SiteGround vs Cloudways
Cloudways is the SiteGround alternative for people who can’t rely on shared hosting
Cloudways always hosts your sites and applications on dedicated servers. Pick the hosting company that consistently outperforms SiteGround on speed and performance.
Get Started FREEUnlike SiteGround, Cloudways offers a free trial — no CC needed
Cloudways users know exactly what they want and how they want it
“Cloudways speed optimizations are good and you will see a visible faster loading time of websites when compared with traditional shared hosting.”
Neel Kamal Kalita
Freelance Web DesignerCategory leader in G2.com
Ease of Use
SiteGround score: 8.3
Web hosting average: 8.6
Quality of Support
SiteGround score: 8.4
Web hosting average: 8.3
Ease of Setup
SiteGround score: 7.9
Web hosting average: 8.5
SiteGround’s focus is not high-performance hosting
SiteGround offers different plans and some of them include dedicated servers. But their bread and butter are hobby websites that don’t require exceptional performance.
SiteGround:
- SiteGround excels at shared hosting, which doesn’t require cutting-edge servers
- Their lowest cloud hosting plan is 10X pricier than Cloudways’ lowest plan
- They don’t let users pick a server provider
Affordable WordPress Multisite Hosting Platform Built for Agile Teams
Pick a multisite cloud hosting plan that you can scale up/down to optimize your operational costs.
Premium
Note: $0.033/GB per server will be applied for offsite backup storage.
Note: $0.033/GB per server will be applied for offsite backup storage.
Note: $0.033/GB per server will be applied for offsite backup storage.
High Frequency
StandardNote: $0.033/GB per server will be applied for offsite backup storage.
Note: $0.033/GB per server will be applied for offsite backup storage.
Notes:
- Free trial is not available for Amazon Web Services. You need to upgrade your account to launch and access AWS servers.
- With Amazon (AWS), Disk Sizes are configurable and Bandwidth is on pay as you go basis.
- Note: $0.033/GB per server will be applied for offsite backup storage.
Notes:
- Free trial is not available for Google Compute Engine. You need to upgrade your account to launch and access GCE servers.
- With Google (GCE), Disk Sizes are configurable and Bandwidth is on pay as you go basis.
- Note: $0.033/GB per server will be applied for offsite backup storage.
All Plans Come With
- 24/7/365 Support
- Free SSL Certificates
- Free Migration
- Team Management
- Dedicated Firewalls
- 24/7 Real-time Monitoring
- Automated Backups
- Staging Environment
- Auto Healing
- Regular Security Patching
- HTTP/2 Enabled Servers
- SSH and SFTP Access
- Optimized With Advanced Caches
- Cloudflare Add-on NEW
- Unlimited Application Installation
- Free Object Cache Pro (2GB & above)
Users say SiteGround can’t handle bigger sites
“Their servers are slow and if you upgrade your web hosting plan, like we did, they lock you in and hold your data hostage.”
Verified SiteGround review on G2
“SiteGround servers are not very effective if you have a big ecommerce website.”
Verified SiteGround review on G2
“If you have a site with high traffic, SiteGround might not be the best for speed purposes.”
Verified SiteGround review on G2
“I kept getting email alerts to say I had used my maximum usage despite continuously upgrading.”
Verified SiteGround review on G2
“I encounter 503 service unavailable errors constantly. These errors pop up so much now that it is affecting my sites’ SEO.”
Verified SiteGround review on G2
“The only time my site has ever worked properly was the day I moved it to another host.”
Verified SiteGround review on Capterra
Cloudways is cloud hosting for businesses that need high-performing sites
No compromise on speed
We only offer cloud server solutions, unlike SiteGround’s main offer: shared hosting.
Scaling is easy
Get started at a very low rate today and easily upgrade your servers’ performance as you grow.
Pick your cloud provider
Choose a server that guarantees fast load times: Digital Ocean, Linode, Vultr, AWS, and Google Cloud.
Even more reasons to choose Cloudways
Get a dedicated server for as low as $10/mo
Cloudways’ lowest-priced plan gets you 2.5x more storage and dedicated RAM/CPU, compared to SiteGround’s cheapest shared hosting. The price is barely different but we won’t limit your site’s resources.
“Cloudways not only cost less than what I was paying, but it’s also so much faster. We went from our website taking over 10-seconds to load to under 2-seconds.”
Chris Arndt
Cloud hosting that’s 10x cheaper
Cloudways’ starter cloud hosting plan costs $10/mo vs. $100/mo with SiteGround. You can scale resources immensely before you hit the same monthly bill at SiteGround.
“Cloudways pricing is really good, they give you so many cheap options that can handle anybody’s budget.”
Darell Neal
Transparent pricing, every year
With Cloudways you pay what you use and have total control of your billing. No hidden costs or 3X price hikes after your “sweet” initial deal is over.
“I have yet to be confused about what is included, what I have access to, or how much it will cost. Really excellent service.”
Beth Seitzberg
Host unlimited sites on a single account
Launch as many websites as you want without conceding speed — even on our lowest plans. As long as you have resources available, we won’t limit how many sites you can host on your server.
“You get *unlimited* applications, even with the most basic plan, which is a w e s o m e !”
Yanay Reingewertz
Everything your site needs, out-of-the-box
Free SSL, Firewalls, Monitoring, Backups, Staging, and more. Businesses that don’t want to complicate their server maintenance love how simple it is to launch a new site with Cloudways.
“Cloudways provides me access to the server without me having to manage every detail.”
Craig Booker
SiteGround vs Cloudways
At Cloudways, there’s always someone ready to help when it matters the most
Feel like SiteGround’s customer service has been lagging lately? We put our best agents and engineers on live chat, Slack and phone support, 24/7/365.
Cloudways customer support performance
Q3 2020 – Q1 2021
-
2.1 minutes
Initial response time
-
30 minutes
Average time to solve and close a support inquiry
-
90%
Percentage of support inquiries closed with a happy and satisfied customer
Dedicated Account Manager
Private Slack channel
Phone Support
Higher speed, storage, and bandwidth than shared hosting
0.5 second loading speed and virtually 100% uptime guarantee. Choose Cloudways if your business depends on your website’s performance.
Get Started FREE Unlike SiteGround, Cloudways offers a free trial — no CC neededSiteGround vs Cloudways
With Cloudways, you can choose your preferred cloud network
Cloud Hosting Providers
Pick a provider based on your performance needs
Cloud Hosting Providers
Pick a provider based on your performance needs
SiteGround vs Cloudways
Cloudways gives you over 10x more data centers to choose from
6 Data Centers
65+ Data Centers
Explore complete list of datacenters here.
SiteGround vs Cloudways
Cloudways takes half the time to load your pages
Results based on loader.io, comparing similar sites and plans for speed optimizations
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|---|---|---|
| Plan | STARTUP | 1GB DIGITAL OCEAN |
| Average speed | 1.24 s | 439 ms |
Response time for a 1.5 MB page. That’s 50% faster performance on Cloudways. Results based on a 3rd party review site.
SiteGround vs Cloudways
Cloudways gives you 3 days of free access, with all features included
No Trial
Free Trial
3 Days – No Credit Card Required
Give Cloudways a try before you commit
Get free access to your dashboard for 3 days. Migrate your site and experience how easy it is to set up, manage and host your sites.
Get Started FREE Unlike SiteGround, Cloudways offers a free trial — no CC neededSiteGround vs Cloudways
Boost your sites’ performance while reducing admin time — on any plan
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|---|---|---|
| Speed & performance features | ||
| Applications | WordPress, WooCommerce | WordPress, Joomla, Magento, Drupal, PHP |
| Optimized caching |
Not available on lower plans
|
Available on all plans
|
| CDN available | ||
| Auto healing servers | ||
| Security features | ||
| Free SSL certificates | ||
| Dedicated firewalls | ||
| 24/7 real-time monitoring | ||
| Regular security patching | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | Daily | Hourly |
| Admin & collaboration features | ||
| Unlimited website installations | ||
| Staging areas |
Not available on lower plans
|
Available on all plans
|
| Team management | ||
| 24/7/365 Support | ||
| Free site migration | ||
Migrating to Cloudways is free and easy
That’s right, our experts handle your 1st site migration absolutely free. Move your site over to your new server quickly and with minimal downtime.
We guarantee
absolutely no bugs, errors, or lost data. Our migration pros will work with you to ensure that everything gets done smoothly and efficiently
“We gave Cloudways a try and we saw our client sites have page load time decreased from an average of 5.4 seconds to just over 1 second.”
Jeff Weese – Founder, Joslex Studios
SiteGround vs Cloudways
Frequently Asked Questions
Which web hosting company gives the most value for money for long term plans?
The best long term web hosting value depends on balancing performance, scalability, and predictable pricing. While many hosts attract users with cheap introductory rates that increase sharply upon renewal, Cloudways offers transparent pay-as-you-go pricing that eliminates renewal surprises altogether.
With managed cloud servers starting at $11/month, Cloudways delivers enterprise grade performance, 24/7 expert support, and full scalability across top cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean. For small to medium businesses planning long term growth, this model often proves more cost effective and sustainable than traditional multi year shared hosting contracts.
Tip: When evaluating long term hosting value, compare the true renewal cost, resource scalability, and support quality, not just the first term discount. Cloudways flexible billing ensures you only pay for what you use, with no hidden renewal hikes.
Tip: When evaluating long term hosting value, compare the true renewal cost, resource scalability, and support quality, not just the first term discount. Cloudways flexible billing ensures you only pay for what you use, with no hidden renewal hikes.
What are the best web hosting deals and promo codes for 2025?
Web hosting deals in 2025 offer discounts up to 90% off across shared, VPS, and managed hosting plans. Prices typically start as low as $1 to $3/month for shared hosting, while managed cloud options provide better scalability and performance at higher value. Cloudways BFCM 2025 deal (Promo: BFCM5050) offers 50% off for 3 months plus 50 free migrations, along with 50% off for 3 months on all app level add-ons including Malware, Cloudflare, Rackspace, Elastic, DNS Made Easy, and Advanced Support. Valid from November 11 till December 4.
What is the ideal web hosting pricing for small businesses?
Web hosting for small and medium size businesses generally vary from $2 to $10/month (shared), $10 to $100/month (VPS/cloud) and up to $500/month (dedicated), WordPress specific plans often vary around $3 to $25/month. Consider intro vs renewal, plan length, included features (SSL, domain, backups) and extra costs. Cloudways comes as a managed cloud hosting provider starting from $11/month, offering pay-as-you-go billing, managed services, and predictable costs which is helpful for growing SMBs avoiding renewal surprises.
How can I be sure my business site will be safe on your network?
At Cloudways, we take security seriously. In fact, it’s our top priority. Rest assured that our staff takes a proactive approach to keeping our servers safe and secure from malicious traffic, malware and attacks.
Keep in mind that the following security measures are available on ALL plans:
- Dedicated Firewalls
- 1-Click Free SSL Certificate
- IP Whitelisting
- Regular Security Patching
- Two-Factor Authentication
- Bot Protection
If you have any additional questions or concerns about securing your sites, don’t hesitate to contact Cloudways support, we’ll be happy to help.
Is CDN available with Cloudways?
Yes, CDN is included on all plans. You can easily set it up via the server dashboard. It’s so easy even total newbies can do it. Note that we also offer CloudwaysCDN service which delivers more performance and even better user experience. Rates are highly-competitive starting at just $1 per 25GB. Check out our CDN page for more details!
How does Cloudways’ caching compare to SiteGround?
As an alternative to SiteGround, Cloudways offers a premium out-of-the-box caching stack which includes: Memcached, Varnish, Nginx, and Redis. Utilize any of them to deliver faster response times and better site efficiency. SiteGround offers a basic out-of-the-box caching that delivers minimal performance boost.
NOTE: For better caching of specialized site apps, you may need to upgrade to a higher plan or install a premium caching app. Contact support if you need assistance; we’ll be glad to help!
Can I see speed tests comparing Cloudways vs SiteGround?
Sure thing! Check out our own articles comparing overall performance and various speed tests you can also view several third party reviews and ratings on sites like G2.com, Trustpilot and HostAdvice.
I’ve been burned by SiteGround’s support. What can I expect from Cloudways?
Among the best SiteGround alternatives, Cloudways is committed to removing all of the stress from website management. That’s why we’ve invested heavily in resources, support staff, and other tools to ensure our customers always have support when they need it.
Our support process break down like this:
Standard Support: 24/7/365 access via Live Chat and support ticket system. Fully trained Support Team members are always available.
Advanced Support add-on: For more customized support, proactive monitoring of various systems and other services, we offer this level at a nominal cost. Simply tell us what you need, and we’ll give you a quote.
Premium Support add-on: This support level is for businesses that run intensive and mission-critical sites where every minute of uptime matters. We’ll provide even quicker response times, phone support, a dedicated Account Manager and a private Slack channel that can be utilized by your staff to communicate directly with us in a real-time group setting.
What is managed cloud hosting?
Managed cloud hosting is the kind of hosting service where your web hosting provider (like Cloudways) handles every aspect of your server platform including: administration, management, security, and maintenance.
What that means to you is that all you need to do is select the plan you want, the data center you want to base your server at, and the operating system you prefer. We handle the rest. Our team of administrators, developers and security experts will ensure that your server is properly managed along with proper CDN to ensure maximum uptime as well as data security and upkeep.
Note that Cloudways’ platform offers managed WordPress hosting and supports most other major CMS and Ecommerce platforms such as: Joomla, Magento, Drupal, and many other PHP-based apps.