Alternatives · Web Hosting
Liquid Web alternatives
Liquid Web compared with 4 alternatives: Nexcess, WP Engine, Cloudways and ScalaHosting.
Liquid Web is a paid product, starting at $17 per month (self-managed VPS); managed WordPress $17.10 a month, billed annually. None of the alternatives has a free plan. One more offers a free trial.
4 tools · Listings checked up to Oct 17, 2026 · Where the facts come from
At a glance
| Tool | Price | Free plan | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid WebThis tool | From $17/mo | No | Web |
| Nexcess | Paid | No | Web |
| WP Engine | From $35/mo | No | Web |
| Cloudways | Free trial | Trial only | Web |
| ScalaHosting | From $11.95/mo | No | Web |
Price against what you get
Liquid Web starts at $17 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. None of the 2 alternatives on this chart both scores higher and starts lower.
ScalaHosting starts lower without scoring higher.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
How each one differs from Liquid Web
- Paid
Nexcess
Managed cloud hosting for WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento and VPS
Suits: Stores that need PCI-ready hosting for WooCommerce or Magento
- From $35/mo
WP Engine
Managed WordPress hosting sized by sites and monthly visits
- WP Engine starts at $35 per month for 1 site, billed monthly; $336 for a first year billed yearly. Liquid Web starts at $17 per month (self-managed VPS); managed WordPress $17.10 a month, billed annually.
- Liquid Web also covers malware protection.
Suits: Businesses that want WordPress kept updated and backed up for them
- Free trial
Cloudways
Managed cloud hosting on DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google
- Liquid Web also covers managed WordPress.
Suits: Sites that have outgrown shared hosting but do not want to run a server
- From $11.95/mo
ScalaHosting
Shared and cloud VPS hosting with its own SPanel control panel
- ScalaHosting starts at $11.95 per month (Mini), or $2.95 a month for a first term of 12 or 36 months. Liquid Web starts at $17 per month (self-managed VPS); managed WordPress $17.10 a month, billed annually.
Suits: Small business sites that want hosting and email on one plan
Limits worth knowing in Liquid Web
- Dedicated servers, Magento hosting and white-label plans for agencies are sold separately from the plans listed here.
- WordPress prices rise with traffic: one Pro site with up to 400,000 visits is $71.10 a month, billed annually.
- The $17 VPS is self-managed; the same server fully managed costs $72 a month.
- Autoscaling and CDN overage are billed by use, and Performance Shield is an optional add-on; the plan page does not give their prices.
Common questions
What are the alternatives to Liquid Web?
The alternatives to Liquid Web in this directory are Nexcess, WP Engine, Cloudways and ScalaHosting. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Liquid Web.
Is there a free alternative to Liquid Web?
None of the alternatives listed here has a free plan. Cloudways offers a free trial.
When were these prices checked?
Every listing on this page was checked on Oct 17, 2026, against the pages it cites. Vendors change prices without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy.