Cloudways vs SiteGround: Which Host is Right for You?

Comparisons of Cloudways and SiteGround in discussions often come up against a wall. While one is a more established brand, the other rapidly charges up the popularity scale. Yet many consider the comparison of these hosts to be like pitting apples against oranges.

The truth is that, like Cloudways, SiteGround offers Platform as a Service (PaaS) in the form of its Cloud hosting plans. The key is knowing the right things to compare since there are distinct areas each provider encompasses.

Cloudways vs SiteGround at a Glance

Cloudways is Affordable & Offers Pay-as-you-go Model

TL;DR: Cloudways is better than SiteGround in terms of:

• A fair choice of various Cloud Platforms
• Cheaper entry price to Cloud Hosting
• Easy scalability
• Hassle-free migration

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A Wide Range of Cloud Service Providers

Cloudways offers you a choice between five Cloud service providers: Digital Ocean, Linode, Vultr, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services. The first three come at the lower end of the price bracket, while Amazon Web Service and Google Cloud are the premium brands.

Unlike the focus that SiteGround seeks via Google Cloud, Cloudways chooses to diversify. That’s keeping in line with making the Cloud more accessible. Different infrastructure providers come with unique characteristics.

Cloud Hosting Starts at $12/mo

Cloudways offers something unavailable at SiteGround – and that’s choice. At Cloudways, for a mere $12/mo, you can run any number of websites on cloud hosting with 1GB of RAM, single processor core, 25GB storage and 1TB of bandwidth.

Because Cloudways is not the infrastructure provider, your Cloudways bill prices (as well as everything else) vary depending on the platform of your choice. 

Scalable Depending on Your Resources Needs

How much you can scale your resources depends on which platform you opt for when you sign up with Cloudways. Each platform has its own little quirks for scaling. For example, Digital Ocean only allows upward scaling. If you want to scale down, it is a lot more involved.

Easy Website Migration

One special mention in Cloudways’ favor deserves special mention, though. They provide a WordPress plugin designed to help with site migrations to the Cloudways platform. In honesty, I’ve never been so impressed with a WordPress migration.  

You have to fill in a few fields and click a button. Your site is moved automatically with not a hair out of place. It took me minutes to migrate several small WordPress websites to Cloudways.

SiteGround is Cost-Effective

TL;DR: SiteGround is better than Cloudways in terms of:

• A broad range of hosting services
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• User-friendly dashboard

A Broad Range of Hosting Services

SiteGround offers a much broader range of services, while Cloudways is deeply entrenched in the Cloud hosting space. Whatever you need for hosting a website can be found at SiteGround. That includes your domain name, various types of hosting, and even ancillary services.

30-day Money-back Guarantee

One thing that needs mentioning is that SiteGround offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. While that’s by no means above and beyond the norm, it’s better than the three-day free trial that Cloudways provides.

User-friendly Dashboard

SiteGround’s Cloud hosting management system is super easy to use. Even by web hosting control panel standards, they’ve streamlined it so much that even a shared hosting user will have no problems transitioning.

The menu system is easy to understand and not packed with technical jargon that might leave newbies scratching their heads. Even more importantly, it’s fast. The smooth experience makes you feel like you are working with an app directly on your desktop instead of a remote server.

Verdict: Should You Choose Cloudways or SiteGround?

The comparison between SiteGround and Cloudways needs careful consideration.

In this rare case, I would say that it’s a battle of the price tags. Unless you absolutely need extra-high performance Cloud, then there’s no way you’d be able to get SiteGround Cloud. I’d choose Cloudways for affordable pricing and the pay-as-you-go model. That’s especially true if you’re still experimenting with Cloud hosting.

If you need to power a massive volume eCommerce website or something similar, Siteground is more cost-effective.

More About Cloudways

Cloudways is significantly younger than SiteGround and only launched in 2012. The brainchild of Aaqib Gadit and Pere Hospital, Cloudways aims to simplify the Cloud and make it more easily accessible to the general public. Significantly, it provides a choice of five different Cloud infrastructure providers.

Learn more in our Cloudways review.

Cloudways Breeze WordPress Cache Plugin

Like SiteGround, Cloudways offers its unique spin on caching in various forms. There’s stuff like Varnish, a server-level caching option, alongside Redis and other choices. However, I consider Breeze as the jewel in Cloudways’ crown.

Breeze is a WordPress cache plugin developed by Cloudways. They’ve managed to build a plugin that’s effective enough to keep up with top commercial dogs like W3 Cache and WP Rocket. Of course, it isn’t perfect, and there’s room for improvement.

Cloudways Ease of Use

Cloudways developed its backend Cloud management system to be simple enough for most. I found it extremely easy to employ and managed to start new servers, migrate WordPress websites, or do anything else reasonably quickly.

However, taking fresh eyes to the Cloudways system made me realize that user-friendliness might not be so accurate for the average Joe. For example, Cloudways uses terms like Vertical Scaling, Credentials, Packages, and more. To novices, this may sound difficult to understand. 

Cloudways Customer Support

While I haven’t been a Cloudways customer long enough not adequately assess their customer support, Jerry (the evil WHSR boss) has been using them for ages. I asked for his opinion, and it was a firm “good!” His affirmation wasn't enough for me, but I had to press for more detail.

Cloudways offers customers the silver spoon treatment. That means you get in touch, tell them your problem, and they’ll fix it. And they’ll handle almost anything ranging from updating PHP files to helping manage third-party app APIs. Even something as mundane as removing an application.

Cloudways Pricing

Prices vary depending on which Cloud service provider you choose. The cheapest in the Cloudwyas stable is Digital Ocean (DO). With DO, you can start with $10/mo. Amazon Cloud and Google Cloud occupy the premium space for those who prefer stronger brands. These start at $36.51/mo and $33.18/mo, respectively.

More About SiteGround

SiteGround is an easily recognizable name and not simply because of service excellence. This hosting provider has been around since 2004 and calls Sofia, Bulgaria, home. Unlike many web hosts, SiteGround spread its wings and established multiple local offices – for example, in Madrid, London, Frankfurt, and more.

Siteground SuperCacher Plugin

One key highlight at Siteground is its SuperCacher plugin. This tool can make your site faster by using three caching activities. These are NGINX Direct Delivery, dynamic cache, and Memcached. It’s nothing revolutionary but also not something that’s always universally available.

SiteGround CDN

These advantages go one step even further, though, in the form of SiteGround CDN. Most web hosting providers (Cloudways included) work with Content Delivery Network (CDN) providers like Cloudflare. Siteground builts a CDN from the ground up, tightly integrating it into their DNA to be as seamless as possible for you.

SiteGround Customer Support

The benchmark for my judgment of customer service on Sitegroun comes primarily from Trustpilot, a user-driven rating system for service providers. As a whole, SiteGround scores an impressive 4.7 stars (out of 5) from over 10,000 customer reviews.

Siteground Cloud Pricing

The cheapest plan on their Cloud hosting range starts at $100/mo, and it goes upwards to $400/mo. If you look at the specifications, the Cloud hosting plans here definitely target those who really need this level of service.

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