Web hosting services: Cloudways Managed Hosting vs. Hostinger Premium Shared Hosting

Quick Verdict

Both Cloudways and Hostinger offer robust hosting solutions with strengths in different areas. Cloudways excels in uptime, scalability, and server location options, making it suitable for businesses needing high availability and flexibility. Hostinger stands out with its user-friendly interface, comprehensive security measures, and cost-effective introductory pricing, ideal for users prioritizing ease of use and affordability. The choice depends on specific needs and priorities.

Cloudways offers a higher uptime guarantee (99.99%) compared to Hostinger (99.9%).
Both providers offer 24/7 customer support, but Cloudways' average response time is slightly faster (90 seconds vs. typically less than 2 minutes for Hostinger).
Cloudways provides more flexible scaling options with vertical scaling and an "Autonomous" platform, while Hostinger offers upgrades to other shared, cloud, or VPS plans.
Both providers offer user-friendly custom control panels.
Cloudways boasts a wider range of server locations with 65+ data center regions, while Hostinger has fewer locations.
Both offer automated backups, free SSL certificates, and free site migration.
Hostinger's staging environment is limited to Business plans, while Cloudways offers it more broadly.
Cloudways pricing starts at $11/month with a pay-as-you-go model, while Hostinger has introductory pricing with higher renewal rates.

Key features – Side-by-Side

Attribute	Cloudways Managed Hosting	Hostinger Premium Shared Hosting
Uptime Guarantee	99.99%	99.9%
Customer Support	24/7 via live chat and ticketing, average response time of 90 seconds	24/7 via live chat and email, typically less than 2 minutes
Scalability Options	Vertical scaling options, "Autonomous" platform for on-demand scaling	Upgrading to other shared plans (Business), cloud hosting, or VPS hosting
Control Panel	Custom control panel designed for user-friendliness	Custom control panel called hPanel, user-friendly and easy to navigate
Server Locations	USA, UK, Australia, France, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, with 65+ data center regions	USA, UK, Netherlands, Lithuania, Singapore, India, France, Germany and Brazil
Backup and Restore	Automated backups with customizable retention	Automated daily or weekly backups, easy to restore
Security Measures	Free SSL certificates, dedicated firewalls, regular security patching, malware scanning, DDoS protection, IP whitelisting, bot protection	SSL certificates, firewalls, DDoS protection, malware scanning, and 2FA
Supported Applications/Databases	PHP-based applications like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Laravel, and Magento	PHP and MySQL databases
Pricing	DigitalOcean plans start at $11/month, pay-as-you-go	Introductory price, but renewal rates are higher. Promotional pricing available for longer-term commitments.
Free SSL Certificate	Free Let's Encrypt SSL certificates	Unlimited free SSL certificates with all hosting plans
Staging Environment	Available for testing changes	WordPress staging is available on Business plans
Migration Support	Free website migration, WordPress Migrator plugin	Free site migration

Overall Comparison

Cloudways: 99.99% uptime, Hostinger: 99.9% uptime, Cloudways: 90 seconds average support response time, Hostinger: less than 2 minutes support response time, Cloudways: $11/month starting price, Hostinger: higher renewal rates

Pros and Cons

Cloudways Managed Hosting

Pros:

99.99% uptime guarantee
24/7 support via live chat and ticketing
Vertical scaling options
User-friendly custom control panel
Wide range of server locations (65+ data center regions)
Automated backups with customizable retention
Free SSL certificates
Dedicated firewalls and regular security patching
Staging environment availability
Free website migration

Cons:

Customer support quality can vary
Some users report occasional delays and billing issues
Steeper learning curve for the control panel, especially for beginners
Some add-ons incur extra costs

Hostinger Premium Shared Hosting

Pros:

User-friendly hPanel control panel
Fast loading times with LiteSpeed web servers and SSD storage
Responsive and helpful customer support
Free SSL certificates
Free site migration
Multiple server locations
Automated backups
Comprehensive security measures

Cons:

Renewal fees are higher than introductory prices
Staging environment only available on Business plan

User Experiences and Feedback

Cloudways Managed Hosting

What Users Love

Fast server speeds and excellent performance
Easy to increase server resources like RAM and storage
Quick and easy website restoration process
Easy to install SSL certificates

Common Complaints

Infrequent downtime reported by some users
Issues with billing support reported by some users
Specialized WordPress hosts may offer better performance for dynamic sites

Value Perception

Transparent pricing with a pay-as-you-go model
Free website migration and WordPress Migrator plugin

User Recommendations

Some users have reported 100% uptime over a month
Average response time is around 90 seconds
Some users praise their knowledge and helpfulness
Some users find the control panel intuitive and easy to navigate

Hostinger Premium Shared Hosting

What Users Love

Reliable server uptime
Quick and helpful customer support
Easy to scale resources
User-friendly control panel
Straightforward website restoration
Easy SSL installation

Common Complaints

Higher renewal fees

Value Perception

Free SSL certificates
Free site migration

User Recommendations

Hostinger guarantees 99.9% uptime.
Hostinger's customer support is generally responsive and helpful, with response times typically under 2 minutes.
Hostinger's hPanel is known for its user-friendliness.
Hostinger uses LiteSpeed web servers and SSD storage, resulting in fast loading times.
Restoring from backups is straightforward.
Hostinger offers free SSL certificates that are easy to install.