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

# SiteGround vs Cloudways

SiteGround and Cloudways compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. SiteGround 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

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

[SiteGround](https://hostidea.com/reviews/siteground)Wins overall

Managed-feel shared hosting on Google Cloud with daily backups and staging; the renewals are the price

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

[Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways)

DigitalOcean's managed cloud layer: servers from $11 a month on five clouds, billed hourly, staging and caching included

SiteGround wins 3 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (8.0 vs 7.8).

## How do the scores compare?

SiteGround leads on 3 sub-scores, Cloudways on 1. Higher is better.

|     | [SiteGround](https://hostidea.com/reviews/siteground) | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Performance | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Uptime | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| Support | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| Features | 8.5 | 8.0 |
| Value | 6.5 | 7.0 |
| Ease of use | 8.0 | 7.0 |

## Which one is faster and more reliable?

|     | [SiteGround](https://hostidea.com/reviews/siteground) | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Overall score | 8.0 | 7.8 |
| Uptime (published)HostingStep 243 d vs Kripesh Adwani 365 d; methods differ | 99.97% | 99.99% |
| Response time (published)HostingStep vs HostingStep; methods differ | 745 ms | 442 ms |

## Which one costs less?

On renewal, Cloudways is cheaper ($14.00/mo vs $17.99/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.

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

|     | [SiteGround](https://hostidea.com/reviews/siteground) | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cheapest plan | StartUp | DigitalOcean Premium Micro |
| Intro price | $2.99/mo | $14.00/mo |
| Renewal price | $17.99/mo | $14.00/mo |
| Required term | 12 months | 1 months |
| Websites | 1   | unlimited |
| Storage | 10 GB | 25 GB |
| Money back | 30 days | 0 days |

## What does each include?

|     | [SiteGround](https://hostidea.com/reviews/siteground) | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free domain | First year only; regular renewal fee after that | No  |
| Free SSL | Yes | Let's Encrypt certificates on every application |
| Daily backups | Kept for 30 days; on-demand backups on GrowBig and GoGeek | Not stated |
| CDN | SiteGround CDN on Google Cloud, 170+ edge locations | Not stated |
| Email hosting | Unlimited accounts with webmail and spam protection | Not stated |
| Staging | GrowBig and GoGeek; GoGeek adds Git | Advanced staging and cloning on every plan |
| Free migration | Automatic WordPress migrator on every plan; expert transfer by staff | Free migration of existing sites |
| Caching | Multilevel caching with the Speed Optimizer plugin | Lightning Stack (NGINX), Object Cache Pro and Redis included on every plan |
| WP-CLI and SSH | Yes | Not stated |
| Fair-use limits | CPU seconds per hour 1,000 / 2,000 / 4,000; inodes 200k / 400k / 600k; 768 MB RAM per process; databases up to 1 GB | Not stated |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9% per month; 5% of that month's fee as a service-extension credit | No  |
| Choice of data center | 11 locations on Google Cloud, chosen at signup | Not stated |
| Phone support | No  | No  |
| Windows hosting | No  | No  |
| Backups | Not stated | On-demand and scheduled server backups with one-click restore; offsite storage billed at $0.033 per GB per server |
| Free CDN | Not stated | No  |
| Email | Not stated | No  |
| Resource limits | Not stated | 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 |
| Data center choice | Not stated | The provider's regions, chosen per server: DigitalOcean 9, Vultr 30, Linode 25, AWS 28, Google Cloud 28 |
| Security | Not stated | Built-in firewall with IP blocking, WordPress vulnerability scanner, bot protection and dedicated firewalls per the pricing page |
| Free trial | Not stated | 3 days without a credit card |

## Company facts

|     | [SiteGround](https://hostidea.com/reviews/siteground) | [Cloudways](https://hostidea.com/reviews/cloudways) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Control panel | Site Tools (SiteGround's own panel) | Cloudways platform (its own console); no cPanel |
| Data centers | 11  | 1   |
| Support channels | chat, ticket, knowledge-base | chat, ticket, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 2004 | 2011 |

Visit SiteGround (affiliate link: /go/siteground)Visit Cloudways (affiliate link: /go/cloudways)