SiteGround vs Cloudways: Complete 2026 Comparison
SiteGround is a shared hosting provider while Cloudways sits in the vps hosting 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
SiteGround vs Cloudways: Overview
SiteGround starts at $2.99/mo. Renewal tells the real story: Cloudways marks prices up about 0% at renewal versus roughly 502% for SiteGround, making it the better long-term value. SiteGround also gives you a longer 30-day money-back window to test risk-free.
SiteGround's standout is premium WordPress hosting on Google Cloud with industry-leading 24/7 support — a natural fit for wordPress site owner who prioritizes performance and support over price. Cloudways, by contrast, leans on managed cloud hosting across 5 providers (AWS, GCP, DO, Vultr, Linode) with pay-as-you-go flexibility, ideal for developer or agency wanting managed cloud power without server administration complexity.
Category Winners
Best Price
SiteGround
$2.99/mo vs $Infinity/mo
Best Value
Cloudways
Lower renewal markup (0% vs 502%)
Best Performance
Cloudways
99.99% uptime, 4.2/5 rating
Best Support
SiteGround
Live chat, Phone, 24/7
Best for WordPress
Tie
Similar WordPress features
Best for Developers
Cloudways
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
Best for Beginners
SiteGround
Higher ease of use score (8.0/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Shared Hosting | VPS Hosting |
| Monthly Price | $2.99/mo | — |
| Renewal Price | $17.99 | — |
| Renewal Markup | 502% | 0% |
| Overall Rating | 4.1/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% | 99.99% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.8/5 | 4.6/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 26,149 | 3,600 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $35.88 | $168.00 |
| Second Year Cost | $215.88 | $168.00 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 days | 0 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | — | |
| Minimum Contract | — | — |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 10 GB | 25 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD (GOOGLE CLOUD) | NVME SSD |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered GB | 1000 GB |
| Max Websites | 1 | Unlimited |
| Max Databases | — | Unlimited |
| PHP Versions | 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 | 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 | Advanced (AI anti-bot, WAF, IDS/IPS) | Bot Protection and Firewall via Cloudflare |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Daily | Hourly to Daily (configurable: 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, daily) |
| Backup Retention | 30 days | 14 days |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Phone, Live Chat, Ticket, Knowledge Base, AI Assistant | 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 | Premium Support add-on only |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English, Spanish, Italian | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | 2 min |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | — | — |
| Mailbox Size | 10 GB | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Cloudflare CDN (170+ edge locations via Google Cloud) | Cloudflare Enterprise CDN |
| Server Locations | Ashburn, VA (US), Council Bluffs, IA (US), Dallas, TX (US), Los Angeles, CA (US), Eemshaven (Netherlands), London (UK), Frankfurt (Germany), Paris (France), Singapore, Sydney (Australia) | US (Multiple), Canada, UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Singapore, Australia, Japan, India, Brazil |
| Server Location Count | 10 | 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 | Site Tools | Cloudways Platform |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | SiteGround Website Builder | — |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 1 | 1 |
| Migration Turnaround | 5 days | 2 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | $35.00 | — |
| Migration Quality | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | Google Cloud certified | SOC 2, ISO 27001 |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Performance Rating | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 5.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 4.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 5.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Developers | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 4.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Unmetered; no overage charges | Pay-as-you-go; bandwidth included varies by plan (1TB base); overage charged at provider rates |
| Storage Overage | Must upgrade plan; inode limits enforced strictly | 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 | 2004 | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Bulgaria | Malta |
| Parent Company | SiteGround Capital (Cyprus-registered holding) | 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 | United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, France, Australia, Singapore, Spain, Italy | United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Australia |
| Local Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, AUD | USD, EUR, GBP |
| Support Languages | English, Spanish, Italian | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR | GDPR, SOC 2 |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.4/5 | 4.7/5 |
| BBB Rating | Not Accredited | N/A (Malta-based, no US BBB listing) |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | 200,000 | — |
| Max DB Size | 1 GB | — |
| Max Upload Size | 24 MB | — |
| Database Type | — | MySQL/MariaDB |
| Elasticsearch | — | |
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | ||
| Subdomains | — | Unlimited |
| FTP Accounts | — | Unlimited |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | 12 months | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | Monthly subscriptions excluded; Cloud hosting only 14 days; Domains non-refundable (may be charged if waived initially); Third-party services non-refundable; SSL certificates non-refundable; Reseller hosting non-refundable; SiteGround Wallet balance non-refundable; TOS violators not eligible | 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 | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | — |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt (Wildcard SSL when using SiteGround DNS) | Let's Encrypt |
| Dedicated IP Cost | $4.5/mo | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Italy | United States |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | — | |
| Object Cache Type | Memcached (SuperCacher) | Redis/Memcached |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Flat rate (tiered) | Recurring |
| Commission Amount | $50-$100 per sale (1-5 sales: $50, 6-10: $75, 11-20: $100, 21+: custom); 60-day cookie; weekly PayPal payout; no minimum threshold; free to join | Up to $125 per referral or lifetime 7% recurring; 90-day cookie |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | $0.00 | — |
| Account Suspension Policy | Exceeding inode limits causes suspension; TOS violations lead to termination; abuse investigated promptly | Account suspended for TOS violations; servers still billed until deleted; fraud prevention enforcement active |
| 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 | WordPress users needing premium managed hosting; Users prioritizing excellent 24/7 support (phone/chat/ticket); Performance-focused sites (Google Cloud infrastructure); Developers needing staging/Git/SSH; International users (10 data center locations); Users wanting 30-day backup retention; Security-conscious users (AI anti-bot, WAF) | 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 | Budget-conscious at renewal (6x markup); Need free domain included; Want traditional VPS hosting; Prefer cPanel over proprietary panels; Need cheap entry-level hosting; Sensitive to strict inode limits | 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 | Renewal prices 6x higher than promo ($2.99 → $17.99); No free domain included (most competitors include one); Strict inode limits can suspend accounts; Cloud hosting only 14-day refund; Monthly plans excluded from money-back guarantee; No traditional VPS offering; On-demand backups require GrowBig+; $35 fee for additional migrations; Entry-level StartUp plan limited (no staging, no on-demand backups) | 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 | Premium WordPress hosting on Google Cloud with industry-leading 24/7 support | Managed cloud hosting across 5 providers (AWS, GCP, DO, Vultr, Linode) with pay-as-you-go flexibility |
| Ideal Customer | WordPress site owner who prioritizes performance and support over price | Developer or agency wanting managed cloud power without server administration complexity |
| Best Alternative To | Bluehost | WP Engine |
| Primary Competitors | Bluehost, Hostinger, Cloudways | 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 SiteGround if you...
- Require 24/7 live chat support
- Are new to web hosting
- Want a free domain included
Choose Cloudways if you...
- Prefer more predictable renewal pricing
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.2/5)
- Want to run Node.js applications
- Need enterprise-grade features
- Want more server locations (65 available)
SiteGround vs Cloudways: Frequently Asked Questions
Does SiteGround or Cloudways have better uptime?
Cloudways edges out SiteGround 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, SiteGround or Cloudways?
SiteGround has the edge on support offering 24/7 live chat, phone support and ticket support.
Is SiteGround or Cloudways better for beginners?
SiteGround 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 SiteGround or Cloudways?
SiteGround and Cloudways 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.