SiteGround vs Cloudways: Features, Pricing and Verdict
SiteGround starts cheap but renews at $17.99 to $44.99 a month, while Cloudways starts at $11 with no renewal jump. We compare both hosts to pick a winner.
By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-10T04:29:00+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-10T04:29:00+00:00
SiteGround vs Cloudways: Features, Pricing and Verdict
SiteGround and Cloudways both host WordPress sites. They take different paths to the same goal. SiteGround sells shared hosting with fixed plans. Cloudways sells managed servers on cloud infrastructure. The right pick depends on your traffic, your budget, and how much control you want. This comparison uses published prices and features from both vendors.
SiteGround vs Cloudways at a glance
| Attribute | SiteGround | Cloudways |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting model | Shared hosting on Google Cloud, plus cloud plans | Managed servers on five cloud providers |
| Starting price | $2.99 a month, first term | $11 a month, DigitalOcean Standard 1 GB |
| Renewal behaviour | Renews at $17.99 to $44.99 a month | Same price every month, no renewal jump |
| Billing | Prepaid, 12 months for intro pricing | Hourly, invoiced monthly |
| Websites per plan | 1 on StartUp, unlimited on GrowBig and GoGeek | Unlimited applications per server |
| Storage | 10 GB, 50 GB or 100 GB by plan | 25 GB to 160 GB by server size |
| Staging | GrowBig and GoGeek only | Included on every server |
| Free trial | None; 30-day money-back guarantee on shared plans | 3 days, no credit card required |
| Support scope | Full managed support, including WordPress help | Infrastructure support; app-level issues are out of scope |
How the pricing really works
SiteGround's headline prices are introductory. StartUp costs $2.99 a month for the first 12 months, then renews at $17.99 a month. GrowBig costs $4.99 a month first, then $29.99. GoGeek costs $7.99 first, then $44.99. The intro price needs a 12-month prepayment. Over two years, StartUp costs about $251.76 and GrowBig about $419.76 at those rates. Budget for the renewal price, not the intro price.
Cloudways prices by server, not by plan. A 1 GB DigitalOcean Standard server costs $11 a month. The same size on Vultr or Linode costs $14. A 2 GB DigitalOcean server costs $24, and a 4 GB server costs $46. AWS starts at $20.56 a month and Google Cloud at $37.33. Billing is hourly with no annual contract. The price never jumps at renewal. There is no discount for paying yearly.
The price gap flips after year one. GrowBig renews at $29.99 a month. A 2 GB Cloudways server costs $24 a month. That server gives you dedicated resources instead of a shared pool. At the GoGeek renewal of $44.99, a 4 GB Cloudways server at $46 costs about the same. Cloudways also charges for extras. Off-site backup storage costs $0.033 per GB. The Cloudflare Enterprise add-on costs from $4.99 per domain per month.
What each host actually gives you
SiteGround runs its hosting on Google Cloud infrastructure. Every shared plan includes daily backups, a free SSL certificate, and a content delivery network. GrowBig adds on-demand backups and one-click staging. GoGeek adds Git, white-label access, and priority support. SiteGround uses its own Site Tools control panel instead of cPanel. Cloud hosting starts at $100 a month for 4 CPU cores, 8 GB of RAM, and 40 GB of SSD storage.
Cloudways is a management layer over five cloud providers: DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, and Google Cloud. You pick the provider, the server size, and the location. Every server includes staging, a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate, a server firewall, and automated on-server backups. Object Cache Pro is included free on servers with 4 GB of RAM or more. There are no visit caps. Your bill rises when you scale the server, not when traffic spikes.
Ease of use and support
SiteGround suits people who want hosting handled for them. The Site Tools panel is polished. Support covers WordPress problems, plugin conflicts, and migration help. The trade-off is control. You cannot pick the underlying cloud provider. You share resources with other sites on the same server.
Cloudways suits people who are comfortable with servers. The dashboard lets you launch apps, clone servers, and scale resources. Support covers infrastructure only. WordPress plugin conflicts and theme errors are out of scope. That is the price of flexibility. You get root-level control over a dedicated server, but you own the application layer.
Who should choose which host
- Pick SiteGround if you run one or a few WordPress sites and want managed support.
- Pick SiteGround if you value daily backups and staging without extra setup.
- Pick Cloudways if you run several sites and want them on one server.
- Pick Cloudways if your traffic is uneven and you want to scale resources up and down.
- Pick Cloudways if you need a specific cloud provider or data centre location.
- Pick neither on price alone. Compare the renewal price, not the intro price.
Performance and reliability
SiteGround runs its hosting on Google Cloud infrastructure. Every shared plan includes its own caching and a content delivery network. The host lists daily backups on every plan. Cloud hosting starts at $100 a month for 4 CPU cores, 8 GB of RAM, and 40 GB of SSD storage, with 5 TB of data transfer. SiteGround's shared plans carry suggested visit limits of about 10,000 a month on StartUp, 100,000 on GrowBig, and 400,000 on GoGeek. These are guidance figures, not hard caps. CPU and memory limits still apply.
Cloudways performance depends on the server you pick. You choose the provider, the size, and the data centre. A 1 GB server is meant for testing and staging, according to Cloudways. A real site should start at 2 GB or more. Object Cache Pro is free on servers with 4 GB of RAM or more. There are no visit caps on any server. Your bill rises when you scale the server, not when traffic spikes. That makes Cloudways predictable under a traffic surge.
What each host costs over three years
The intro price hides the real cost. Work out three years before you buy. SiteGround StartUp costs $35.88 for year one, then $215.88 a year at renewal. Three years comes to $467.64. GrowBig costs $59.88 first, then $359.88 a year. Three years comes to $779.64. GoGeek costs $95.88 first, then $539.88 a year. Three years comes to $1,175.64.
Cloudways has no renewal jump, so the maths is simple. A 1 GB DigitalOcean server at $11 a month costs $396 over three years. A 2 GB server at $24 a month costs $864. A 4 GB server at $46 a month costs $1,656. The cheapest Cloudways server undercuts SiteGround's StartUp renewal price over three years. But it gives you an unmanaged 1 GB server, not a managed host. Compare like with like. A 2 GB Cloudways server is the fair match for GrowBig, and it costs more over three years than GrowBig's renewal price.
Migration and setup
SiteGround offers a free website transfer on its shared plans. You sign up, prepay 12 months for the intro price, and request the move. Cloudways offers one free migration per account. You can also try it first. The 3-day free trial needs no credit card. You launch a test server, install WordPress, and see the dashboard before you pay.
Bottom line
SiteGround wins on managed support and simplicity. Cloudways wins on control, scaling, and long-term price stability. For a single small site, SiteGround's StartUp plan is cheap for year one. For a growing site or an agency with several clients, Cloudways' flat monthly pricing is easier to budget. Check the renewal rate before you buy either host.
This is a research-based assessment. Prices were checked against published vendor pages and may change. No hands-on testing was performed.