Both Cloudways and SiteGround are influential names when it comes to web hosting – so which wins? The two offer unique features, but in my opinion, SiteGround is the best choice regarding performance, traffic management, and speed. Let’s take a detailed look at how the two compare!
Overall Comparision Cloudways vs SiteGround
| Cloudways | SiteGround | |
| Features | Host as many sites on your server as you like Automatic WordPress installation Ability to handle high amounts of traffic | Built in collaboration tools Clean and easy to navigate site tools interface Staging and access to cloning tools to make publishing websites easier |
| Pricing | Pricing starts at $10/month, no money-back guarantee (3 day trial instead) | Pricing starts at $3.99/month, 30 day money-back guarantee (14 days for cloud hosting) |
| Performance | 99.9% uptime, 1.2 seconds speed index | 99.9% uptime, 416 milliseconds speed index |
| Support | Yes, 24/7 support, phone support, email support, ticket support, live chat | Yes, 24/7 support, phone support, email support, ticket support, live chat, knowledgebase |
| Ease of use | Simple control panel, custom configuration settings, standard cPanel | Custom control panel, single-click installs, easy-to-install plugins |
| Security | Dedicated firewalls, automatically healing servers, regular security patching systems. | Server isolation mechanisms, Monitoring, detection of threats, security patching systems. |
| Free Migration | Yes | Yes |
| Server location | United States, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, England, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Australia, India, Singapore, Japan, Korea, China, and Bahrain | United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Australia, and Singapore |
Winner: SiteGround
Overall, if you are looking for a simple, easy-to-use, and effective server for your website, SiteGround is the way to go. You will find it a more inclusive option with a huge variety of servers, a cost-effective pricing plan, unique features, and advanced security plans.
About Cloudways and SiteGround
 | Cloudways is a cloud hosting software that uses managed systems. The company offers hosting solutions for clients who are on the lookout for PHP-based applications, like WordPress. Cloudways originated in Malta all the way back in 2010. The company allows you to carry out tasks such as domain registration, getting SSL certificates, and managing websites in just a few clicks. |
 | SiteGround is a web hosting company created in Bulgaria in 2004. They provide hosting for companies in the form of shared hosting and cloud solutions. SiteGround also allows companies to carry out tasks like domain registration, email hosting, and more. SiteGround has over 2 million domains hosted around the world. |
Round 1: Hosting Features – Key Hosting Features And Services
| Hosting Feature | Cloudways | SiteGround |
| Disk space and bandwidth | 1 GB SSD – 3 TB SSD | Unlimited Bandwidth |
| High-performance SSD storage | Yes | Yes |
| Free daily backups and restore | Yes | Yes |
| Free WordPress installation | Yes | Yes |
| Free site migration | Yes | Yes |
| Free website builder | Yes | Yes |
| Free SSL | Yes | Yes |
Key Cloudways Features
Aside from the hosting features mentioned above, Cloudways comes with a simple onboarding process, with a configurable server that you pay for based on use. This allows you to be charged precisely for features you are using.
You get the option to create a custom panel that will allow you to invite collaborators in – plus, you can get free features such as WordPress installation, daily backups, and free SSL certificates. While the disk space is generally smaller, the difference is well-reflected in the overall cost of the service.
Key SiteGround Features
SiteGround offers a competitive list of features that make it stand out. The company can enhance your onboarding experience with access to unlimited email accounts, plus the ability to handle high-site traffic, and the customer support team is available to help you migrate to your new site.
Additionally, you also get access to free SSL certificates, automatic backup, and access to a customer support team that has a crucial role to play in SiteGround’s success. You can also easily create WordPress websites in just a few clicks.
And the winner is…SiteGround!
While the two have similar offerings when it comes to hosting, SiteGround takes the cake by giving clients access to unlimited bandwidth and an award-winning customer support team.
Round 2: Prices & Plans
CloudwaysSiteGroundEntry Level plan$10 / month$3.99 / monthMiddle plan$50 / month$6.69 / monthHighest plan$274.3 / month$10.69 / month
Cloudways Pricing Plans
Cloudways offers different plans depending on the digital center you opt for. Here are some of the more notable plans and the features they include:
- Digital Ocean: a low-cost plan at $10 a month, with one website and 1TB of bandwidth.
- Linode: a mid-tier plan that covers Linode hosting chargers, the Cloudflare add-on, unlimited app installation, and automatic healing.
- Google Cloud: a high-cost plan that allows you to cover google cloud hosting charges, real-time monitoring, and dedicated firewalls.
SiteGround Pricing Plans
SiteGround has three web hosting plans you can choose from. Each plan offers features depending on the needs of your website. Here are the plans:
- StartUp: a low-cost plan at just 3.99 a month to let you host one website, which includes 10 GB space, free SSL, CDN, emails, and up to 10,000 visits monthly.
- GrowBig: this plan lets you manage an unlimited amount of websites, along with added features such as staging, faster PHP, and the creation of backups on demand.
- GoGeek: the highest costing plan will allow you to handle up to 400,000 visits a month, along with a private DNS, priority support, and 40 GB of space.
And the Winner Is… SiteGround!
The price that SiteGround offers is simply unbeatable – along with the features offered at such a low cost. Despite the strength of its rival, there is no win against a decent value.
Round 3: Website performance (Uptime & Speed)
The uptime on a website is a measure of the time, in a given time period, when the website is available to its users. A high uptime – 99.999% is a good indicator of high performance and reliability. Additionally, the speed at which it loads is highly important, as Google ranking factors in the speed when ranking pages.
| Test | Cloudways | SiteGround |
| GT Metrix | 1.2 s | 416 ms |
| PageSpeed Insights | 2.2 s | 1.4 s |
Cloudways Uptime & Speed
According to GTMetrix, Cloudways gets a solid A grade, with a 96% performance and a speed index of 1.2 seconds. Aside from this, the company also maintains an uptime of 99.999%, which is an impressive record to maintain at this scale. PageSpeed Insights places Cloudways’ loading speed at 2.2 seconds, which is impressive all on its own.
SiteGround Uptime & Speed
SiteGround, on the other hand, has a very high score when it comes to loading speed. The speed index on GTMetrix places SiteGround at 416 milliseconds, which is incredibly fast, meaning your sites can load very quickly on this server.
In terms of uptime, SiteGround can also boast a 99.999% rating, meaning they are almost always available and visible to users. The Page Speed Index gives SiteGround a speed of 1.2 seconds.
And the Winner Is… SiteGround
With high speed and loading capabilities SiteGround stands out as the superior choice for web hosting. When using this company, you can be sure you will be able to handle high traffic at good loading speeds and minimal downtimes.
Round 4: Customer Support – Who Has the Best Support System?
| Type of Support | Cloudways | SiteGround |
| 24/7 support | Yes | Yes |
| Phone Support | Yes | Yes |
| Live chat | Yes | Yes |
| Email Support | Yes | Yes |
| Ticket support | Yes | Yes |
| Forum Support | No | Yes |
| Video guides | No | No |
| Knowledgebase | Yes | Yes |
Cloudways Customer Support
Cloudways offers customers a complete support website, with all of the necessary articles to help solve their problems. There are also plenty of other support tools available, so let’s take a look at each one in detail.
The support website allows you to navigate issues and directs you toward articles that can help solve your problem. Aside from this, there is also a chat box available to help you understand issues if you are struggling with finding answers in the articles.
As an active user, you can also access the 24/7 support add-ons, which allow you to access features such as infrastructure support, monitoring alerts, and customization depending on the plan that you opt for.
The customer support team at Cloudways is reliable, committed to solving problems, and works quickly to prevent downtimes on your site. Overall, it is an excellent asset to the company and one that stands out for users.
SiteGround Customer Support
SiteGround’s customer support allows users to address questions quickly, with an auto channel recommendation feature that recommends the method for support that will result in the quickest answer.
Aside from this, you also have access to the live support chat to help you overcome any issues with the site or the experience of using the service. In fact, the company uses the principle of instant self-help, which includes automated solutions, help boxes, and a knowledge base. Aside from this, for advanced support, you can use the 24/7 live chat, phone support, or get a ticket to get support from the company’s Helpdesk.
And the Winner Is…SiteGround
With additional support features like the SiteGround forum, you can access support and care from this support team with ease and through multiple channels that suit the urgency of your request.
Round 5: Ease of use – Which Platform Is Easier to Use?
| Cloudways | SiteGround | |
| Account management dashboard | Easy | Easy |
| Control panel | Easy | Easy |
| Setup process (Install OS) | Easy | Easy |
| Transfer an existing website | Easy | Medium |
| Easy creation of backups | Easy | Easy |
| Emails | Unavailable | Easy |
| Enable Cloudflare | Easy | Medium |
Cloudways Ease Of Use
Generally, Cloudways offers an intuitive interface that allows users to easily scale their work and configure systems that work with their requirements. The setup process is generally easy and should not take too long to figure out, especially with the help of the customer support team.
Cloudways is designed for the user who is not highly familiar with the technicality of complicated configurations. This makes it an excellent tool for anyone with limited knowledge who is interested in taking things into their own hands. The scalability of the system allows you to pay as you use the system, which makes it a much more cost-effective system in the long run.
SiteGround Ease Of Use
SiteGround is a great system with easy navigation designed to make the creation and publishing of websites easier than ever.
However, where it stands out on the scale of ease of use is that the control panel is extremely user-friendly, and getting things to happen is just a matter of a few clicks. While SiteGround has the edge over Cloudways over email systems, it still requires some technical knowledge to navigate fully.
And the Winner Is… Cloudways
The intuitive and easy-to-use systems from Cloudways are designed to give the user an inviting experience and allow people of all knowledge levels to participate.
Round 6: Security – Which Platform is More Secure?
| Cloudways | SiteGround | |
| Free SSL certificate | Yes | Yes |
| DDoS protection | Yes | Yes |
| Cloudflare | Yes | Yes |
| Daily backups | Yes | Yes |
| Malware scans | No | Yes |
| SiteLock Security | No | No |
| WAF (Web Application Firewall) | Yes | Yes |
| Security Features | Aggressive security patches, dedicated firewalls, SSL encryption, automatic healing, real-time monitoring and alerts, | Server isolation mechanism, downtime detection systems, constant upgrades to security system through patches |
Cloudways Security
Cloudways prioritizes the security of those using their system by constantly monitoring security threats and creating patches to address security concerns. Along with their built-in system features, you also get access to a dedicated firewall, along with SSL encryption.
The servers have automatic healing systems set up to prevent long downtimes when there are issues, and with specific plans, you can access constant monitoring and alerts if there is something wrong with your server.
SiteGround Security
SiteGround’s security protocols have led to the creation of the server isolation mechanism. This is a system that prevents a server from being compromised because of one account being affected by a security breach. Additionally, the company focuses its energy on effectively detecting threats and creating patches to counter them quickly.
And the Winner Is… Cloudways!
Cloudways stands out in terms of security features because of the added benefits offered to premium users. The aggressive security patches, along with automatic healing, make it a force to be reckoned with.
Round 7: Server locations
Knowing server locations for web hosting platforms is essential – this is because the location can affect how quickly a page on the website can load. Slow loading time is an indicator that your hosting service has fewer servers, so it is important to choose one that can stand out!
Cloudways Server Location
Cloudways boasts a huge number of global data centers, which allows it to cover areas in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Asia. As of writing this review, Cloudways has 41 global data centers, and the number is constantly growing.
SiteGround Server Location
SiteGround has 10 data centers located in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia. The data centers are constantly maintained and upgraded by the SiteGround team to deliver the best results.
And the Winner Is… Cloudways!
Because of the high number of data centers, Cloudways can help you keep your site quick and updated, with fast loading times and servers in the right locations to reach your needs.
Cloudways vs. SiteGround: Final Recommendations
When to Choose Cloudways
Cloudways is an excellent choice for some users, especially because:
- It has a user-friendly system that is perfect for new users.
- It integrates servers from all over the world for optimum performance.
- It has a scalable system that allows you to choose what features to pay for.
- It comes with advanced security features that are improving every single day.
- It is perfect for medium-sized and enterprise businesses that are cementing their place.
Go For SiteGround If You…
When it comes to SiteGround, you will be best suited if:
- You are on the lookout for a budget-friendly system that has excellent features.
- You can benefit from the availability of a quick and friendly customer support team.
- You are looking for fast speeds and the ultimate performance.
- You want to find hosting features that can give you an edge over competitors.
- You are a small-scale business that is looking to grow.
The Bottom Line
While Cloudways and SiteGround are both excellent options for web hosting and have an array of features that make them worthy competitors, the ultimate winner in this case is SiteGround. Despite the fact that the hosting web service may not have all of the features that Cloudways can offer, the price that SiteGround brings to the table is absolutely unbeatable.
That, combined with its customer support, hosting abilities, and top-tier performance, make SiteGround the better choice, especially for small-scale businesses that need a decent budget along with a bunch of features.
FAQ
1. Can I pay monthly for my SiteGround subscription?
Yes, all plans on SiteGround’s website can be paid for on a monthly basis. You can choose the right plan for you or your business by visiting the company’s pricing page for more information.
2. What kind of hosting does Cloudways offer?
When you get a website on Cloudways, you are using a hosting known as cloud hosting. Cloud hosting allows your website to exist on a cloud server, instead of a traditional physical server.
3. Does SiteGround use cPanel?
SiteGround does not use cPanel anymore as a central interface for management. Instead, it uses a custom panel, known as Site Tools, that is considered a more user-friendly way to navigate the system.