VETTED SAAS
Head to head · Web Hosting

SiteGround vs Cloudways

SiteGround and Cloudways take different routes to managed hosting. SiteGround runs a traditional managed platform with hands on support and built in email; Cloudways layers managed hosting on top of cloud servers like DigitalOcean, trading some hand holding for more performance and control as you scale. We score both and lay out who each one fits.

Reviewed by M. HALLORAN·Updated JUNE 2026·How we vet
★ Our pick
Cloudways
87 /100
vs
Challenger
SiteGround
86 /100
◂ Cloudways Advantage SiteGround ▸
An edge to Cloudways on cloud performance and scalability · SiteGround wins on ease and hands on support.

These are affiliate links marked rel=“sponsored”. We may earn a commission if you buy · it never affects our scores or who wins. Disclosure.

How they score

Criteria Cloudways SiteGround Winner
Ease of use
82
88
SiteGround
Performance and speed
90
88
Cloudways
Support
85
90
SiteGround
Value for money
86
80
Cloudways
Scalability and control
90
80
Cloudways
Uptime and reliability
90
89
Cloudways

Scores are our editorial assessment against the VettedSaaS rubric · not vendor supplied.

Choose Cloudways if…
+You want cloud performance you can scale on demand
+You are comfortable choosing a server size and provider
+You run growing or traffic heavy sites and stores
+You want pay as you go pricing with no big renewal jump
Choose SiteGround if…
+You want a simpler, more guided managed host
+Hands on support and built in email matter to you
+You prefer a fixed plan over managing a cloud server
+You run small to midsize sites and want easy staging

Feature by feature

✓ full  ·  ∼ partial  ·  — none
Capability Cloudways SiteGround
Free SSL ✓Let's Encrypt ✓
Free CDN ∼Cloudflare add on ✓Cloudflare
Daily backups ∼paid, on demand ✓
Staging environment ✓ ✓GrowBig and up
Built in email hosting ∼paid add on ✓
Choice of cloud provider ✓ —
Money back guarantee ∼3 day trial ✓30 days

Feature support verified as of June 2026 · check the vendor for current details.

Pricing, side by side

Intro rate per month · renewals differ
Cloudways Our pick
DO 1GB $11
DO 2GB $22
DO 4GB $50
SiteGround Challenger
StartUp $2.99
GrowBig $4.99
GoGeek $7.99

Pricing as of June 2026 · Cloudways charges per server with no renewal jump (about $8.25/mo on annual for DO 1GB); SiteGround intro rates renew far higher (StartUp from $17.99/mo). Check the vendor for current pricing.

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