Today’s market is flooded with web hosting providers and there is little to differentiate them. Still, some web hosting provides stand far above others and provides users with several interesting features.
Cloud Ways Hosting is one of such hosting platforms. It gives you the option to choose from one of five cloud platforms for cloud hosting, including stalwarts like Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services.
On top of that, it offers an ample amount of additional benefits available in the form of affordable pay-as-you-go plans. You can even enjoy a free trial with no questions asked. Regardless, you should also consider its shortcomings before making your mind.
In our Cloud Ways Hosting Review, we will discuss the benefits and pitfalls of Cloudways hosting.
CloudWays Hosting Pros
Easy to Begin with
Most web hosting services force you to pay before you can start building your website. But not Cloudways. You can begin without spending a single dime. Login either with LinkedIn, Google, or GitHub, or create a username and password and sign up for a three-day trial account.
Once you log in, you have the option to select a CMS (Content Management System) of your choice. You can choose from multiple CMS systems, including WordPress, Magento, Joomla, Koken, Prestashop, Drupal, Media Wiki, and PHP Stack. With so many options, the possibilities are endless.
It doesn’t end there. You’ll have several options for server selection, as well. Cloud Ways gives you exclusive access to IaaS services such as Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services, Linode, Digital Ocean, Vultr, and Stackpath. At the same time, you also have the option to pick either of several server locations distributed across the country.
Custom Control Panel
Cloudways hosting has a control panel different than most hosting providers. Cloudways has transformed the cPanel and changed it significantly. You no longer have to use the old design cPanel where you must click from the hosting account dashboard.
Instead, Cloudways has connected both of them to streamline the UI. The custom control panel created by Cloudways merges your hosting account dashboard with other typical cPanel features. This makes the UI a lot more intuitive, saves time for users, and gives the entire interface a modern feel.
Backups, Staging, and Cloning
Backup, staging, and cloning are some of the most essential features of any web hosting service. There is plenty of great web hosting provides in the market, but not all of them allow you to restore your website or give you staging environments, cloning features, or automatic backups.
What’s more, is that you can access in an extremely intuitive manner. You can schedule your backup daily, go for options 12 hour, 6 hour, or 3-hour gaps; whatever’s most convenient. You also have the option to manually start backup whenever you want.
With an automated backup, you can work worry-free, knowing full well that your system will backup automatically. The staging environment will allow you to create a testing environment for the website. Here you can test new features and make changes without affecting the live version. Even if something goes wrong you can easily restore your website.
Excellent Uptime
For many businesses, their website is responsible for their sales and growth. Most importantly, sites that offer services must function 24/7 without a slight hint of delay. Therefore, 100% uptime is essential for your website.
Cloudways hosting is one of the few web hosting services that consistently offer 100% uptime. As a result, your customers can enjoy a great user experience and access your products and services without an issue.
Cloudways ThunderStack and Advanced Caching
Cloudways relies on its PP stack to ensure maximum performance. To put it simply, the PHP stack is a server technology that forms the backbone of your website. It also gives you caching mechanisms to power your WordPress website.
Cloudways stands out from the rest of the services due to its powerful Thunderstack. Cloudways Thunderstack is an advanced high-performing built-in caching mechanism that offers features like varnish and Memcached.
At the same time, technologies such as Redis give you an extra boost to your website, making it even faster. However, you must install it from your Cloudways control panel. The panel will then offer you extremely fast speed, better than most web hosting providers.
Security
Security is a legitimate concern for every website owner. Cloudways hosting allows you to embed SSL certificates on all your websites without paying a dime; a luxury that hosting giants like GoDaddy make you pay for. That speaks for something, doesn’t it?
The setup also has dedicated firewalls that help you protect your website from security threats. At the same time, you will enjoy a built-in database security system, as well as essential login security.
Customer Support
Cloudways is known for offering users exceptional customer support. If you ever face a problem, you’ll have 24/7 support readily available for you. You can enjoy the services of expert developers for free or go for premium support to enroll support engineers as a part of your team.
CloudWays Hosting Cons
With so many benefits enlisted, let’s talk about the things Cloudways hosting doesn’t offer.
Domain Registration
Cloudways hosting doesn’t give you domain registration services, so you’ll have to use other domain sellers such as NameCheap to buy your domain.
Complex for Beginners
Although Cloudways’ custom cPanel does a great job of making things easier for users familiar with the old panel design, new users can easily get confused. Pointing your purchased URL to the hosting setup is especially difficult. The documentation offers great guidelines to circumvent this problem, but again, new users will find it difficult.
Extra Costs for Email
Email is an essential part of your website. It’s what lets you collect leads and contact your customers. Unfortunately, Cloudways hosting gives you zero electronic mail accounts with its basic plan. Instead, you must pay for it separately at $1 per email account every month.
Overall, Cloudways is an extremely reliable hosting service that leverages high-performance servers to deliver a powerful, robust and intuitive web hosting service.