Methodology

1. Published retail prices

What: 67 monthly list prices from 37 operators in 16 currencies (AUD, BRL, CAD, CLP, EUR, GBP, HKD, IDR, INR, JPY, MYR, NZD, SGD, THB, USD, VND). Where from: the operator's own website; every rate-card page is listed with its check date on the Sources page. When: each rate card carries the date it was checked, between 26 Sept 2026 and 1 Oct 2026 in the current file (updated 1 Oct 2026).

For each price we record the product as the operator names it, the price, the currency, the power allocation exactly as written (kW, watts, amps and volts, or kVA), the bandwidth and IP terms, the setup fee if one is stated, and notes such as tax treatment, billing basis or extra tiers. A rate card that covers several cities with one price list is recorded once with all its cities. Quotes, broker estimates, reseller listings and forum posts are not used. An operator that does not publish prices is simply absent; absence says nothing about whether it is cheaper or dearer.

2. Derived values

• Price per kW = monthly price ÷ the kW the operator states. A figure in watts is divided by 1,000. Amps, kVA, ranges and approximations are not converted, because that would require a voltage or power factor the operator did not publish.
• Per-amp and per-kVA comparisons in city analyses are made only within one operator's card, where voltage is constant or stated.
• Setup ÷ monthly expresses a one-time fee in months of service.
• No currency conversion. A converted price would carry an exchange rate and date that the operator never stated. Comparisons across currencies are made in percentages within each currency, never in converted amounts.

3. Wholesale per-kW ranges

22 markets carry a wholesale asking rent in US dollars per kW per month, covering the period H2 2025 – Q2 2026. They come from CBRE research reports, cited per market on the Sources page. Wholesale here means committed IT load with energy metered on top. We show CBRE's published range and the midpoint, and the requirement size CBRE priced (most often 250–500 kW; 10 MW+ blocks for Northern Virginia). Where CBRE publishes a market only in another currency or only in an older report, it is listed separately and not mixed into the US-dollar table. 10 CBRE reports are used; their titles, dates and links are on the Sources page.

4. Facilities and providers

The provider comparison draws on a dataset of 6,018 facilities from 2,387 operator records in 183 countries. Each record lists its own sources (domains with counts on the Sources page), mostly the operator's facility page and, for certifications, registries such as Uptime Institute's award list. We use the operator, city, status (operational, under construction, announced), published capacity in MW and listed certifications. Capacity is the operator's figure; where none is published the facility counts in the totals but adds nothing to the MW sums. Cities are grouped into metro markets the way buyers describe them (Northern Virginia = Ashburn, Sterling, Manassas and neighbours); the grouping file was last updated 10 Oct 2026. Operator brands with a recorded qualifier are merged, so "Digital Realty (Interxion)" counts as Digital Realty. There are no individual facility pages.

5. When a city gets its own sheet

A city sheet exists only when at least three published price points name that city: retail prices from rate cards specific to the city, plus one point for a US-dollar wholesale figure for the city. A rate card that applies one price list to three or more cities counts toward none of them, because it says nothing particular about any one city. Each sheet also carries analysis written from that city's own numbers. 11 cities currently qualify: Ashburn (6), Dallas (4), Amsterdam (5), Hong Kong (5), Singapore (4), Kuala Lumpur (4), Tokyo (3), Montreal (3), Santiago (3), Bangkok (3), Jakarta (3).

6. The estimator

The estimator on the pricing sheet multiplies the load you enter by published per-kW figures: the median, minimum and maximum of the US-dollar cabinet prices that state kW, and CBRE's range for the market you pick. Setup is the range of published US-dollar cabinet setup fees. It assumes your deployment would be priced at the same per-kW rate as those references, applies no term discount (none is published), excludes metered energy for wholesale, and excludes cross-connects unless you enter a quoted price. Each assumption is printed next to the result.

7. Updates and corrections

Prices change without notice. Every price shows the date it was checked; treat it as true on that date. When a source file is refreshed, the pages that use it are rebuilt and the sitemap date for those pages moves; written analyses are re-read against the new numbers before they are republished. If you see a wrong or outdated figure, send it with the form below and a link to the source.