Alibaba Cloud vs Cloudways: Complete 2026 Comparison
In-depth comparison of these two hosting providers across pricing, performance, features, and support.
Overall Winner
Cloudways
- Wins in 4 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Performance, Best for WordPress, Best for Developers
- 4.2/5 overall rating
Category Winners
Best Price
Alibaba Cloud
$4.46/mo vs $Infinity/mo
Best Value
Tie
Similar renewal pricing
Best Performance
Cloudways
99.99% uptime, 4.2/5 rating
Best Support
Alibaba Cloud
Live chat, Phone, 24/7
Best for WordPress
Cloudways
Optimized, Staging, WooCommerce
Best for Developers
Cloudways
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
Best for Beginners
Cloudways
Higher ease of use score (5.5/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Cloud Infrastructure | VPS Hosting |
| Monthly Price | $4.46/mo | — |
| Renewal Price | $4.46 | — |
| Renewal Markup | 0% | 0% |
| Overall Rating | 3.5/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 99.99% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 2.0/5 | 4.6/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 81 | 3,600 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $53.52 | $168.00 |
| Second Year Cost | $53.52 | $168.00 |
| Money Back Guarantee | — | 0 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | ||
| Minimum Contract | 0 months | — |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | — | 25 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD/ESSD/ULTRA DISK | SSD |
| Bandwidth | — | 1000 GB |
| Max Websites | — | Unlimited |
| Max Databases | — | Unlimited |
| PHP Versions | — | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 |
| SSH Access | ||
| Git Deployment | ||
| Staging Environment | — | |
| Cron Jobs | ||
| Redis Available | ||
| Programming Languages | ||
| Node.js Support | ||
| Python Support | ||
| Ruby Support | ||
| WordPress Features | ||
| WordPress Optimized | ||
| WordPress Auto-Install | ||
| WordPress Auto-Updates | ||
| WordPress Staging | ||
| WooCommerce Optimized | ||
| LiteSpeed Cache | ||
| Object Caching | ||
| WP Multisite | ||
| WP-CLI Access | ||
| Security | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| DDoS Protection Level | Anti-DDoS Basic (free); Anti-DDoS Pro from $85/mo | Bot Protection and Firewall via Cloudflare |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Manual/Snapshot-based | Hourly to Daily (configurable: 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, daily) |
| Backup Retention | — | 14 days |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Ticket, Phone, Chat, Knowledge Base | Live Chat, Ticket, Knowledge Base, Phone (Premium add-on), Slack (Premium add-on) |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7 | 24/7/365 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7 with paid support | Premium Support add-on only |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English, Chinese, Japanese | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 3.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | 2 min |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 0 | — |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Alibaba Cloud CDN (additional cost) | Cloudflare Enterprise CDN |
| Server Locations | Hangzhou (China), Shanghai (China), Beijing (China), Shenzhen (China), Zhangjiakou (China), Hohhot (China), Ulanqab (China), Chengdu (China), Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Melbourne (Australia), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea), Mumbai (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Manila (Philippines), Bangkok (Thailand), Dubai (UAE), Frankfurt (Germany), London (UK), Virginia (US), Silicon Valley (US), São Paulo (Brazil) | US (Multiple), Canada, UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Singapore, Australia, Japan, India, Brazil |
| Server Location Count | 29 | 65 |
| Choose Server Location | ||
| HTTP/2 Support | ||
| Brotli Compression | ||
| Uptime SLA Credit | ||
| Platform Support | ||
| Drupal Support | ||
| Joomla Support | ||
| Magento Support | ||
| Laravel Support | ||
| Django Support | ||
| Next.js Support | ||
| Rails Support | ||
| Static Site Support | ||
| Control Panel | ||
| cPanel Included | ||
| Control Panel | Alibaba Cloud Console | Cloudways Platform |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | — | — |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 0 | 1 |
| Migration Turnaround | — | 2 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | — | — |
| Migration Quality | — | 5.0/10 |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SOC 1, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, PCI DSS, CSA STAR, GxP, TISAX | SOC 2, ISO 27001 |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 4.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 2.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 3.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 2.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 2.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 3.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Developers | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 1.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Pay per GB; rates vary by region | Pay-as-you-go; bandwidth included varies by plan (1TB base); overage charged at provider rates |
| Storage Overage | Pay for storage used | Pay-as-you-go; can upgrade server size or add block storage |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2009 | 2011 |
| Headquarters | China | Malta |
| Parent Company | Alibaba Group | DigitalOcean (acquired September 2022 for $350M) |
| Green Hosting | — | |
| Instant Activation | ||
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | — | — |
| Monthly Visit Limit | — | — |
| Visit Overage Cost | — | — |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | — | — |
| Dev Env Name | — | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India | United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Australia |
| Local Currencies | USD, CNY, SGD, JPY, AUD | USD, EUR, GBP |
| Support Languages | English, Chinese, Japanese | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, CSA STAR | GDPR, SOC 2 |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.0/5 | 4.7/5 |
| BBB Rating | NR | N/A (Malta-based, no US BBB listing) |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | — |
| Max DB Size | — | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | ApsaraDB (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, Redis) | MySQL/MariaDB |
| Elasticsearch | ||
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | — | |
| Subdomains | — | Unlimited |
| FTP Accounts | — | Unlimited |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | Pay-as-you-go; Free trial credits available | No money-back guarantee; pay-as-you-go model means you only pay for resources used; unused prepaid funds can be refunded within 3 months of adding funds |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Wire Transfer | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | — |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Alibaba Cloud SSL Certificates | Let's Encrypt |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | Global | United States |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | ||
| Object Cache Type | — | Redis/Memcached |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Per sale | Recurring |
| Commission Amount | Varies by product | Up to $125 per referral or lifetime 7% recurring; 90-day cookie |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | — | — |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment; abuse | Account suspended for TOS violations; servers still billed until deleted; fraud prevention enforcement active |
| Malware Removal Cost | — | $0.00 |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | Businesses targeting Asia-Pacific market; E-commerce in China; Organizations already in Alibaba ecosystem; Cost-effective cloud in APAC region; Companies needing China presence | Developers and agencies needing managed cloud hosting; WordPress/WooCommerce sites needing scalable performance; Users wanting flexibility across AWS, GCP, DO, Vultr, Linode; Teams needing staging environments and Git deployment; Growing businesses that need to scale quickly; Users who want cloud power without server management |
| Avoid If | Primary audience in Americas/Europe; Need HIPAA compliance; Prefer English-first support; Concerned about China data regulations | Need email hosting included; Want traditional shared hosting pricing; Prefer cPanel; Need domain registration; Budget-conscious with predictable monthly costs; New to web hosting (steeper learning curve) |
| Known Issues | Poor Trustpilot rating (2.0) due to support issues and security concerns; Documentation quality issues; Language barrier in support; Complex for Western users; Security/abuse report handling criticized; Performance issues during peak hours reported | Email hosting not included (requires third-party add-on at extra cost); No domain registration; Backup storage charged separately at $0.033/GB; DNS hosting is paid add-on; Premium Support with phone/Slack costs extra; Pay-as-you-go billing can be confusing; Charged in arrears for previous month; Some users report billing issues and being charged after cancellation; No cPanel (proprietary panel); Post-DigitalOcean acquisition some users report declining support quality |
| Unique Selling Point | Dominant cloud provider in Asia-Pacific with 37% regional market share and deep Alibaba ecosystem integration | Managed cloud hosting across 5 providers (AWS, GCP, DO, Vultr, Linode) with pay-as-you-go flexibility |
| Ideal Customer | Business targeting Asia-Pacific markets, especially China, needing cost-effective cloud with Alibaba ecosystem integration | Developer or agency wanting managed cloud power without server administration complexity |
| Best Alternative To | AWS in Asia-Pacific | WP Engine |
| Primary Competitors | Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Huawei Cloud | Kinsta, WP Engine, Flywheel |
We strive for accuracy, but pricing and features change frequently. Some data may be outdated. Report an error and we'll update it promptly.
Our Verdict
Choose Alibaba Cloud if you...
- Require 24/7 live chat support
Choose Cloudways if you...
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.2/5)
- Need WordPress-optimized hosting
- Need staging environments
- Are new to web hosting
- Want more server locations (65 available)