SoloRack vs OakHost: the same Mac mini M6, from one day

OakHost and SoloRack rent the same kind of machine: a physical Mac mini M6, used by one customer, hosted in the EU. The differences are in how long you have to rent it, what it costs, and what happens around renewals and the end of a rental. This comparison uses OakHost’s own pages, documentation and terms.

The short version

You can rent for a day. A 24-hour pass costs $19 and a 7-day pass $49, both on a Mac mini M6. OakHost sells monthly plans; its one-week trial costs €30 plus VAT on a Mac mini M2 with at least 8 GB, and it was shown as unavailable when we checked.
The monthly plan costs less. SoloRack is $112 a month with VAT included where it applies. OakHost’s Mac M6.S is €120 a month plus VAT, about $134 before VAT at the European Central Bank reference rate.
Clear warnings, then no copies. We email you before every renewal, and when the rental ends your files are deleted with no copy kept, also when it ends after a failed payment. OakHost’s terms leave backups to the customer and don’t guarantee any data retention after the contract ends.
Support in six languages. People from the team answer every email in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Turkish or Arabic.

Side by side

SoloRack and OakHost, entry Mac mini M6 offers. SoloRack prices are in US dollars and include VAT where it applies. OakHost prices are in euros before VAT, which depends on your country.

	SoloRack	OakHost
Price for a day	$19 (24-hour pass)	No daily plan listed
Price for a week	$49 (7-day pass, Mac mini M6)	€30 + VAT (“Try macOS for a Week”, Mac mini M2 with at least 8 GB), shown as currently unavailable
Price for a month	$112	€120 + VAT (Mac M6.S)
Machine	Mac mini M6: Apple M6, 12-core CPU, 16 GB, 256 GB SSD, 1 Gbit/s	Mac mini M6: Apple M6, 12-core CPU, 16 GB, 256 GB SSD, 2.5 Gbit/s port
Dedicated or shared	Dedicated: one physical Mac, one customer at a time	Dedicated: hardware not shared with other customers
Access	Remote desktop from Windows, macOS or Linux, plus SSH	KVM screen in the browser, Screen Sharing (VNC), SSH, and third-party apps such as Jump Desktop
Admin rights	Full admin rights with sudo	Root/administrator access, plus Recovery Mode
Where it runs	An EU datacenter	Certified datacenters in Germany
Minimum rental	24 hours	1 month on monthly plans; 7 days for the trial
Renewal reminders and grace period	Emails 3 days and 1 day before each renewal; 2 hours and again 30 minutes before a pass ends. 24 hours to fix a failed payment, with access open and the Mac untouched	Services limited only after prior notice, and no earlier than 7 days after a missed payment
Data at the end	Deleted within minutes of the end, no backup or copy kept. You’re warned first, and the whole Mac is erased before the next customer	No retention guaranteed after the contract ends; the customer exports data first. Optional network storage with Time Machine
Support languages	English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Turkish, Arabic	Website in English and German

Price: pay for the days you need

Plenty of developers need a Mac for one short job: archiving a Flutter or React Native build, uploading it to App Store Connect, or sorting out a signing certificate. A SoloRack 24-hour pass costs $19 and the 7-day pass costs $49, both on the same Mac mini M6 as the monthly plan. Your rental time starts when your Mac is ready in My account, not when you pay.

OakHost’s Mac mini page lists monthly plans. Its shortest option is “Try macOS for a Week”: €30 plus VAT for 7 days on a Mac mini M2 with at least 8 GB of memory, with no automatic renewal. That page showed it as currently unavailable.

For a full month, the two entry M6 machines have the same chip, memory and storage. SoloRack charges $112, with VAT included where it applies. OakHost charges €120 a month plus VAT at your country’s rate. At the European Central Bank’s reference rate of 1.1193 dollars per euro, €120 comes to about $134 before VAT. Neither service charges a setup fee.

Renewals and your data

Missed renewals are where people lose work, so we make them hard to miss. On the monthly plan we email you 3 days and 1 day before each renewal, and every email carries the link to pay or manage your plan. On a pass, you get a reminder 2 hours before it ends and another 30 minutes before. If a payment fails, you get an email with a link to update your card, and 24 hours to fix it, with your Mac untouched and still reachable. Our reminders tell you that everything on the Mac is deleted when the rental ends, so you can download your files and export your signing certificates first. Within minutes of the end, your macOS account and all your files are deleted. We keep no backup or copy, so we cannot get them back, and the whole Mac is erased before the next customer. We never wipe a Mac without warning.

OakHost’s terms are clear and fair on late payment. It can limit services only after prior notice, and no earlier than 7 days after a missed payment (clause 8.5). Monthly contracts renew automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date (clause 9.1). After a suspension, OakHost keeps your data for 24 hours (clause 6.11). After the contract ends it doesn’t guarantee any retention, and you’re expected to export your data in time (clause 9.6). Backups are the customer’s job (clause 4.1), and OakHost sells optional network storage with Time Machine support so you can automate your own.

So OakHost gives you more time to pay, and it sells storage for your own backups. With SoloRack, no copy of your work stays with us after the rental. That also means that if you forget to copy a project folder before the month ends, we cannot get it back. All we keep are records, such as invoices, payments and rental dates.

Support in your language

Every SoloRack support email is read and answered by people from the team, in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Turkish or Arabic. You can describe a stuck upload or a provisioning profile error in the language you think in.

OakHost says you can usually expect an answer within two hours, with on-call staff available 24/7 for emergency-priority requests sent through its Customer Panel. Its website is in English and German.

Getting started from Windows

With SoloRack you pay on a checkout page hosted by Stripe, where cards that ask for 3D Secure work. A few minutes after payment, My account shows your remote-desktop details and macOS password, ready to copy. Open the remote-desktop app on your Windows PC (macOS and Linux work too), then sign into the App Store with your own Apple Account and install Xcode. For the command line, SSH works from the terminal already built into Windows.

OakHost hands over faster: its systems usually assign the Mac within seconds, after a quick check against fraudulent orders. You get a KVM screen in the browser that works even during boot and in Recovery Mode, Screen Sharing over VNC, and SSH on port 22. For Windows, its documentation suggests RealVNC Viewer or Remotix for Screen Sharing, or third-party apps such as Jump Desktop.

Who OakHost suits

OakHost is a good fit if you want your Mac hosted in Germany specifically, need access within seconds of paying, or want a larger machine: its list runs from M1 to M5 Pro configurations with up to 64 GB of memory. KVM access during boot and recovery, FileVault support, a Customer API, and SEPA or invoice payments for businesses suit teams that run Macs as infrastructure. First monthly orders come with a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Switching to SoloRack

Pick a plan. A 24-hour pass for $19, a 7-day pass for $49, or the monthly plan at $112, which you can cancel any time in the Stripe customer portal. Businesses can add their VAT number at checkout.
Get your Mac in minutes. A few minutes after payment, My account shows your remote-desktop details and macOS password. Your rental time starts then.
Connect. Open the remote desktop or SSH in, install Xcode with your own Apple Account and pull your code from Git. If you’re leaving OakHost, export your files before your contract there ends and cancel at least 24 hours before its renewal date, as its terms require.