---
title: "Cloudways vs HostPapa: which is better in 2026?"
url: "https://hostidea.com/compare/cloudways-vs-hostpapa"
canonical: "https://hostidea.com/compare/cloudways-vs-hostpapa"
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 HostPapa

Cloudways and HostPapa 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) · 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

[7.3 out of 10](https://hostidea.com/methodology#scoring)

[HostPapa](https://hostidea.com/reviews/hostpapa)

Canadian cPanel host with phone support in 16 countries and five data centers; backups cost extra after year one

Cloudways wins 3 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (7.8 vs 7.3).

## How do the scores compare?

Cloudways leads on 3 sub-scores, HostPapa on 2. Higher is better.

|     | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) | [HostPapa](https://hostidea.com/reviews/hostpapa) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Performance | 8.0 | 7.0 |
| Uptime | 8.5 | 7.0 |
| Support | 7.5 | 8.0 |
| Features | 8.0 | 7.0 |
| Value | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Ease of use | 7.0 | 8.0 |

## Which one is faster and more reliable?

|     | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) | [HostPapa](https://hostidea.com/reviews/hostpapa) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Overall score | 7.8 | 7.3 |
| Uptime (published)Kripesh Adwani 365 d vs WP Hive 30 d; methods differ | 99.99% | 99.94% |
| Response time (published)HostingStep vs Bitcatcha; methods differ | 442 ms | 130 ms |

## Which one costs less?

On renewal, HostPapa is cheaper ($8.99/mo vs $14.00/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.

Prices verified Oct 14, 2026 (Cloudways) and Oct 13, 2026 (HostPapa). USD.

|     | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) | [HostPapa](https://hostidea.com/reviews/hostpapa) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cheapest plan | DigitalOcean Premium Micro | Essentials |
| Intro price | $14.00/mo | $2.95/mo |
| Renewal price | $14.00/mo | $8.99/mo |
| Required term | 1 months | 36 months |
| Websites | unlimited | 1   |
| Storage | 25 GB | 25 GB |
| Money back | 0 days | 30 days |

## What does each include?

|     | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) | [HostPapa](https://hostidea.com/reviews/hostpapa) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free domain | No  | First year, on terms of one year or longer, select extensions; a non-refundable domain fee applies if you cancel in the first term |
| Free SSL | Let's Encrypt certificates on every application | Standard certificate |
| Backups | On-demand and scheduled server backups with one-click restore; offsite storage billed at $0.033 per GB per server | Not stated |
| Free migration | Free migration of existing sites | Yes |
| Free CDN | No  | Not stated |
| Caching | Lightning Stack (NGINX), Object Cache Pro and Redis included on every plan | Not stated |
| Staging | Advanced staging and cloning on every plan | On every plan |
| Email | No  | Not stated |
| 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 | Not stated |
| Data center choice | The provider's regions, chosen per server: DigitalOcean 9, Vultr 30, Linode 25, AWS 28, Google Cloud 28 | Not stated |
| Uptime guarantee | No  | 99.9% measured monthly, excluding scheduled maintenance, as a reasonable-efforts commitment; no credit schedule in the terms |
| Security | Built-in firewall with IP blocking, WordPress vulnerability scanner, bot protection and dedicated firewalls per the pricing page | Imunify360 basic on Essentials; Protection Power plus Imunify360 on Growth and above, free for the full term |
| Free trial | 3 days without a credit card | Not stated |
| Phone support | No  | 24/7, local numbers in 16 countries |
| Windows hosting | No  | No  |
| Automated backups | Not stated | 1 GB on Essentials and 5 GB on Growth free for the first year; a paid add-on afterwards |
| CDN | Not stated | Yes |
| Server resources | Not stated | Relative tiers 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x; cores, inodes and database size not published on the plan cards |
| Choice of data center | Not stated | Toronto, Buffalo, Miami, Los Angeles or Amsterdam, per the data centers page |

## Company facts

|     | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) | [HostPapa](https://hostidea.com/reviews/hostpapa) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Control panel | Cloudways platform (its own console); no cPanel | cPanel on CloudLinux |
| Data centers | 1   | 5   |
| Support channels | chat, ticket, knowledge-base | chat, ticket, phone, email, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 2011 | 2006 |

Visit Cloudways (affiliate link: /go/cloudways)Visit HostPapa (affiliate link: /go/hostpapa)