Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Liquid Web: Complete 2026 Comparison
In-depth comparison of these two hosting providers across pricing, performance, features, and support.
Overall Winner
Liquid Web
- Wins in 5 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Price, Best Performance, Best for WordPress
- 4.3/5 overall rating
Category Winners
Best Price
Liquid Web
$3.50/mo vs $5.00/mo
Best Value
Tie
Similar renewal pricing
Best Performance
Liquid Web
100% uptime, 4.3/5 rating
Best Support
Tie
Similar support options
Best for WordPress
Liquid Web
Optimized, Staging, WooCommerce
Best for Developers
Liquid Web
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
Best for Beginners
Liquid Web
Higher ease of use score (6.0/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Cloud Infrastructure | VPS Hosting |
| Monthly Price | $5.00/mo | $3.50/mo |
| Renewal Price | $5.00 | $3.50 |
| Renewal Markup | 0% | 0% |
| Overall Rating | 3.5/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 100% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 1.3/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 361 | 2,637 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $60.00 | $396.00 |
| Second Year Cost | $60.00 | $396.00 |
| Money Back Guarantee | — | 30 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | ||
| Minimum Contract | 0 months | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 40 GB | 40 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD | SSD |
| Bandwidth | 2000 GB | 5000 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 | AWS Shield Standard (free); Shield Advanced ($3000/mo+) | Multi-level DDoS protection included |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Manual/Snapshot-based | Daily (30-day retention) |
| Backup Retention | — | 30 days |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Ticket, Phone, Chat, Knowledge Base, Forums | Phone, Live Chat, Ticket, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | Paid support plans | 24/7/365 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7 with paid support | 24/7/365 (59-second response guarantee) |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | 1 min |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 0 | Unlimited |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | CloudFront (additional cost) | Cloudflare Enterprise CDN (on managed WordPress/WooCommerce) |
| Server Locations | US East (Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (Oregon), US West (California), Canada (Central), Canada West (Calgary), South America (Sao Paulo), Europe (Ireland), Europe (London), Europe (Frankfurt), Europe (Paris), Europe (Stockholm), Europe (Milan), Europe (Spain), Europe (Zurich), Middle East (Bahrain), Middle East (UAE), Africa (Cape Town), Asia Pacific (Mumbai), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Sydney), Asia Pacific (Tokyo), Asia Pacific (Seoul), Asia Pacific (Osaka), Asia Pacific (Hong Kong), Asia Pacific (Jakarta), Asia Pacific (Melbourne), Asia Pacific (Hyderabad), China (Beijing), China (Ningxia), Israel (Tel Aviv), Thailand (Bangkok), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) | Lansing, MI (US-Central), Phoenix, AZ (US-West), Amsterdam (Netherlands), San Jose, CA (US), Ashburn, VA (US-East), Sydney (Australia), London (UK) |
| Server Location Count | 38 | 10 |
| 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 | AWS Console / Lightsail Console | cPanel/InterWorx/Plesk (choice) |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | — | — |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 0 | Unlimited |
| Migration Turnaround | — | 1 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | — | Free |
| Migration Quality | — | 5.0/10 |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 9001, PCI DSS Level 1, HIPAA, FedRAMP | SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI-DSS |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Performance Rating | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 2.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Security Rating | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Features Rating | 5.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 2.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 2.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 2.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Developers | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 1.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | 2TB included on $5 Lightsail; overage $0.09/GB | 5TB included on entry VPS; overage billed or upgrade required |
| Storage Overage | Pay for additional volumes/snapshots | Upgrade to higher tier or add storage |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2006 | 1997 |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Parent Company | Amazon.com Inc. (subsidiary) | CloudOne Digital (acquired by One Equity Partners in April 2023; previously Madison Dearborn Partners) |
| 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 | United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, India, Canada | United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia |
| Local Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, SGD, BRL, INR, CAD | USD |
| Support Languages | English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 2, ISO 27001 | GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC 2 |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.6/5 | 4.3/5 |
| BBB Rating | NR | A+ |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | — |
| Max DB Size | — | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL/MSSQL/Oracle | MySQL/MariaDB |
| Elasticsearch | ||
| Image Optimization | — | |
| PHP Switching | — | |
| Subdomains | — | Unlimited |
| FTP Accounts | — | Unlimited |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | Pay-as-you-go; No traditional refund; Free tier available for 12 months | 30-day guarantee for managed VPS and managed cloud server hosting only; Domain fees non-refundable; Custom configurations may have exclusions |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, ACH Direct Debit, Wire Transfer, AWS Credits | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Bank Transfer, Check |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | AWS Certificate Manager (free SSL for AWS resources) | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | Global | United States |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | ||
| Object Cache Type | — | Redis |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Per sale | Percentage of MRR |
| Commission Amount | Varies by service; AWS Partner Network available | 300% per Liquid Web sale; 400% per Nexcess sale; up to $7,000 per sale; 90-day cookie; via Impact |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | — | |
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | $0.09 | — |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment; abuse | Violation of ToS; non-payment; abuse reports |
| Malware Removal Cost | — | $0.00 |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | Enterprise deployments needing AWS ecosystem; Developers comfortable with cloud infrastructure; Businesses needing compliance certifications (HIPAA, PCI, FedRAMP); Global deployments with 38 regions; Those already invested in AWS ecosystem | Businesses and agencies needing managed hosting with premium support; Mission-critical websites requiring 100% uptime SLA; WooCommerce stores needing optimized ecommerce hosting; Users willing to pay premium for Heroic Support; HIPAA-compliant healthcare applications; Enterprise clients needing dedicated infrastructure |
| Avoid If | Beginner wanting simple hosting; Need included support; Want managed WordPress; Budget-conscious without cloud expertise; Need predictable billing | Budget-conscious users; Need shared hosting; Beginners who don't need managed services; Simple personal blogs; Price-sensitive projects; Need many international locations |
| Known Issues | Extremely poor Trustpilot rating (1.3) due to billing complaints and support issues; Complex pricing can lead to unexpected bills; Support costs extra (free tier has no support); Not beginner-friendly; EC2 pricing confusing; Lightsail less flexible than competitors | Premium pricing (significantly higher than budget hosts); No shared hosting option; Windows VPS much more expensive than Linux; Some users report billing confusion especially with Nexcess; Support quality reportedly declined after CloudOne acquisition per some reviews; Complex pricing structure with many tiers; Limited international data centers compared to hyperscalers |
| Unique Selling Point | Market-leading cloud provider with 38 regions, most compliance certifications, and Lightsail for simplified VPS at $5/month | 100% uptime SLA with 1000% credit and 59-second Heroic Support response guarantee |
| Ideal Customer | Enterprise or developer needing global cloud infrastructure with extensive compliance certifications and AWS ecosystem integration | Business or agency needing premium managed hosting with industry-leading support SLA |
| Best Alternative To | Google Cloud Platform | WP Engine |
| Primary Competitors | Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, DigitalOcean, Vultr | WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways |
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 Amazon Web Services (AWS) if you...
- Want more server locations (38 available)
Choose Liquid Web if you...
- Want to save money ($3.50/mo vs $5.00/mo)
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.3/5)
- Need WordPress-optimized hosting
- Need staging environments
- Are new to web hosting