SiteGround is a traditional shared/managed hosting provider with excellent support and easy WordPress setup, while Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform offering more scalability and performance at a lower entry price. SiteGround suits beginners needing handholding; Cloudways suits developers wanting cloud infrastructure without complexity.
SiteGround vs Cloudways — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Budget-friendly shared and cloud hosting supporting all major CMS platforms with excellent customer support.
Managed cloud hosting platform providing simplified access to multiple cloud providers.
Hosting Type. Starting Price (Monthly). Renewal Price. Server Response Time. Uptime Guarantee. Free SSL Certificates. Customer Support Availability
Choose SiteGround if you're a beginner or small business needing WordPress hosting with exceptional phone support, automatic backups, and simplicity out-of-the-box. Choose Cloudways if you're a developer or growing site needing better performance, auto-scaling capabilities, and more control over your infrastructure without managing servers directly.
SiteGround: $2.99-$4.99 | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Google Cloud (Premium) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: SiteGround Optimizer (Proprietary) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Optimized for WooCommerce workloads | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Yes (Official List) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Restrictive limits enforced | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Paid migration service | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Advanced staging included | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: On-demand daily backups | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Expert WordPress-specific support | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: ~8.76 hours | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: 4 locations | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Not included | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Not available | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: $2.99 | Cloudways: $10.00 (DigitalOcean Basic)
SiteGround: 6 locations | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: 850ms | Cloudways: 1.2-1.5 sec
SiteGround: Yes (all plans) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Yes, automatic | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: 10 GB SSD | Cloudways: 25 GB SSD
SiteGround: Unmetered | Cloudways: 1000 GB
SiteGround: Yes - Included | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Yes - Cloudflare | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: 30 days | Cloudways: 30 days
SiteGround: 5 minutes (chat) | Cloudways: N/A
Starting Price (Monthly, Annual Commitment)
SiteGround: $2.99/month | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: $2.99 (first 3 months, then $7.99) | Cloudways: $10.00
SiteGround: $95.88 (plan dependent) | Cloudways: $120.00 (at $10/month average)
SiteGround: ~50,000 | Cloudways: Unlimited (depends on droplet size)
SiteGround: Premium plans only | Cloudways: Manual backups only (paid add-on)
SiteGround: 1-2 hours | Cloudways: 24-30 hours
SiteGround: No, requires manual plan upgrade | Cloudways: Yes, instant auto-scaling available
SiteGround: 1 (proprietary only) | Cloudways: 5 (AWS, DigitalOcean, Google Cloud, Vultr, Linode)
SiteGround: Cloudflare (paid add-on) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: WordPress, Drupal, Magento, Joomla, custom apps | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Under 2 minutes (24/7 chat) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Up to 300% increase after year 1 | Cloudways: N/A
Starting Monthly Price (WordPress Starter)
SiteGround: $8.95/month | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: 4.7/5 (12,400 reviews) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: 30 days (Standard plans) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Yes, all plans | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Yes (annual plans) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: 4 types (Shared, Reseller, Cloud, WordPress) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Yes (live chat, phone, email) | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Standard (basic caching) | Cloudways: N/A
Starting Shared Hosting Price (First Year)
SiteGround: 4 continents | Cloudways: N/A
SiteGround: Yes, daily (all plans) | Cloudways: Yes, weekly (managed)
SiteGround: Manual plan upgrade required | Cloudways: Yes, automatic
SiteGround: 100,000-500,000 (plan dependent) | Cloudways: Unlimited (scales)
SiteGround: N/A | Cloudways: 1 GB dedicated
SiteGround: N/A | Cloudways: Yes, on all plans
SiteGround: N/A | Cloudways: Advanced (requires technical knowledge)
How to choose between SiteGround and Cloudways
SiteGround vs Cloudways — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for SiteGround vs Cloudways. Contains 92 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
SiteGround vs Cloudways — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for SiteGround vs Cloudways.
SiteGround's promotional pricing is cheaper upfront ($2.99/month), but Cloudways ($11/month) often becomes comparable or cheaper at renewal since SiteGround's renewal rates jump to $7.99-$14.99/month. Over 2 years, costs are similar, but Cloudways offers better performance at the baseline price.
Can I move my website from SiteGround to Cloudways?
Yes, both platforms offer migration tools. SiteGround provides free migration assistance via their support team, while Cloudways includes a free migration service via their tools. Plan the migration carefully to minimize downtime; most moves take 2-4 hours.
SiteGround has a slight edge for pure WordPress simplicity with 1-click installation and automatic WordPress optimization. Cloudways also supports WordPress excellently and adds better performance for high-traffic sites. For beginners: SiteGround. For growing blogs/businesses: Cloudways.
Is Cloudways' lack of phone support a deal-breaker?
It depends on your technical comfort. SiteGround's phone support is exceptional for troubleshooting, but Cloudways' chat support responds within minutes and solves most issues quickly. Many developers prefer self-service; most beginners prefer SiteGround's phone option.
Both offer SSL, firewalls, and malware scanning. Cloudways' infrastructure is inherently more isolated (dedicated instances on cloud platforms), while SiteGround uses shared infrastructure with advanced isolation. For maximum security: Cloudways has an edge; for convenience: SiteGround provides security without configuration.
How to Choose Between SiteGround and Cloudways
Hosting Type: SiteGround has Shared, Managed WordPress, Dedicated, while Cloudways has Managed Cloud (DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS, Vultr).
Starting Price (Monthly): SiteGround has $2.99/mo (first term), while Cloudways has $11/mo.
Renewal Price: SiteGround has $7.99-14.99/mo, while Cloudways has $11-80/mo (scales with resources).
Server Response Time: SiteGround has 450-550ms average, while Cloudways has 150-250ms average.
Uptime Guarantee: SiteGround has 99.9%, while Cloudways has 99.99%.
Free SSL Certificates: SiteGround has Yes (all plans), while Cloudways has Yes (all plans).
Customer Support Availability: SiteGround has 24/7 via chat, phone, ticket, while Cloudways has 24/7 via chat and ticket.