PHP-Friends

What PHP-Friends does

PHP-Friends, operated by dataforest GmbH, is a German hosting and infrastructure provider founded in 2009 and headquartered in Kriftel near Frankfurt. The company delivers web hosting, KVM-based virtual servers (vServer) with NVMe-SSD RAID-10 storage, dedicated servers (standard, business, and instant variants), colocation, and managed hosting services to a horizontal mix of small and medium-sized businesses and private customers across Germany and the broader EU. All products include free automated DDoS protection and a 99.9% uptime SLA on SSD-G3 servers.

The technical platform is built and operated entirely in-house rather than resold. Host systems are Supermicro-assembled servers running Intel Xeon Gold 6140/6240 and AMD EPYC 7452 processors with 1 TB DDR4-ECC RAM, dual power supplies, and 4x10 GBit/s LACP uplinks. Routing is self-managed via PHP-Friends' own autonomous system (AS58212), with Netscout Arbor TMS appliances providing DDoS mitigation scaled to approximately 800 GBit/s and detection in 5-15 seconds. Infrastructure is distributed across three Frankfurt-area data centers: maincubes FRA01 (primary since May 2020, ISO 27001/9001, PCI-DSS, TÜV Level 3, 100% green power, PUE < 1.3), the Interxion/Digital Realty campus (edge routing, 40G/100G/400G capacity), and firstcolo FRA4 (leased at end of 2024). DE-CIX peering and a direct Deutsche Telekom uplink provide network diversity.

The business model is a direct, primarily self-service, subscription-based model priced in EUR with monthly billing. vServer, dedicated, IP/BGP, and DDoS services are listed on php-friends.de and ordered online; managed hosting and complex colocation are sold through direct consultation. Payment is fee-free across bank transfer, SEPA direct debit, PayPal, credit card, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. The company is privately held by three Managing Directors (Tim Lauderbach, Tim Hochmann, Marvin Strauch), has disclosed no external funding, and has begun cross-promoting a new dataforest Cloud platform from the PHP-Friends homepage, signalling its first material expansion beyond traditional hosting SKUs.

Name

PHP-Friends

Legal name

dataforest GmbH

Website

https://php-friends.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Short description

PHP-Friends, operated by dataforest GmbH, is a German hosting provider offering self-managed and managed vServer, dedicated server, colocation, and webhosting services to SMBs and private customers across the EU, delivered from three Frankfurt-area data centers with self-operated routing and free DDoS protection.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Web Hosting Services

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computer Facilities Management Services (541513)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Rental & Leasing (7377), Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Cloud Platforms (On‑Prem Cloud Stacks) (HDABABAA)

Keywords

• Web hosting services
• Virtual private servers
• Dedicated server hosting
• Colocation services
• Managed hosting solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Oberhausen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Webhosting Services: Shared web hosting packages providing webspace, domain registration, and internet connectivity for private and business customers.
2. Virtual Server (vServer) Services: KVM-based virtual private servers with NVMe-SSD storage, available in managed and unmanaged configurations. Billed on a subscription (monthly) basis.
3. Dedicated Server Hosting: Full dedicated server solutions including standard, business, and instant dedicated server offerings, typically billed monthly.
4. Colocation: Housing of customer-owned server hardware in the company's Frankfurt-area data center facilities.
5. Managed Hosting: Fully managed hosting services where the company handles server administration, updates, and operations on behalf of the customer.
6. IP Services / BGP Services: IPv4 and IPv6 address allocation, BGP announcement, BGP session, and routing services. IPv4 networks from /29 to /24 are priced per month; IPv6 /64 is free, /48 costs 5.00 EUR/month.
7. DDoS Protection: Included free of charge with all products. Protects customer servers from DDoS attacks through automated traffic filtering.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

PHP-Friends provides web hosting packages, KVM-based virtual servers (vServer) with NVMe-SSD RAID-10 storage, dedicated servers (standard, business, and instant variants), colocation housing, and fully managed hosting services from self-operated Frankfurt-area data centers. All products include free DDoS protection, IP/BGP routing services, and operate under German DSGVO compliance with 100% renewable energy.

Product overview

PHP-Friends is a German hosting provider offering a comprehensive portfolio of flexible hosting solutions. The core offerings include vServer (SSD-based KVM virtual servers), Dedicated Servers (in standard, business, and instant variants), Colocation, and Managed Hosting services. These are supplemented by IP/BGP services and DDoS protection. The company operates its own infrastructure in Frankfurt data centers, providing all services from self-operated facilities with high availability guarantees of 99.9%.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• vServer (SSD)

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.9% uptime SLA on SSD-G3 servers (annual average)
• +4 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered supporting, core and major.

• firstcolosupportingOthers · 1 January 2024Data center partner at the firstcolo FRA4 location in Frankfurt. PHP-Friends has leased contiguous data center space since end of 2024 for dedicated server and colocation services.
• SupermicrocoreTechnology or IntegrationLong-term hardware partner providing server systems. PHP-Friends sources fully Supermicro-assembled systems for its current SSD G3 product generation, ensuring 100% compatibility of components. This enables long-term stable and high-performance operations.
• maincubescoreOthersMain data center provider. The maincubes FRA01 in Offenbach am Main has been the primary site since May 2020. Maincubes is a sustainable, carrier-neutral data center facility certified to ISO 27001, ISO 9001, and TÜV Level 3.
• Digital Realty (formerly Interxion)majorOthersData center partner at the Interxion/Digital Realty Frankfurt campus. Houses edge routing infrastructure, DDoS protection (several terabit capacity), and high-bandwidth servers (40G/100G/400G). Connected via redundant fiber to other PHP-Friends data center sites.
• DE-CIXsupportingTechnology or IntegrationInternet Exchange Point peering partner. PHP-Friends peers at DE-CIX in Frankfurt, one of the world's largest internet exchanges, to optimize routing quality and latency for its customers.
• Netscout (Arbor)coreTechnology or IntegrationDDoS mitigation technology provider. PHP-Friends uses Netscout Arbor TMS (Traffic Management System) appliances for granular DDoS filtering. These appliances share attack pattern information globally, enabling protection against even novel attack techniques.
• SolusVMsupportingTechnology or IntegrationVirtualization management platform used on host systems for managing KVM-based virtual servers. Enables customer self-service management of vServer instances.
• Deutsche Telekom (DTAG)supportingTechnology or IntegrationDirect uplink connectivity to Deutsche Telekom (DTAG) as part of PHP-Friends' multi-carrier redundant network infrastructure. Provides additional network diversity and connectivity options.
• mainova AGsupportingOthersElectricity supplier providing TÜV-certified green power (100% renewable energy) for all data center operations.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Leaseweb: Large independent European/hosting provider operating a global data-center footprint offering dedicated servers, cloud, and colocation with self-service and wholesale go-to-market. Overlaps with PHP-Friends on dedicated and colocation while serving a broader enterprise segment.
• Strato (IONOS Group): Mass-market German hosting brand (now part of IONOS) targeting SMBs and private customers with web hosting, mail, and basic servers. Broad incumbent in the same horizontal German hosting niche PHP-Friends addresses.
• OVHcloud: European hyperscale-leaning cloud and bare-metal provider with its own data centers, offering VPS, dedicated servers, and Hosted Private Cloud with EU data sovereignty. Overlaps heavily with PHP-Friends on cloud VPS, dedicated, and EU sovereignty positioning.
• InterNetX GmbH: German domain, DNS, SSL, and hosting provider serving resellers and SMBs. Provides comparable shared hosting and infrastructure services to a similar DACH customer base, with particularly overlapping BGP/IP-service-style offerings for technical customers.
• IONOS (1&1 IONOS): One of Europe's largest hosting and cloud providers, offering shared hosting, VPS, dedicated, cloud servers, and managed services. Comparable portfolio but far broader customer base and enterprise reach than PHP-Friends; sets the pricing benchmark in the German SMB market.

Direct peers

• Contabo: Value-priced European VPS/dedicated-server and web hosting provider operating its own data centers. Competes head-on with PHP-Friends in the SMB and reseller vServer segment via aggressive per-resource pricing and European data sovereignty positioning.
• dogado GmbH: German managed hosting and cloud provider focused on SMB and midmarket customers running business-critical applications on virtual and dedicated infrastructure. Comparable managed-hosting depth and DACH-only GTM.
• netcup GmbH: German hosting brand specializing in KVM virtual servers (Netcup Webhosting/VPS), dedicated servers, and web hosting aimed at SMB and reseller customers. Directly comparable on vServer-as-primary offering and DACH-centric GTM.
• Hetzner: German hosting provider offering a near-identical portfolio of KVM-based cloud/vServer, dedicated servers, colocation, and managed hosting with a strong developer/SMB customer base. Closest peer to PHP-Friends by product mix, customer segment (DE/EU SMB), technology stack, and self-operated infrastructure ethos.
• WebhostOne GmbH: German hosting provider offering shared web hosting, reseller hosting, vServer, and dedicated servers to SMB customers via own infrastructure. Directly comparable product portfolio and customer segmentation to PHP-Friends.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/phpfriends
• Facebookfacebook.com/PHP-Friends-GmbH-1395164820696218

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PHP-Friends