Cloudways VS DigitalOcean that the same question that came into my mind a few years ago when I was just staring at blogging. I was always curious about Cloud hosting a few years back until I tried it, and I never went back to traditional hosting.
The first time that I tried Cloud hosting I became a fan of it, the scalability, speed, and reliability are what I love about cloud hosting. In today’s article let me answer some of your questions about what is better the Cloudways or the DigitalOcean.
DigitalOcean Acquires Cloudways
Before we begin comparing Cloudways and DigitalOcean, let me give you some information about these two popular hosting companies.
Did you know that DigitalOcean already acquired Cloudaways? Well yeah, just a few years ago these two are separate companies which is why Cloudways also offered Vultr and Linode as one of their Cloud provider before.
In the past DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, and Google Cloud were the cloud providers of Cloudways until DigitalOcean successfully acquired Cloudways. After the acquisition Vultr, and Linode are not available as a cloud provider in Cloudways.
So today when you choose Cloudways the only choices you have is either DigitalOcean, AWS, or Google Cloud.
But in this article, we will compare DigitalOcean and Cloudways so you might be confused about the differences between the two. A lot— continue reading and we will compare what is better in Cloudways or Digital Ocean.
Cloudways VS DigitalOcean: Plans & Pricing
When it comes to pricing there is a clear winner. DigitalOcean dominates Cloudways in this category. If we compare the same specs between the DigitalOcean plan inside Cloudways and the DigitalOcean it costs more than half in Cloudways.
It was because Cloudways acts like a middleman between customers and these cloud providers, so when using DigiticalOcean in Cloudways, they add more features compared to hosting in DigitalOcean alone.
Below is a table that shows Cloudways (DigitalOcean) pricing and DigitalOcean pricing and specs.
Cloudways (DigitalOcean) Pricing & Features
| Plan 1 | Plan 2 | Plan 3 | Plan 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| RAM: 1GB | RAM: 2GB | RAM: 4GB | RAM: 8GB |
| Processor: 1 Core | Processor: 1Core | Processor: 2 Core | Processor: 4 Core |
| Storage: 25GB | Storage: 50GB | Storage: 80GB | Storage: 160GB |
| Bandwith: 1TB | Bandwidth: 2TB | Bandwidth: 4TB | Bandwidth: 5TB |
| Price: $11/month | Price: $24/month | Price: $46/ month | Price: $88/ month |
DigitalOcean Pricing
| Price: $6/mo | Price:$12/mo | Price:$18/mo | Price:$24/mo | Price: $48/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAM: 1GB | RAM: 2GB | RAM: 2GB | RAM: 4GB | RAM: 8GB |
| CPU: 1 vCPU | CPU: 1 vCPU | CPU: 2 vCPU | CPU: 2 vCPU | CPU: 4 vCPU |
| Transfer: 1000 GiB | Transfer: 2000 GiB | Transfer: 3000 GiB | Transfer: 4000 GiB | Transfer: 5000 GiB |
| Storage: 25GiB | Storage: 50 GiB | Storage: 60 GiB | Storage: 80 GiB | Storage: 160 GiB |
Cloudways Vs DigitalOcean: Performance
When it comes to performance I will give it to Cloudways, for the reason that in Cloudways you will not just rely on DigitalOcean since you will manage the server yourself. While in Cloudways your server will be managed by professionals so you will not be worried about your server performance.
If you’re using WordPress they also added a free optimization plugin called “Breeze” The plugin will let you optimize CSS, Javascript, HTML, and many more. It is a free plugin that has the same features as WP Rocket.
Cloudways Vs DigitalOcean: Features
For the features, Cloudways is also a winner, As I’ve mentioned DigitalOcean in Cloudways has some additional features compared to hosting on DigitalOcean alone.
Features like Breeze, free Astra Pro for one year, and Cloudflare Enterprise add-ons for only $4.99/ month are a few of the features of Cloudways that you can’t get when hosting on DigitalOcean directly.
If you are new to managing a website and not yet aware of Cloudflare Enterprise it is a technology that can dramatically increase the performance of your website, when you use Cloudflare you can use it for free but it has very limited features and when you opt to Cloudflare Enterprise plan you might spend about $1000-$5000/ month.
In Cloudways you can have a Cloudflare Enterprise for only $4.99, it’s a feature that you will never get on DigitalOcean directly. So when it comes to features Cloudways is a winner.
Security
The DigitalOcean plan on Cloudways and DigitalOcean Direct are both secure. When directly hosting your site on DigitalOcean you have full control of your server, you also have full control of your security settings.
You can handle some tasks like server updates, security patches, and firewall configuration— If you are a developer this is great, but when you are a blogger who lacks technical skill or knowledge this might be a pain.
If you are a blogger you just want to focus on writing content rather than managing a server and that’s where Cloudways stands out. Since Cloudways manages Cloud hosting which is my favorite kind of hosting, they do all the technical stuff for you.
No matter what server or cloud provider you choose on Cloudways, they manage it for you. All the security and technical stuff are handled by Cloudways Engineer so you can focus just on your content.
This is an unbiased opinion, just purely based on my own experience and practicality. If you have the knowledge, skill, and time to manage security on your server DigitalOcean might be your choice since it is also secure. But if you want to focus more on content rather than managing a server, Cloudways is the best choice, and let them handle the security for you.
Both are secure and it will just be based on who will manage the security of your site.
Support
When it comes to support Cloudways win this and it’s not even a contest. As I’ve mentioned Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting, When you pay for the plan you also pay for the support since it was included in your hosting plan.
In DigitalOcean it is an unmanaged Cloud hosting, you do all the stuff and when you need some help you can create a ticket, a ticket response time may take about 24 hours or might even be longer.
In Cloudways since support is included in every plan they have a dedicated staff managing their support 24/7, They have a live chat that is always ready on your dashboard, and based on my own experience they typically reply within just 3 minutes.
When you have a problem on your site that is accessible through the server, Cloudways technical support can fix it for you. All you need to do is provide the information that they need and wait for it to be fixed.
So when it comes to Cloudways vs DigitalOcean support, Cloudways wins hands down.
User Friendly
If you are a tech nerd like me that loves more complicated stuff you might love hosting your site directly on DigitalOcean since you are free! Lots of things can be handled by your self and it was weirdly enjoyable, but when managing a site time flies fast.
All the things that you can see on my website are created by my research, writing, reviews, SEO, editing, and all the technical stuff.
When my site gets more significant, more and more tasks should be done and it was tiring for one person it changed my perspective a little and turned my eye to managing cloud hosting.
When using DigitalOcean it would be great if you had more time, but managing cloud hosting is more user-friendly compared to unmanaged servers like DigitalOcean.
Cloudways act like a middleman, removing all the technical difficulties and making everything more accessible, They have a simple and clean control panel and almost everything can be done with just a simple click of a button.
In the user-friendly category, Cloudways still wins this compared to direct DigitalOcean hosting.
Website Migration
When you already have a website and want to migrate your site to DigitalOcean it is hard for beginners, but in Cloudways you have two options–when you’re using a WordPress website you can install their website migration plugin.
Using a plugin is easy you will just need to follow the instructions provided by Cloudways and you are good to go. You can also request a one-time free site migration on Cloudways where you can just provide the necessary information and let Cloudways do the rest of the migration process.
If you want a hassle-free migration, Cloudways is your best choice for DigitalOcean.
Verdict
In our Cloudways vs DigitalOcean comparison, Cloudways is the winner. The only part where DigitalOcean outshines Cloudways was in the pricing category, the rest was in favor of Cloudways simply because all the benefits of hosting in DigitalOcean just amplified by Cloudways by adding more useful features and letting customers focus on their product and Cloudways will take care of the server.
If you want to migrate your site on Cloudways consider using my promo code “MIRAGE10” I may earn a commission but will give you 10% OFF for the first three months on Cloudways.
FAQ
What is the difference between Cloudways and DigitalOcean?
The difference between Cloudways and DigitalOcean is that Cloudways is a managed Cloud hosting technology while DigitalOcean is an unmanaged cloud hosting.
Is Cloudways owned by DigitalOcean?
Yes, DigitalOcean successfully acquired Cloudways and took over the company in 2022.
What type of hosting is Cloudways?
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting, They offer the best cloud provider like DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud inside their platform.
What are the disadvantages of Cloudways?
Cloudways is an excellent cloud hosting, the only disadvantage that it has against traditional hosting was the file manager, and no free email.
Does Cloudways have cPanel?
No, Cloudways doesn’t have cPanel but they have their unique control panels that are more beginners friendly.
Does DigitalOcean a web hosting?
DigitalOcean offers a cloud computing service where you can deploy your application including a website. You can host your site directly on DigitalOcean.
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