--- title: "Cloudways vs DreamHost: which is better in 2026?" url: "https://hostidea.com/compare/cloudways-vs-dreamhost" canonical: "https://hostidea.com/compare/cloudways-vs-dreamhost" author: "Jennifer T." generated: "2026-10-15" note: "Markdown twin generated at build time from the same content as the HTML page. The HTML page is canonical." --- # Cloudways vs DreamHost Cloudways and DreamHost compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. Cloudways scores higher overall. By [Jennifer T.](https://hostidea.com/authors/jennifer-t) ยท Updated Oct 14, 2026 We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. Rankings come from the published methodology and sourced data, not from commissions. [Disclosure](https://hostidea.com/disclosure). ## Verdict [7.8 out of 10](https://hostidea.com/methodology#scoring) [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways)Wins overall DigitalOcean's managed cloud layer: servers from $11 a month on five clouds, billed hourly, staging and caching included [7.6 out of 10](https://hostidea.com/methodology#scoring) [DreamHost](https://hostidea.com/reviews/dreamhost) Independent since 1997: three shared plans with renewals printed on the card, daily backups and a 100% uptime credit Cloudways wins 4 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (7.8 vs 7.6). ## How do the scores compare? Cloudways leads on 4 sub-scores, DreamHost on 1. Higher is better. | | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) | [DreamHost](https://hostidea.com/reviews/dreamhost) | | --- | --- | --- | | Performance | 8.0 | 7.5 | | Uptime | 8.5 | 8.0 | | Support | 7.5 | 7.0 | | Features | 8.0 | 7.5 | | Value | 7.0 | 8.0 | | Ease of use | 7.0 | 7.0 | ## Which one is faster and more reliable? | | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) | [DreamHost](https://hostidea.com/reviews/dreamhost) | | --- | --- | --- | | Overall score | 7.8 | 7.6 | | Uptime (published)Kripesh Adwani 365 d vs WPBeginner 30 d; methods differ | 99.99% | 100.00% | | Response time (published)HostingStep vs WPBeginner; methods differ | 442 ms | 658 ms | ## Which one costs less? On renewal, DreamHost is cheaper ($10.99/mo vs $14.00/mo). Intro prices need the listed term. Prices verified Oct 14, 2026 (Cloudways) and Oct 14, 2026 (DreamHost). USD. | | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) | [DreamHost](https://hostidea.com/reviews/dreamhost) | | --- | --- | --- | | Cheapest plan | DigitalOcean Premium Micro | Web Hosting Launch | | Intro price | $14.00/mo | $2.89/mo | | Renewal price | $14.00/mo | $10.99/mo | | Required term | 1 months | 12 months | | Websites | unlimited | 25 | | Storage | 25 GB | 25 GB | | Money back | 0 days | 30 days | ## What does each include? | | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) | [DreamHost](https://hostidea.com/reviews/dreamhost) | | --- | --- | --- | | Free domain | No | First year, on annual and multi-year terms only | | Free SSL | Let's Encrypt certificates on every application | Unlimited certificates on every plan | | Backups | On-demand and scheduled server backups with one-click restore; offsite storage billed at $0.033 per GB per server | Daily automated backups on every plan, restored from the panel | | Free migration | Free migration of existing sites | The product page links a migration path for existing sites; terms not read | | Free CDN | No | No | | Caching | Lightning Stack (NGINX), Object Cache Pro and Redis included on every plan | No | | Staging | Advanced staging and cloning on every plan | No | | Email | No | 20, 40 or 60 mailboxes free for the first three months, then billed separately | | Resource limits | A whole server per customer: 1 to 8 GB RAM and 1 to 4 vCPU on the listed sizes, larger sizes and other providers available | No | | Data center choice | The provider's regions, chosen per server: DigitalOcean 9, Vultr 30, Linode 25, AWS 28, Google Cloud 28 | Oregon, Virginia, Amsterdam and Singapore per the product page and help center; the panel shows where each service lives | | Uptime guarantee | No | 100% in the terms, with a credit of one day of hosting per hour of qualifying downtime, up to 10% of the next renewal, counted from the support ticket | | Security | Built-in firewall with IP blocking, WordPress vulnerability scanner, bot protection and dedicated firewalls per the pricing page | Not stated | | Free trial | 3 days without a credit card | Not stated | | Phone support | No | No | | Windows hosting | No | No | | Performance scans | Not stated | Automated and on-demand performance scans on every plan | ## Company facts | | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) | [DreamHost](https://hostidea.com/reviews/dreamhost) | | --- | --- | --- | | Control panel | Cloudways platform (its own console); no cPanel | DreamHost's own panel (no cPanel) | | Data centers | 1 | 4 | | Support channels | chat, ticket, knowledge-base | chat, ticket, email, knowledge-base | | Founded | 2011 | 1997 | Visit Cloudways (affiliate link: /go/cloudways)Visit DreamHost (affiliate link: /go/dreamhost)