Comparison · Singapore or Tokyo
Southeast Asia's hub against Japan's: who each city is close to, what servers cost at other hosts, how many cables land there, and one legal difference that matters to European data.
Quick answer
Singapore or Tokyo: which server location is better for Asia?
Singapore is the better server location for most of Asia: it is closer to Southeast Asia, India and Australia. Tokyo, Japan, is better for users in Japan, Korea or the American West Coast. Microsoft's July 2026 median between them is 72 ms. Copperstrait rents the same servers in both at one price, from $143.25 per 30 days, crypto, no KYC.
| Singapore | Tokyo, Japan | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosts selling bare metal there (2 November 2026) | 26 of 33 | 22 of 33 |
| Hosts with a crypto, no-ID server passing every rule | 6 | 6 |
| Median monthly price for at least 16 cores, 64 GB of memory and 1.9 TB of SSD or NVMe | $903.51 | $662.35 |
| Cheapest such server found | $191.00 (MonoVM) | €354.00 ($395.49) (RedSwitches) |
| International submarine cables in service (TeleGeography) | 34, with 13 planned | 24, with 9 planned |
| Personal data law | Personal Data Protection Act 2012 | Act on the Protection of Personal Information |
| On the EU's list of adequate countries | ✗ | ✓ |
| Copperstrait Strait 16 | $143.25/30 days | $143.25/30 days |
Prices checked on
Host counts and prices: Copperstrait survey of 2 November 2026, among hosts that accept crypto without ID at signup; 1 EUR = 1.1172 USD (ECB, 2026-10-30). Japan's cable count leaves out cables that link only Japanese landing points.
Tokyo serves the north and the Pacific; Singapore serves the south and west. The table uses Microsoft's published medians between its cloud regions, and WonderNetwork's hourly pings for Taipei.
Tokyo is 29 ms from Seoul; Singapore is 8 ms from Kuala Lumpur. Each city is excellent for its own side of Asia and average for the other.
| Users in | From Singapore | From Tokyo | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osaka | 72 | 11 | Microsoft Azure |
| Seoul | 68 | 29 | Microsoft Azure |
| Taipei | 43.2 | 30.4 | WonderNetwork |
| Hong Kong | 36 | 49 | Microsoft Azure |
| Kuala Lumpur | 8 | 76 | Microsoft Azure |
| Jakarta | 16 | 84 | Microsoft Azure |
| Chennai | 37 | 105 | Microsoft Azure |
| Pune | 53 | 122 | Microsoft Azure |
| New South Wales (Australia) | 95 | 103 | Microsoft Azure |
| Auckland | 119 | 128 | Microsoft Azure |
| Washington state (US) | 163 | 100 | Microsoft Azure |
| California | 170 | 107 | Microsoft Azure |
| Virginia (US) | 224 | 162 | Microsoft Azure |
| Frankfurt | 167 | 236 | Microsoft Azure |
Microsoft Azure: P50 round trip from its Southeast Asia (Singapore) and Japan East (Tokyo, Saitama) regions, 30 days ending 30 July 2026. WonderNetwork: median of 336 hourly runs of 30 pings from Taipei, 19 October to 2 November 2026. Not Copperstrait measurements: We publish no latency or speed figures of our own: we have not measured them. Test from where your users are once the server is yours.
Because the trans-Pacific cables land in Japan first. Microsoft's median from Tokyo is 100 ms to Washington state and 107 ms to California. From Singapore it is 163 and 170 ms.
Physics sets a floor. Los Angeles is 8,819 km from Tokyo along the great circle. Light in glass fibre covers that and back in at least 86.4 ms. Singapore is 14,121 km from Los Angeles, so its floor is 138.3 ms.
For a product with users in both Asia and the US, Tokyo is the natural bridge.
At the same host, Singapore is usually cheaper. MonoVM sold the same 16-core EPYC 7302 box for $191.00 in Singapore and $478.00 in Tokyo on 2 November. RedSwitches' cheapest Tokyo server cost €250.00, against €198.00 for its cheapest in Singapore.
The medians tell a different story. For at least 16 cores, 64 GB of memory and 1.9 TB of SSD or NVMe, the median was $903.51 in Singapore and $662.35 in Tokyo. The median takes each host's cheapest server at that floor, so it moves with the mix of hosts in each city. The cheapest single server at that floor was $191.00 in Singapore and €354.00 ($395.49) in Tokyo.
Copperstrait charges the same in both. Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo (Japan): every server in every city, at the same price. See how much a Copperstrait server costs.
Singapore, on both counts. TeleGeography's Submarine Cable Map listed 34 international cables in service in Singapore and 24 in Japan. Eight cables in service land in both.
In Copperstrait's survey of 33 hosts selling bare metal in Asia on 2 November 2026, 26 sell in Singapore and 22 in Japan. 6 in Singapore and 6 in Tokyo had a server payable in crypto without ID that passed every rule of our price check.
The round trips between all three hubs are on the latency between Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Yes, and one difference matters to European data. The European Commission lists Japan among the countries with an adequate level of data protection. Singapore is not on that list.
Japan's personal data law is the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, supervised by the Personal Information Protection Commission. The PPC publishes supplementary rules for personal data received from the EU and the UK under the adequacy decision. Singapore's law is the Personal Data Protection Act 2012.
How each country treats copyright complaints at hosts is on how copyright takedowns work in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. This is general information, not legal advice. Copperstrait is operated by DomaineGoat LLC, incorporated in Panama and answerable to Panamanian law only. The datacenter in each city is bound by the law of the place it stands in.
Japan in detail is on whether Japan is a good location for dedicated server hosting. All of Asia is mapped on the best server location for users across Asia.
16 cores · 64 GB
$143.25
$128.92 / month
$386.77 for 3 months
$114.60 / month
$687.60 for 6 months
$100.28 / month
$1,203.30 for 1 year
3 months $386.77 (−10%)6 months $687.60 (−20%)1 year $1,203.30 (−30%)
Best value
32 cores · 384 GB
$356.25
$320.62 / month
$961.87 for 3 months
$285 / month
$1,710 for 6 months
$249.38 / month
$2,992.50 for 1 year
3 months $961.87 (−10%)6 months $1,710 (−20%)1 year $2,992.50 (−30%)
32 cores · 384 GB
$828.68
$745.81 / month
$2,237.43 for 3 months
$662.94 / month
$3,977.66 for 6 months
$580.08 / month
$6,960.91 for 1 year
3 months $2,237.43 (−10%)6 months $3,977.66 (−20%)1 year $6,960.91 (−30%)
In every plan: Same price in every city · RAID 1 · Dedicated IPv4 · No logs · No KYC · No setup fee
About 67 to 72 ms. WonderNetwork's median from Singapore to Tokyo was 66.8 ms over two weeks to 2 November 2026. Microsoft's median between its two regions is 72 ms.
Tokyo. Microsoft's median from Tokyo to Seoul is 29 ms, against 68 ms from Singapore.
It is the best of the Asian hubs for them. Microsoft's median from Tokyo is 107 ms to California and 162 ms to Virginia.
No. Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo (Japan): every server in every city, at the same price.
No. We publish no latency or speed figures of our own: we have not measured them. Test from where your users are once the server is yours.
Hong Kong · Singapore · Tokyo from $143.25
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