Cloudways Alternatives: Which Competitors Stand Out in 2023?

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Cloudways Alternatives

Cloudways hosting guarantees unmatched performance, reliability, and 24/7 support for businesses of all sizes. It’s a great place for developers, webmasters, bloggers, and enterprises. While it is a great host for agencies and ecommerce businesses, it might not be ideal for every business. Thus some companies may look for Cloudways competitors are that can provide cheaper service or other features that Cloudways doesn’t have.

Every hosting platform has certain limitations that may or may not work for you. For starters, Cloudways rely on third-party data centers, and have a different user panel than most service providers. This can be an issue for certain users.

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Are You Considering Other Alternatives to Cloudways?

While the services offered by Cloudways can directly be obtained from the providers, they come with certain complications. Most of these providers charge extra fees and have limitations on customer support.

On the other hand, Cloudways offers complete technical support around the clock. Moreover, the platform is beginner-friendly which is a major plus.

If the service provider is so perfect, why does one need to go for an Cloudways alternative?

Chances are that you might have different reasons looking for Cloudways alternatives. Everyone has their own perspective in mind. Now, when that’s out of the way, let’s look at a few reasons.

The cloud plans offered by Cloudways are definitely on the expensive end when compared to some other options. Take the Vultr entry plan as an example which costs more than $11/month which can be purchased through the website for $5.

Cloudways does not own a data center of its own. They mainly rely on Amazon Web Services, Vultr, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, and Linode. It can be a problem for many users depending on the nature of the business.

The custom user panel of the Cloudways is not appreciated by many as it is quite different from the traditional panels. Moreover, one has to pay extra for email hosting as it is not included in the hosting.

If you’re looking for shared hosting or Windows hosting, Cloudways is simply not for you as it does not support those. Other than that, people are also on the lookout for a Cloudways competitor that can offer more for a lesser price.

The 7 Best Cloudways Alternatives Compared

In this list, we have researched all the top competitors that provide great quality service and products. You can consider which are the best Cloudways alternatives that can help to grow your business better.

#1 Kinsta – Best Overall Cloudways Alternative

Kinsta website

Kinsta is certainly one of the top quality Cloudways competitors. It is a performance-optimized managed WordPress host that uses Google Cloud infrastructure. That is the reason, it is amongst the top Cloudways competitors. Kinsta offers a fast, secure and innovative solution.

The Cloudways alternative is number one on top-rated managed WordPress hosts on G2. Kinsta monitors your website 720 times a day to ensure everything is running smoothly and effectively. On the other hand, Cloudways does not include website monitoring unless you buy it as a separate add-on.

Kinsta also offers premium support on all plans. Their support team consists of WordPress developers and Linux engineers who are quick to respond. On the other hand, Cloudways offers premium support at cost starting at $100/month.

Kinsta offers a free content delivery network (CDN) on all plans. It has 24 data centers across the globe that are optimized for WordPress.

Kinsta is very simple to use when compared to Cloudways and offers much more comprehensive support. You can completely focus on the growth of your site instead of worrying about the infrastructure of hosting. Prominent features of Kinsta includes:

  • Automatic WordPress updates
  • Automatic daily backups
  • Staging sites
  • Free one-click SSL certificates
  • Proactive security rules (firewalls and malware scans)
  • Kinsta offers a free hack fix guarantee in case something happens
  • Uptime monitoring
  • Nginx stack with server-level caching
  • Built-in content delivery network (KeyCDN)

Pricing and Plans

Kinsta’s offers a total of 10 plans. The cheapest plan is $30 a month for the following resources:

  • One WordPress Install
  • 25,000 visits
  • 10 GB storage
  • Free SSL and CDN

Other plans are offered at $60, $100, $200, $300, $400, $600, $900, $1200, and $1500.

The premium plan of $1500 comes with the following resources:

  • 150 WordPress Installs
  • 3,000,000 visits
  • 250 GB Disk Space
  • Free SSL and CDN

Last but definitely not the least, Kinsta offers a 30-day money back guarantee whereas Cloudways offer only a three-day trial. 30 days give you a lot of time to explore the services and proceed accordingly.

Pros

  • Fast due to cloud based infrastructure
  • 9% uptime
  • Hands off approach
  • Amazing technical support
  • Simple set-up and migration process
  • E-Commerce Optimized
  • Great for traffic spikes

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Email Hosting not provided
  • Phone support not available

#2 WPX Hosting – Top-Rated Cloudways Alternative

WPX Hosting

WPX is known as the world’s fastest managed WordPress hosting and is a top-rated Cloudways equivalent. WPX offers superior page loading speed with the help of its own high-speed CDN which is provided for free for all WPX customers. They also own high-speed SSD servers that perform spectacularly under heavy traffic. No wonder they are considered one of the top Cloudways alternatives by companies.

Moreover, WPX offers amazing support. Their average response time is 30 seconds. One can chat 24/7 with the experienced support agents. This is one of the best features as you can get support anytime, anywhere, regardless of your location.

Jargon-free simplicity is important to WPX that is why it has a custom-built admin panel. If people still get stuck, the support team is always available.

WPX offers a number of features free of cost for its users. For instance, site optimization is completely free and is available from Monday to Friday.

WPX also tackles one of the biggest hassles which is free site migration from one place to another. WPX owns its own custom, high-speed content delivery network. The WPX CDN has 26 global edge locations and offers unbeatable speed when compared to Cloudways and few of the other hosting platforms.

One of the best features of WPX is its free malware detection and removal. The WPX security team scans, detects and removes the malware without breaking the site. If the site goes offline for any reason; plugin update, network issue, or any other reason, WPX offers to fix the issue for free.

WPX offers three hosting plans; business, professional and elite. Users can choose to pay on a monthly or yearly basis.

Pricing and Plans

Here is a brief overview of each of these plans:

Business Plan

  • Business plan offers five Websites
  • 100 GigBit Bandwidth
  • WPX Cloud WPX Cloud CDN
  • 10 GigaBit Storage

Monthly Payment: $24.99/month

Yearly Payment: $20.83/month

Professional Plan

  • Professional Plan offers fifteen Websites
  • 20 GigaBit Storage
  • WPX Cloud WPX Cloud CDN
  • 200 GigaBit Bandwidth

Monthly Payment: $49.99/month

Yearly Payment: $41.58/month

Elite Plan

  • Elite Plan offers Thirty Five Websites
  • Infinite Bandwidth
  • 40 GigaBit Storage
  • WPX Cloud WPX Cloud CDN

Monthly Payment: $99.00/month

Yearly Payment: $83.25/month

Free Services

All the plans include these services for free.

  • The company offers 24/7 chat support 365 days, with an average response time of 30 seconds
  • It offers infinite Site Migrations To WPX along with unlimited SSLs, Staging Areas, Email, Manual Backups, and DDoS Protection.
  • WPS also offers scanning as well as removal of malware on a daily basis and PHP 7.X.
  • WPS comes with a money back guarantee of 30 Days
  • WPS also offer automatic backups of 28 days
  • WPS guarantees uptime of 99.95%
  • Single click WordPress installations
  • The company has its hosting locations in USA, Australia, and UK
  • WPS offers a High-Speed Customized CDN which has twenty six Global Edge Locations

Pros

  • High Speed
  • Daily backups
  • Migration services
  • Email Services
  • User Friendly dashboard
  • Free CDN
  • Multiple Data Centres
  • Easy refund policy

Cons

  • Expensive hosting plan
  • No single site hosting
  • No cPanel

#3 InterServer – Editor’s Choice 2021

Interserver hosting

Interserver has a lot of experience in web hosting. It offers a variety of services from shared hosting to reseller plans, Cloud VPS, and dedicated servers as well. Interserver has 4 data centers that are located in the US.

InterServer won Editors’ Choice 2021, which says a lot and makes it one of the best alternatives to Cloudways. Interserver is a brilliant web hosting provider with a very easy-to-use control panel and comes with unlimited storage.

It is a reliable name and is known for free reboot updates. It makes it easier for the user as the updated version is always available without interruption in work. Interserver offers instant setup options and is an extremely high-performance network.

Interserver also gives you the option to monitor the uptime of your website. It is known for:

  • Excellent infrastructure
  • Brilliant features
  • Comes with monthly pricing options (which enables you to cancel anytime)
  • Easy to understand and use cPanel
  • 24/7 tech support team available via chat, phone, tickets, and email

As per some people, Interserver is equivalent to Cloudways but in my opinion, it is a much better alternative. It provides its users with high-performing, affordable hosting solutions for your business website.

They use cPanel which some people find more manageable. Their prices start as low as $5/month.

The price is almost half when compared to Cloudways. Not only that, it offers unlimited storage, bandwidth, and a number of email accounts which is not the case with Cloudways. The one-click installs are almost the same for both.

Interserver offers:

  • ULTRA SSD Storage (Unlimited)
  • 8% Uptime
  • More than 450 Cloud Applications
  • Option to Create Endless No of E-Mail Accounts
  • Global Content Caching
  • Uptime30 Days Money Back Guarantee
  • SitePad Website Builder
  • Website Migration is Free of Cost
  • Intershield Protection

Pros

  • Uptime guarantee
  • Value for money
  • Money back guarantee
  • Great VPS service
  • Customer support
  • Award Winning

Cons

  • Limited Services
  • Slow loading speed

#4 RunCloud – Best Alternative for the Techies

RunCloud is a powerful control panel for cloud servers. It is perfect for techies as well as non-technical individuals. The graphical interface allows users to build a website easily and affordably.

RunCloud offers a 5-day free trial, does not require a credit card, and allows you to cancel anytime.

One thing to keep in mind is that RunCloud is purely a control panel. If you decide to go ahead with it, you’ll need to buy cloud hosting separately.

Prominent features of RunCloud include:

  • Instantaneous Deployment – one-click installers with complete control
  • Autonomous Setup – heavy lifting and configuration
  • Virtual PHP Machines – simultaneous PHP functions
  • Split Second Notifications – server monitoring from anywhere
  • Secured Management Panel – seamless configuration
  • Performance Driven Dashboard – tweaks and pioneering user experience

RunCloud is very similar to Cloudways in a lot of ways but there are a few differences between the two. I am going to highlight a few prominent ones.

Cloudways is best for cheap managed WordPress hosting along with hands-off managed hosting. On the other hand, RunCloud is best for managing your own server as well as for managing multiple servers.

RunCloud offers three different price plans; basic, pro and business. Run cloud provides manual and annual payment options. If you decide to go for the annual option, you will get three months free of cost.  Below is the payment plans with the pricing and features:

Basic Plan – $6.67/month

  • Unlimited web apps
  • Single server
  • Single click SSL
  • Single WordPress staging
  • RunCloud Hub plugin access
  • Git deployment

Pro Plan – $12.5/month

  • All the things included in the Basic Package
  • 6G as well as 7G Firewall
  • Unlimited servers
  • Customized NGINX Configuration
  • Infinite web appls
  • 10 WordPress staging
  • Clone web apps

Business Plan – $37.5/month

  • The package includes everything which is a part of Basic and Pro plan
  • Unlimited WordPress staging
  • Collaboration of teams
  • Directly login to WordPress Panel via RunCloud Hub plugin
  • Atomic Deployment
  • Cloudflare DNS integration
  • ModSecurity, CRS and WAF
  • WordPress Canvas

All plans include powerful administration, expert support, built for speed, hack guarantee, and SSL certificates.

Pros

  • Excellent performance
  • Well designed and user friendly dashboard
  • Easy staging sites
  • Useful tools for server and site management
  • Affordable
  • Prompt support

Cons

  • Not a reliable backup tool
  • Server level SMTP missing
Flywheel Hosting

Flywheel is a managed WordPress hosting. It offers a variety of hosting plans which keep your sites fast, reliable, and secure. Not a very popular Cloudway alternative but it’s still one of the great quality service providers.

The tools allow you to create beautiful websites for yourself and your clients. They offer four plans; tiny, starter, freelance, and agency.

The Flywheel plans start from $15/month and go up to $

290/month. Flywheel allows you to discover a seamless hosting experience by:

  • Adding a free SSL and update DNS
  • Running and restoring nightly backups
  • Transferring bills to clients
  • Collaboration with coworkers
  • Management 1 or many sites

If someone wishes to create their custom plan, they can do so as well. When comparing cloud ways and flywheels, we see quite a few similarities along with certain differences. Both of them utilize cloud-based servers.

As a result, your data is split up and stored on cloud-based servers. Both of these service providers use external sources to manage their data.

WhileCloudways include various features which are ideal for developers including access to SSH as well as SFTP, reliable staging environment, an account for multiple teams, Git Integration, transfer of server ownership.

On the other hand, Flywheel offers almost all of these features which are ideal for developers and teams; staging sites, collaboration, templates for sites and much more.

Flywheels also offer blazing flight site speed, providers a hacker free security, offers free CDN, free custom caching, easy and simplified SFTP access, free SSL certificates, offers staging for websites before going live, optimized servers for our support teams, and powerful development tools as well.

Pricing and Plans

Flywheel plans include:

Tiny – $15/month

  • 1 WordPress site
  • 5GB disk
  • 5,000 monthly visits
  • 20GB bandwidth

Starter – $30/month

  • 1 WordPress site
  • 25,000 monthly visits
  • 10GB disk
  • 50GB bandwidth

Freelance – $115/month

  • Up to 10 sites
  • 100,000 monthly visits
  • 20GB disk
  • 200GB bandwidth

Agency – $290/month

  • Up to 30 sites
  • 400,000 monthly visits
  • 50GB disk
  • 500GB bandwidth

Pros

  • Robust, cloud-based infrastructure
  • Best performance server
  • 10 data centers
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • 24/7 reliable support
  • Uptime of about 99.99%
  • User-friendly interface

Cons

  • No built-in Git deployment
  • Does not allow to buy SSL certificates
DreamHost Hosting

DreamHost has quite a different approach to the situation. It is certainly one of the best independently owned businesses today. Being a popular Cloudways competitor, they have a very extensive range of packages for all types of websites to compete with Cloudways.

DreamHost provides the following services:

  • WordPress Hosting
  • Website Hosting
  • VPS Hosting
  • WP Website builder
  • Dedicated Hosting
  • Cloud Hosting

Users can select both affordable as well as premium options depending on their needs. The shared hosting plans start at $2.59/month. The unlimited shared plan starts at $5.95 a month.

The unlimited plan lets the users use unlimited SSD storage. There are no limits on the bandwidth, anode use, and the number of website visits.

Dreamhost covers all your website and application needs including 100% in-house support, guaranteed performance, guaranteed uptime, 1-click installs, a super-intuitive control panel that makes website and project management easy.

The top features include:

  • Instant WordPress setup
  • Auto WordPress updates
  • 24/7 Award Winning Support
  • Free domain
  • Free Privacy Protection
  • Advanced Easy to Use Panel
  • Free SSL Certificate
  • Free Email Hosting
  • Automated Backups

Their plans are not concrete which gives users the flexibility to add various instances with a different price tag. This unique approach can actually help you save more.

The question remains the same; why should one go for DreamHost instead of Cloudways. Well, with DreamHost, you can run cloud instances as much as you want but will only get billed for a period of 600 hours. This fact alone makes DreamHost a very prime candidate.

The WordPress-optimized servers are compatible with WordPress and work seamlessly for every website. DreamHost also eradicates the problem of lagging by providing fast solid stage storage. The best part, however, is that DreamHost provides a 100% uptime guarantee.

Moreover, DreamHost also offers free bandwidth with all the Cloud Instances which is limited on most Cloud Plans.

Pros

  • Amazing customer service
  • Easy to use dashboard
  • Value for money
  • Amazing Backup Feature

Cons

  • Compatibility issues with migrating websites
  • Server crashing due to wordpress updates
  • Confusing pricing structure
Siteground hosting

SiteGround is a web hosting company that has provided over 2,000,000 domains worldwide and is definitely one of the top Cloudways alternatives to consider. They provide:

  • Web Hosting – Fast and secure websites for small to medium scale businesses
  • WordPress Hosting – makes WordPress site management simple
  • WooCommerce Hosting – give a boost to your businesses with optimized hosting services
  • Cloud Hosting – ideal for high performing websites

SiteGround is powered by GoogleCloud which creates a powerful user experience. The distributed storage results in optimal speed as well as high-level redundancy. Google provides an ultra-fast network which is a priority for all.

The top features include:

  • Ultra-Fast Sites – Hosting Platform on Google with ultra-fast network and persistent SSD storage
  • Top-Notch Security – Security management at server and application level
  • Managed WordPress – WordPress installation with easy and fast WP starter
  • Easy Site Management – Easy management on popular content management systems
  • Domain Management – the convenience of managing domain and website in the same space
  • Reliable Email Service – unlimited number of email account creation with a custom domain name
  • Awesome Client Interface – makes creating and managing sites a breeze
  • Premium Value on Higher Plans – host multiple sites, highest tier resources, dynamic catching, advanced priority support, easy staging tool, easy GIT integration, add collaborators, white-label clients, etc.

The fully managed hosting services are unmatched and enable clients to completely shift their attention to business management instead of website management.  Automatic WordPress updates, the latest PHP versions, and static caching of the website get you the desired performance.

SiteGround constantly monitors the security and prevents any glitches. Their team has a security-first mindset. Experts keep track of the daily software vulnerabilities on the server. They are constantly improving and adding on the security measures.

In the last year alone, SiteGround added 300 custom rules to the web application firewall which makes everything more secure. 

Pros

  • Fast loading speed
  • Quick server response
  • Unfailing uptime
  • Managed wordpress host
  • 24/7 customer support
  • User friendly dashboard

Cons

  • Limited resources
  • High price

As per Reddit, the best Cloudways alternatives are RunCloud and Serverpilot. For those who want to manage php applications, Serverpilot is a better option.

Verdict: Which is The Best Cloudways Alternative?

As you can clearly see from the options listed above, the Cloudways alternatives and competitors are not necessarily cheap. However, there is much more to a hosting service provider than the price. Going for these alternatives is based on your business needs and budget.

Apart from that, it is always good to open yourself up to a wide range of options. You can literally select one of hundreds of options. All of the above-mentioned hosting service providers are amazing alternatives to Cloudways. Our favorite ones are Kinsta, InterServer, and DreamHost.

All three of them are comparable to Cloudways price wise and make up for what Cloudways lacks. Apart from that a lot of services that Cloudways provides as add-ons come free with these options which gives you great value for money. Customer support is always available which helps non-technical website owners immensely. 

Other Cloudways resources that might interest you:

FAQs on Cloudways Alternatives

Kinsta, InterServer, and DreamHost are some of the hosting services that are comparable to Cloudways in terms of features, pricing, performance etc.

BlueHost, SiteGround, Kinsta, WPX Hosting are some of the cheaper Cloudways alternatives.

If Cloudways isn’t fulfilling the needs of your business and website, it may be better to find a more suitable option as there are thousands of hosting service providers available in the market.