Cloudways vs WPX Hosting: Complete 2026 Comparison
Cloudways is a vps hosting provider while WPX Hosting sits in the managed wordpress category, so the right pick depends on what you're building. The two are closely matched in our 7-category breakdown, each taking a share of the wins, so your decision comes down to which factors matter most to you.
Data last updated June 2026
Result
It's a Tie!
- Both hosts are evenly matched
- Choose based on your specific needs
Cloudways vs WPX Hosting: Overview
WPX Hosting starts at $17.99/mo. WPX Hosting also gives you a longer 30-day money-back window to test risk-free.
Cloudways's standout is managed cloud hosting across 5 providers (AWS, GCP, DO, Vultr, Linode) with pay-as-you-go flexibility — a natural fit for developer or agency wanting managed cloud power without server administration complexity. WPX Hosting, by contrast, leans on 30-second average support response with Trustpilot 5, ideal for wordPress blogger or content creator wanting lightning-fast support and transparent pricing without renewal surprises.
Category Winners
WPX Hosting
$17.99/mo vs $Infinity/mo
Tie
Similar renewal pricing
Cloudways
99.99% uptime, 4.2/5 rating
Cloudways
Live chat, Phone
WPX Hosting
Optimized, Staging, WooCommerce, LiteSpeed
Cloudways
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
WPX Hosting
Higher ease of use score (8.5/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | VPS Hosting | Managed WordPress |
| Monthly Price | — | $17.99/mo |
| Renewal Price | — | $17.99 |
| Renewal Markup | 0% | 0% |
| Overall Rating | 4.2/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 99.95% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.6/5 | 4.7/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 3,600 | 3,608 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $168.00 | $215.88 |
| Second Year Cost | $168.00 | $215.88 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 0 days | 30 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | ||
| Minimum Contract | — | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 25 GB | 10 GB |
| Storage Type | NVME SSD | SSD |
| Bandwidth | 1000 GB | 100 GB |
| Max Websites | Unlimited | 1 |
| Max Databases | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| PHP Versions | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 | 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 | Bot Protection and Firewall via Cloudflare | Enterprise DDoS protection |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Hourly to Daily (configurable: 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, daily) | Daily |
| Backup Retention | 14 days | 28 days |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Live Chat, Ticket, Knowledge Base, Phone (Premium add-on), Slack (Premium add-on) | Live Chat, Ticket, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7/365 | 24/7/365 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | Premium Support add-on only | — |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | 2 min | 0.5 min |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | — | Unlimited |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Cloudflare Enterprise CDN | WPX XDN (proprietary, 41 global edge locations) |
| Server Locations | US (Multiple), Canada, UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Singapore, Australia, Japan, India, Brazil | Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (Australia) |
| Server Location Count | 65 | 3 |
| 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 | Cloudways Platform | WPX Dashboard |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | — | — |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 1 | Unlimited |
| Migration Turnaround | 2 days | 1 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | — | Free |
| Migration Quality | 5.0/10 | — |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SOC 2, ISO 27001 | SOC 2 |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Performance Rating | 5.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Support Quality | 4.5/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Security Rating | 4.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.5/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 3.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 5.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Developers | 5.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 2.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 4.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Pay-as-you-go; bandwidth included varies by plan (1TB base); overage charged at provider rates | Bandwidth-based pricing (NOT visitor-based); no visitor caps; no overage fees |
| Storage Overage | Pay-as-you-go; can upgrade server size or add block storage | Upgrade to higher plan required |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2011 | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Malta | Bulgaria |
| Parent Company | DigitalOcean (acquired September 2022 for $350M) | Independent |
| Green Hosting | — | |
| Instant Activation | ||
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | — | bandwidth |
| Monthly Visit Limit | — | Unlimited |
| Visit Overage Cost | — | — |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | — | |
| Dev Env Name | — | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Australia | United States, United Kingdom, Australia |
| Local Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP | USD |
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR, SOC 2 | GDPR |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.7/5 | 4.5/5 |
| BBB Rating | N/A (Malta-based, no US BBB listing) | NR |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | — |
| Max DB Size | — | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | MySQL/MariaDB | MariaDB |
| Elasticsearch | ||
| Image Optimization | — | |
| PHP Switching | ||
| Subdomains | Unlimited | — |
| FTP Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | 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 | Full refund within 30 days |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal | Credit Card, PayPal |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | — |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt | Let's Encrypt |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | United States | — |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | ||
| Object Cache Type | Redis/Memcached | LiteSpeed Cache + OpCache |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Recurring | Per sale |
| Commission Amount | Up to $125 per referral or lifetime 7% recurring; 90-day cookie | Varies by plan |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | — | $0.00 |
| Account Suspension Policy | Account suspended for TOS violations; servers still billed until deleted; fraud prevention enforcement active | Violation of ToS; non-payment |
| Malware Removal Cost | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | 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 | WordPress bloggers and content sites; Speed-focused WordPress users; Sites needing 30-second support response; Users wanting no renewal price hikes; WooCommerce stores under 60GB |
| Avoid If | 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) | Need SSH access; Need more than 60GB storage; Need global data center options; Running high-traffic news sites; Need Redis/advanced caching; Budget-conscious beginners |
| Known Issues | 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 | No SSH access; Limited to 3 data center locations; Low PHP workers on some plans; No Redis caching; Max 60GB storage even on Elite plan; No automated scaling; Not ideal for high-traffic spikes |
| Unique Selling Point | Managed cloud hosting across 5 providers (AWS, GCP, DO, Vultr, Linode) with pay-as-you-go flexibility | 30-second average support response with Trustpilot 5.0 rating and no renewal price increases |
| Ideal Customer | Developer or agency wanting managed cloud power without server administration complexity | WordPress blogger or content creator wanting lightning-fast support and transparent pricing without renewal surprises |
| Best Alternative To | WP Engine | Kinsta |
| Primary Competitors | Kinsta, WP Engine, Flywheel | Kinsta, Rocket.net, 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 Cloudways if you...
- Need phone support
- Need SSH access
- Want to run Node.js applications
- Need enterprise-grade features
- Want more server locations (65 available)
Choose WPX Hosting if you...
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.4/5)
- Want LiteSpeed caching for WordPress
- Are new to web hosting
Cloudways vs WPX Hosting: Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for WordPress, Cloudways or WPX Hosting?
WPX Hosting is the stronger WordPress host thanks to WordPress-optimized servers, LiteSpeed caching, staging and WooCommerce tuning. If WordPress or WooCommerce is your main workload, it's the safer pick.
Does Cloudways or WPX Hosting have better uptime?
Cloudways edges out WPX Hosting on performance with a 99.99% uptime guarantee and a 4.2/5 overall rating. For uptime-sensitive sites, it's the more dependable choice.
Which has better customer support, Cloudways or WPX Hosting?
Cloudways has the edge on support offering live chat, phone support and ticket support.
Is Cloudways or WPX Hosting better for beginners?
WPX Hosting is friendlier for beginners, scoring higher on ease of use in our assessment. New users will generally find it quicker to get started.
Should I choose Cloudways or WPX Hosting?
Cloudways and WPX Hosting are evenly matched overall, so the best choice depends on your priorities. Use the category winners and feature table above to weigh the factors that matter most for your project.