Ploi vs RunCloud (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Ploi grades higher than RunCloud: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Ploi grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Ploi
Server and site management panel for PHP and Laravel apps
RunCloud
Web server control panel for PHP sites on your own cloud servers
Which one is for you
Pick Ploi if
- Fits if you run Laravel or PHP apps on your own servers
- Works for freelancers who need one free server and site
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 1 server, 1 site and 5 deployments a month
- Watch out: servers are billed separately
- Not for you if you need 24/7 support, as the FAQ says there isn't any
- Watch out: euro prices are converted to dollars at a rate that can move
Pick RunCloud if
- Fits if you rent your own servers for PHP and WordPress sites
- Works for small setups that need one server on the cheapest plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there's only a 7-day trial
- Watch out: servers are billed by your cloud provider
- Tight if you need more than one server: Professional starts at 50
- Watch out: the API, zero-downtime deploys and WAF are Business and above
- Watch out: only monthly prices could be read
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAPloiFair | 2.0GPARunCloudFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CBasic is $10 a month for 5 servers, Pro $16 and Unlimited $36, with server costs paid to your provider. Prices are set in euros and converted. | C$9 a month for 1 server on Essentials, $19 for 50 servers, $49 for Business, near the category middle of $11. Server rental is extra. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree for 1 server, 1 site and 5 deployments a month, plus a 5-day Pro trial with no card. 5 deployments is a cap you'll hit. | DA 7-day free trial, and the page read doesn't say whether it needs a card. No free plan. |
| Features | CProvisioning, Laravel-aware sites, queues, cron jobs, load balancing, an API and an MCP server. It does the server-panel job fully, but that's a smaller job than hosting. | CUnlimited apps, caching, backups, staging, Git deploys and a firewall. A smaller job than hosting, and the API, zero-downtime deploys and WAF need Business. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You connect a provider and set up servers and sites. | CNo store rating on record. You connect a cloud provider and set up servers. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with a mobile app listed, plus DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr and AWS EC2. | BWeb only, with Vultr, Linode, Hetzner, AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean and Cloudflare. |
| Best for | managing PHP and Laravel servers | managing PHP and WordPress servers |
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: Ploi and RunCloud. How we grade
Price against what you get
Ploi starts at $10 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. RunCloud starts at $9 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and RunCloud starts $1 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 3 score higher than Ploi for less, and 2 score higher than RunCloud for less.
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
Where they differ
- RunCloud also covers page speed.
At a glance
| Ploi | RunCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $10 per month (Basic, up to 5 servers) | $9 per month (Essentials, billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 1 server, 1 site and 5 deployments per month. | None |
| Free trial | 5-day trial of the Pro plan, no credit card required; it then drops to the free plan. | 7-day free trial. |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Ploi | RunCloud |
| Price read from | ploi.io | runcloud.io |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Ploi
- Ploi does not include server fees; you pay your server provider separately.
- The pricing page prices in euros and shows dollar figures converted at an exchange rate that can vary.
- There is no 24/7 support, according to the pricing page FAQ.
- Team management, backups, monitoring and other features are listed by plan in a comparison table; the free plan stops at 1 server and 5 deployments a month.
RunCloud
- Servers are paid separately to your cloud provider.
- Essentials covers a single server; Professional starts at 50 servers.
- The RunCloud API, zero-downtime deployments and the web application firewall are limited to Business and above.
- The pricing page has a Monthly and an Annually toggle; only monthly figures could be read. It states a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Key features
Ploi
- Server installation
- Servers are provisioned with NGINX, PHP and Redis/Valkey by default, on providers including DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr and AWS EC2.
- Laravel-aware site management
- The panel detects Laravel apps, and also lists WordPress support, deployments, queues, cron jobs and multiple PHP versions.
- Load balancing and status pages
- Traffic can be spread over several servers, and custom status pages keep customers informed.
- Teams and access
- Servers can be shared with co-workers, and the pricing table lists team management, domain aliases and tenants.
- API and MCP server
- An API and an MCP server let AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor manage servers.
- Mobile app
- The features menu lists an app for managing sites and servers on the go.
RunCloud
- Server and app management
- Plans list unlimited web applications, domain management and one-click SSL certificates, with server counts from 1 to 500.
- Caching
- Server-side caching with NGINX FastCGI and Redis full-page and object cache is listed on every plan.
- Backups
- Full and incremental backups come with 2 to 100 GB of free storage by plan, with external backups to providers that widen on higher plans.
- Staging and Git deployment
- Essentials has 1 staging environment, Professional has 10 and Business is unlimited; Git deployment is on all plans.
- Security
- A 6G, 7G and 8G firewall starts on Professional, and Business adds ModSecurity with the OWASP Core Rule Set.
- Team and API
- Business adds roles, 10 team seats and the RunCloud API, at 120 requests a minute and 10,000 a month on monthly billing.
Plans
Ploi
Free$0
Up to 1 server and 1 site, with 5 deployments a month.
Basic$10
per month, billed monthly
Up to 5 servers, unlimited sites and deployments, and 60 API requests a minute.
Pro$16
per month, billed monthly
Up to 10 servers, unlimited sites and deployments, and 120 API requests a minute.
Unlimited$36
per month, billed monthly
Unlimited servers and sites, and 240 API requests a minute.
RunCloud
Essentials$9
per month, billed monthly
1 server, unlimited web applications, 2 GB of backup storage, Git deployment, server-side caching and 1 staging environment.
Professional$19
per month, billed monthly
50 servers, 10 GB of backup storage, 10 staging environments, application cloning, custom NGINX configuration and 6G, 7G and 8G firewall.
Business$49
per month, billed monthly
100 servers, 30 GB of backup storage, 10 team seats, zero-downtime deployments, the RunCloud API and a WAF with the OWASP core rule set.
Enterprise$399
per month, billed monthly
500 servers, 100 GB of backup storage, up to 5 workspaces, 50 team seats and a higher API rate limit.
Ways to pay less
Ploi
- Annual discount
10% off with yearly billing
The pricing page says yearly pricing saves 10%: Basic is $108 a year, Pro $172.80 and Unlimited $388.80 in dollars as displayed.
- Education
Student discount
The FAQ says Ploi offers student discounts and points to a requirements page.
RunCloud
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Ploi or RunCloud?
As of Nov 12, 2026, RunCloud is cheaper to start with: $9 a month, against $10 a month for Ploi. Ploi starts at $10 per month (Basic, up to 5 servers), and RunCloud starts at $9 per month (Essentials, billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Ploi or RunCloud?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Ploi has a free plan. RunCloud does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.