41 Selectel configurations from $103.16 a month, which Selectel says deploy in about two minutes, with free unlimited traffic on a 1 Gbps port. We track 77 Timeweb configurations from $87.82, also with unlimited traffic. For GPUs the gap is wide: Selectel lists 53 GPU configurations in the cloud and as dedicated systems, from older cards up to current NVIDIA data-center GPUs, while Timeweb's dedicated line has 2 GPU servers, with Tesla T4 and A2 cards, and points to Timeweb Cloud for more.
Shared hosting and websites
Timeweb covers the website side that Selectel left behind: shared hosting from $3.82 a month on its longest promotional term, a WordPress line, a website builder and email, with daily backups kept for 30 days, a free Let's Encrypt certificate and free migration. Selectel discontinued its shared hosting and focuses on infrastructure.
Locations and compliance
Selectel runs its own Tier III data centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, plus a partner facility in Novosibirsk, and holds certifications including ISO 27001, PCI DSS and SOC 2, with infrastructure for personal data under Russia's 152-FZ. Timeweb operates 14 data centers across Russia, Kazakhstan, Europe, Turkey and the US, which helps if part of your audience is outside Russia, and lists ISO 27001 and 152-FZ compliance.
Billing and support
Both bill in rubles and accept Russian bank cards, including MIR, SBP fast payments and bank transfer for companies. Neither offers a money-back guarantee: Selectel runs on a prepaid balance, and Timeweb offers a 10-day free trial on shared hosting instead. Both support customers around the clock in Russian by ticket, chat and phone. Our monitor checks each company's own website every few minutes; over the last 30 days it measured 99.85% for Selectel and 99.82% for Timeweb.
Which one should you pick?
- Choose Selectel for cloud infrastructure, dedicated servers delivered in minutes, GPU compute, colocation or regulated workloads.
- Choose Timeweb for websites: shared and WordPress hosting with a free trial, simple VDS, and data centers outside Russia.
About SelectelSelectel (est. 2008, St. Petersburg) is one of Russia's largest cloud and hosting providers, serving 36,000+ customers from 6 own Tier III data centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg plus a partner DC in Novosibirsk. The catalog spans an hourly-billed cloud platform, 100+ ready dedicated servers deployed in 2 minutes, GPU systems up to 8× NVIDIA B300 HGX, VPS/VDS packages from 200 ₽/mo, colocation, managed Kubernetes & databases, S3, CDN and DDoS protection — with ISO 27001, PCI DSS, SOC 2, GDPR and 152-FZ compliance.
About TimewebTimeweb Cloud (est. 2006, St. Petersburg) is one of Russia's largest hosting providers, with 14 data centers across Russia, Europe, Central Asia and the US. The catalog spans shared hosting from 180 ₽/mo, a premium 1C-Bitrix line with isolated resources, 160+ ready dedicated server configs, NVMe VDS with daily billing, 352 domain zones, SSL certificates, business email and a website builder — plus a 10-day free trial, free site migration and daily backups on every hosting plan.
Comparison Table
| Feature | Selectel | Timeweb |
|---|---|---|
| Price / mo | $2.42 win | $3.82 |
| Renewal price | — | 3-year promos vs monthly |
| Datacenters | 7 | 14 win |
| NVMe storage | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Free domain | ✗ No | ✓ Yes win |
| Backups | — | — |
| CDN | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Support | — | 24/7 Chat & Phone (RU) |
| Uptime · 30d | 99.85% win | 99.82% |
Price History
Selectel · VDS 1-1-10Collecting price history — the trend fills in as we track this plan.
Timeweb · YearUptime & Performance
Selectel 99.85% Timeweb 99.82%Pros & Cons
Selectel- Own Tier III data centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg
- 41 dedicated configurations tracked, with free unlimited 1 Gbps traffic
- Broad GPU range: 53 configurations in the cloud and on bare metal
- Hourly cloud with preemptible VMs, managed Kubernetes and managed databases
- ISO 27001, PCI DSS, SOC 2 and 152-FZ compliance
- No shared hosting
- No money-back guarantee: services run on a prepaid balance
- Almost all locations are in Russia
- The English site and documentation are a subset of the Russian portal
Timeweb- Shared hosting from $3.82/mo with daily backups kept for 30 days
- 10-day free trial on shared hosting and free site migration
- 14 data centers in Russia, Kazakhstan, Europe, Turkey and the US
- 77 dedicated configurations tracked, with unlimited traffic
- No money-back guarantee beyond the trial
- Only 2 dedicated GPU configurations
- The best promotional prices need a 3-year term
- Support and documentation are Russian-first
The Verdict
Selectel and Timeweb overlap on VDS and dedicated servers, but their centres of gravity differ. Selectel is the infrastructure specialist, with an hourly cloud, a large ready-to-deploy dedicated catalog, the broader GPU range of the two and compliance for regulated data. Timeweb is the website specialist, with cheap shared hosting, a WordPress line, a 10-day trial and data centers in Europe, Kazakhstan, Turkey and the US as well as Russia. Pick by workload: applications and compute on Selectel, sites and simple servers on Timeweb.
Selectel & Timeweb alternatives
Cheaper than Selectel / Timeweb
FAQ
It depends on the product. Selectel's cheapest VDS, VDS 1-1-10, costs $2.42 a month for 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 10 GB NVME SSD · 3 TB traffic · 1 Gbps. Timeweb's configurable VDS starts at $16.67, and its shared hosting at $3.82. Dedicated servers start at $103.16 at Selectel and $87.82 at Timeweb.
No. Selectel discontinued shared hosting and sells cloud servers, VDS, dedicated servers, GPUs and colocation. Timeweb sells shared and WordPress hosting.
Selectel, which lists 53 GPU configurations in its cloud and as dedicated systems. Timeweb's dedicated line has 2 GPU servers and refers customers to Timeweb Cloud for more.
Timeweb does, in Kazakhstan, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, the UK, France, Turkey and the US. Selectel's own data centers are in Moscow and St. Petersburg, with a partner site in Novosibirsk and only a few regional pools abroad.
Neither offers a money-back guarantee. Timeweb gives a 10-day free trial on shared hosting. Selectel runs on a prepaid balance and offers bonuses and grants to new customers instead.
Both state compliance with Russia's personal data law. Selectel supports the highest protection level (UZ-1) with an attested segment and also holds ISO 27001, PCI DSS and SOC 2. Timeweb lists ISO 27001 and 152-FZ compliance.