Cloudways vs SiteGround
We give Cloudways a 2.0 GPA and SiteGround a 1.8, out of 4.0. Cloudways grades higher on the free plan and platforms. SiteGround grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Cloudways
Managed cloud hosting on DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google
SiteGround
Shared and WordPress hosting on Google Cloud with its own Site Tools
How we grade them
| 2.0GPACloudwaysFair | 1.8GPASiteGroundWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price on record: Cloudways' pages answered our readers with a bot check, so no two-year figure can be worked out. With nothing to compare, it sits at C, the grade for no stated price. Email, the CDN and malware protection are extra on top. | CStartUp's first year is $2.99 a month, then it renews at $17.99, so two years cost $251.76, about $10.49 a month. That's past the cheaper quarter of hosts and the dearest of the shared hosts we could price. A 24-month term at $14.99 a month costs more. |
| Free plan and trial | DA 3-day free trial with no credit card, which is nice. But three days is less than a week, too short to judge a host properly, so it lands at D. | FNo free plan and no trial. New shared hosting orders get a 30-day money-back guarantee, which isn't a trial. |
| Features | CManaged servers on DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google Cloud, with SSL, backups, staging, Object Cache Pro, Copilot and free migration. The gaps the listing names: email, the CDN and the malware protection service are paid add-ons. | BEvery plan keeps daily backups, a CDN, SSL that renews itself, daily malware scans with free removal and unlimited email accounts. Staging and on-demand backups wait for GrowBig, but nothing in the core job is missing on StartUp. |
| Ease of use | CNo app store rating to go on. You choose and size the server yourself, which is more decisions than a shared hosting plan asks of you. | CNo app store rating to go on. Each site gets its own Site Tools panel, which is tidy, but there's still a domain, email and a site to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web console with no app on record, plus a published API and a choice of five cloud providers, with WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento and Laravel apps on top. | CA web panel only, with WordPress and WooCommerce as the named integrations. There's SSH and WP-CLI for developers, but no API is on record. |
| Best for | managed cloud servers without running them yourself | WordPress sites that want daily backups built in |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Cloudways and SiteGround. How we grade
Where they differ
- SiteGround also covers managed WordPress.
At a glance
| Cloudways | SiteGround | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | Not published | $14.99 per month prepaid for 24 months; 12 months is $2.99 a month in year one |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 3-day free trial, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Cloudways, LLC | SiteGround |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | siteground.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Cloudways
- Sites that have outgrown shared hosting but do not want to run a server
- Agencies hosting many client apps on servers they control
- Developers running Laravel or other PHP apps alongside WordPress
SiteGround
- WordPress sites that want daily backups and staging without plugins
- Agencies handing clients white-label access on GoGeek
- Small businesses that want email at their domain on the hosting plan
Worth knowing
Cloudways
- Cloudways' pages answered our readers with a bot check, so its server prices could not be read and are not listed here.
- Email hosting, the Cloudflare CDN and the malware protection service are paid add-ons rather than part of the server price.
- You choose and size the server yourself, which takes more decisions than a shared hosting plan.
SiteGround
- The $2.99 a month is for the first year of a 12-month StartUp term only; it then renews at $17.99 a month, and GrowBig and GoGeek at $29.99 and $44.99.
- StartUp hosts one website and suits around 10,000 visits a month; more sites need GrowBig.
- Staging, on-demand backups and faster PHP start on GrowBig, and white-label access and priority support need GoGeek.
- The 30-day money-back guarantee covers new shared hosting orders; renewals are refunded only under conditions in SiteGround's refund policy.
Key features
Cloudways
- Choice of cloud provider
- Servers run on DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud, and you pick the provider, size and location, then scale up later.
- Managed server essentials
- Cloudways sets up and maintains the server with free SSL, backups, one-click staging and Object Cache Pro, and moves an existing site over for free.
- Copilot AI monitoring
- Cloudways Copilot watches the server's critical components and uses AI to diagnose issues and suggest fixes.
- Security and malware scanning
- Servers get malware scanning and vulnerability alerts, with a fuller malware protection service and a Cloudflare CDN sold as add-ons.
- Cloudways API
- Cloudways publishes an API, linked from every page, for working with the platform from your own scripts and tools.
SiteGround
- Site Tools panel
- Each site gets its own Site Tools panel for WordPress, email, domains and backups, so access to one site can be shared without exposing the others.
- Daily backups, CDN and SSL
- Every plan keeps daily backups and includes a CDN and SSL certificates that renew by themselves. GrowBig and GoGeek add on-demand backups.
- Malware scans and bot blocking
- Sites are scanned for malware every day with free removal, and an AI anti-bot system and custom firewall rules block attack traffic.
- WordPress services
- Free site migrations, managed automatic updates, WP-CLI and SSH, and an AI agent for WordPress. Staging starts on GrowBig, with Git on GoGeek.
- Unlimited email accounts
- Every hosting plan includes email at your own domain with no cap on accounts, plus webmail and spam protection.
- Website Builder with AI
- A drag-and-drop builder with templates, AI text and image generation and built-in SEO is included alongside WordPress.
Plans
Cloudways
Pricing could not be confirmed. See cloudways.com.
SiteGround
StartUp, 1 month$24.99
per month
One website, 10 GB storage and around 10,000 visits a month, paid month to month at the regular rate.
StartUp, 12 months$17.99
per month at renewal, prepaid yearly, after a first year at $2.99
One website and 10 GB storage. The first 12 months cost $2.99 a month, prepaid, then the plan renews at $17.99 a month.
StartUp, 24 months$14.99
per month, prepaid every 24 months
One website and 10 GB storage at the lowest regular monthly rate. The sales page shows its first-term discount only on 12-month terms.
GrowBig, 24 months$24.99
per month, prepaid every 24 months
Unlimited websites, 50 GB, staging and on-demand backups. On a 12-month term it is $4.99 a month for the first year, then $29.99.
GoGeek, 24 months$39.99
per month, prepaid every 24 months
100 GB, staging with Git, white-label access and priority support. On a 12-month term it is $7.99 a month for the first year, then $44.99.
Ways to pay less
Cloudways
No public discounts listed.
SiteGround
- Other savings
First year of StartUp for $2.99 a month
On a 12-month term the first invoice is $2.99 a month for StartUp, $4.99 for GrowBig and $7.99 for GoGeek, prepaid. Renewals are $17.99, $29.99 and $44.99 a month.
