Icarus dedicated hosting for a small friend group (2026)
Icarus is a PvE survival game for up to 8 players per prospect. It is RAM-hungry, so it costs more than most nights on this site. Shockbyte, Nodecraft, GameTeam and Bisect all sell it. Prices below were read from each host’s own page.
RAM and slots
- Player cap: 8 per prospect (Shockbyte, Nodecraft and GameTeam all state this).
- RAM: Shockbyte sells 6 GB for 4 players and 7 GB for 8. Nodecraft starts at 8 GB. GameTeam’s FAQ says 8–12 GB, because prospects load large chunks of terrain.
- Rule of thumb: 4 friends on 6–8 GB; a full 8 on 8 GB+, more for big open-world outposts.
- Mods: the hosts disagree. Bisect lists “full mod support”, while GameTeam says Icarus has no official mod support for dedicated servers. Plan on vanilla. See Night 6.
Comparison: Icarus plans
Price sources: every price comes from the host’s own Icarus page (fetched 24 Oct 2026, NZDT). No third-party or search-summary prices are used. For Nodecraft we quote the recurring price, not the first-month sale price. TBD means the host page showed no price, or the page URLs we tried returned 404. Confirm at checkout.
| Host | Entry tier | Bigger tiers | Notes | Oceania | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ShockbyteAU brand | Oxite · 6 GB · 4 players · $12.99/mo | Platinum · 7 GB · 8 players · $19.99 | Auto-updates and backups, full file access, 72-hour refund | Global locations; Melbourne company (check for an AU node) | The cheapest confirmed always-on server |
| Nodecraft | Premium 24/7 · 8 GB · $39.98/mo Budget Wake & Play 8 GB $23.84 (Nodecraft labels it “not recommended for this game”) |
Premium 10 GB · $49.98; 14 GB · TBD Budget 10 GB $29.80 · 14 GB $41.72 |
Static IP (Premium), save-and-swap, no slot cap (the game itself caps at 8) | Sydney & Melbourne network-wide | More RAM headroom near AU/NZ |
| GameTeam | From $0.49/GB Advertised “from” rate; billing term and plan totals not shown. TBD |
TBD | Weekly billing, which fits Icarus’ mission-based play; 72-hour refund | Global locations (check for AU) | Renting for a few weeks of prospects |
| BisectHosting | TBD Priced per GB; the rate didn’t display on the page we read |
TBD | Instance manager, swap to 110+ games, NVMe | 21 locations; the page showed an out-of-stock notice for a location | Check price and stock at checkout |
| Apex Hosting | TBD Two Icarus page URLs we tried returned 404 |
TBD | Not confirmed | — | Check directly |
| PebbleHost | TBD The Icarus page URL we tried returned 404 |
TBD | Not confirmed | Sydney listed for Minecraft | Check directly |
Sources (host-owned): shockbyte.com, nodecraft.com, gameteam.io, bisecthosting.com (features only). No host is crowned “#1”.
Oceania note
Icarus is PvE, so it tolerates ping better than a shooter. Melee combat and creature aggro still feel laggy from a US server. AU/NZ groups should look at Nodecraft (Sydney and Melbourne), or check at checkout for an AU node on Shockbyte or GameTeam, or Bisect stock. See the Oceania ping guide.
Budget note and shortlist (not rankings)
- 4 friends: Shockbyte Oxite, $12.99.
- A full 8: Shockbyte Platinum, $19.99, which just fits the ~$20 budget. Nodecraft Premium is $39.98 or more.
- Similar survival nights: Enshrouded (Night 15), Sons of the Forest (Night 16) and Grounded (Night 20). Also Abiotic Factor (Night 30).
Official links (affiliate placeholders)
Buttons below point at official sites today. Tracked affiliate URLs will replace the #aff-* anchors once programs approve — see affiliates.md.
Related (pipeline)
Affiliate disclosure
HostForTheSquad may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page (Shockbyte, Apex, BisectHosting, GameTeam, and others when approved). Commission rates do not decide table rows or “best for” notes. Prices and stock change — always verify on the host’s site before you pay.