Cloudways vs SiteGround
A head-to-head comparison for 2026 — pricing, features, strengths, and which one is better for different use cases.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Cloudways | SiteGround |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $14/mo | $3.99/mo |
| Hosting Type | Managed Cloud | Shared / Cloud |
| Free Domain | No | No |
| Free SSL | Yes | Yes |
| Storage | 25 GB+ (scalable) | 10 GB SSD |
| Bandwidth | 1 TB+ (scalable) | Unlimited |
| Control Panel | Custom dashboard | Site Tools (custom) |
| Support | 24/7 live chat + tickets | 24/7 phone, chat, tickets |
| Money-Back | 3-day free trial | 30 days |
| Best For | Growing sites & e-commerce | Best support in hosting |
Cloudways — Overview
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that lets you choose your infrastructure provider — DigitalOcean, AWS, or Google Cloud — while handling all the server management. Starting at $14/mo, it includes staging environments, auto-healing servers, a built-in CDN, and free SSL. Ideal for growing sites that need real cloud performance without DevOps expertise.
SiteGround — Overview
SiteGround combines affordable shared hosting (starting at $3.99/mo) with the industry's best customer support. Features include free SSL, daily backups, a WordPress staging tool, SuperCacher for speed, and free email hosting. Founded in 2004, it hosts over 1 million domains and is officially recommended by WordPress.org.
Key Differences
Cloudways is cloud hosting; SiteGround is shared hosting — they serve different scales. SiteGround is great for small-to-medium sites with excellent support. Cloudways delivers better performance, true scalability, and staging environments for growing sites. If you're outgrowing shared hosting, Cloudways is the natural next step.
The Verdict
Choose Cloudways when you've outgrown shared hosting and need cloud performance. Choose SiteGround if shared hosting still meets your needs and great support matters most.