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Cloudways vs ScalaHosting — Detailed Comparison

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Trying to choose between Cloudways and ScalaHosting? Here is where each one wins, and which fits your project.

Mohamed Abdelaal By Mohamed Abdelaal, Founder & Lead Hosting Analyst Our pick: Cloudways 100% independent Updated June 2026
Top Pick
4.8
From $11.00 /mo
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4.7
From $2.95 /mo
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Quick Verdict: Cloudways wins

Cloudways wins overall for developers and agencies prioritizing managed cloud performance and flexibility, while ScalaHosting wins for budget-conscious users and those wanting all-in-one shared hosting with a money-back guarantee. Cloudways excels in performance, features, and support quality; ScalaHosting excels in price and variety.

Mohamed Abdelaal Reviewed by Mohamed Abdelaal Founder & Lead Hosting Analyst

At a Glance

Both providers deliver strong performance (99.9%+ uptime) and modern infrastructure, but differ significantly in architecture, pricing strategy, and target audience.

Winner Visit Cloudways
Visit ScalaHosting
Overall Rating
4.8
4.7
Starting Price
$11.00/mo
$2.95/mo
Money-Back
N/A
30 days
Uptime
99.99%
99.9%
NVMe SSD
Yes (DigitalOcean Premium)
Yes (All Plans)
LiteSpeed
No (Apache + Nginx + Varnish)
Yes (OpenLiteSpeed)
Free SSL
Free Migration
Yes (1st migration free)
Yes (Zero Downtime)
Control Panel
Cloudways Platform
SPanel (Custom)
24/7 Support

Provider Profiles

2011 Malta

Cloudways (founded 2011, Malta-based) is a managed cloud hosting platform built on DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud. It caters to developers, agencies, and growing businesses that want the power of cloud infrastructure without server management overhead.

User Friendly 4.8
Support 4.8
Features 4.8
Reliability 4.8
Pricing 4.8
  • 3-Day Free Trial — No Credit Card Required
  • 3 Cloud Providers: DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud
  • Lightning Stack (Nginx + Varnish + Redis + PHP-FPM)
  • Object Cache Pro Included Free (4GB+ servers, $95/mo value)
  • Cloudways Autonomous (auto-scaling)
2007 USA

ScalaHosting (founded 2007, USA-based) offers versatile hosting from shared plans to custom VPS, with proprietary SPanel control panel and AI-powered security. It targets budget-conscious users, WordPress sites, and those who want flexibility without cPanel licensing fees.

User Friendly 4.7
Support 4.7
Features 4.7
Reliability 4.7
Pricing 4.7
  • 30-Day Money Back Guarantee
  • Free SPanel — cPanel Alternative
  • SShield AI Security (Blocks 99.998% of Attacks)
  • NVMe SSD Storage on All Plans
  • Fully Customizable VPS Builds

1 Features

Cloudways emphasizes managed cloud stacks and performance tools, while ScalaHosting offers broader hosting types including shared, WordPress, and AI-specific plans with customizable VPS builds.

Winner
NVMe SSD
Yes (DigitalOcean Premium)
Yes (All Plans)
LiteSpeed
No (Apache + Nginx + Varnish)
Yes (OpenLiteSpeed)
Free SSL
Free Domain
Free CDN
Free Migration
Yes (1st migration free)
Yes (Zero Downtime)
Control Panel
Cloudways Platform
SPanel (Custom)

Cloudways Round winner

Cloudways includes Lightning Stack (Nginx + Varnish + Redis), Object Cache Pro free on 4GB+ servers ($95/mo value), auto-scaling, and vertical scaling with one click. Free migration by engineers and unlimited websites per server round out a developer-focused feature set.

ScalaHosting

ScalaHosting offers SPanel (custom cPanel alternative saving $20–40/mo), SShield AI security blocking 99.998% of attacks, OpenLiteSpeed web server, fully customizable VPS builds (1–24 cores, up to 128GB RAM), and SWordPress Manager for one-click WordPress operations.

And the features winner is Cloudways Cloudways' managed stack, Object Cache Pro inclusion, and auto-scaling deliver superior performance infrastructure for production workloads.
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2 Pricing & Plans

ScalaHosting's entry price is dramatically lower, but Cloudways' cloud model and pay-as-you-go billing suit different budgets and scaling patterns.

Winner
Starting Price
$11.00/mo
$2.95/mo
Number of Plans
Money-Back
N/A
30 days

Cloudways

Starting at $11/month for cloud hosting across 12 plans. No money-back guarantee (uses 3-day free trial instead). Pay-as-you-go billing; backups cost extra at $0.033/GB. Premium support tier available for escalation.

ScalaHosting Round winner

Starting at $2.95/month for shared and WordPress plans, with 20 total plans including VPS from $19.95/month. Includes 30-day money-back guarantee, free domain, and free SPanel license (saving $20–40/month vs. cPanel).

And the pricing & plans winner is ScalaHosting ScalaHosting's $2.95 entry point, money-back guarantee, and free domain make it far more accessible for cost-conscious beginners.
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3 Performance

Both achieve excellent uptime; Cloudways has a slight edge with 99.99% versus ScalaHosting's 99.9%, and benefits from managed cloud infrastructure with caching layers.

Winner
Uptime Guarantee
99.99%
99.9%
Data Centers
60
4
NVMe SSD
Yes (DigitalOcean Premium)
Yes (All Plans)
LiteSpeed
No (Apache + Nginx + Varnish)
Yes (OpenLiteSpeed)
Uptime score
99.99%
99.9%

Cloudways Round winner

99.99% uptime, Lightning Stack (Nginx + Varnish + Redis + PHP-FPM), NVMe on DigitalOcean Premium tier, global reach across 60+ data centers via three cloud providers, and Cloudways Autonomous auto-scaling for traffic spikes.

ScalaHosting

99.9% uptime, NVMe SSD on all plans, OpenLiteSpeed web server, and 4 global data centers. VPS Builds are fully customizable but fewer data center locations limit global reach.

And the performance winner is Cloudways Cloudways' 99.99% uptime, managed caching stack, and 60+ global data centers provide superior performance and redundancy.
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4 Customer Support

Both offer 24/7 chat support with no phone lines. Support quality is rated identically by reviewers, though Cloudways emphasizes engineer-led migrations.

Winner
24/7 Support
Phone Support
No (Chat avg 15s)
Control Panel
Cloudways Platform
SPanel (Custom)
Email Send Limit
N/A — Rackspace required ($1/mailbox)
Via SPanel (no fixed limit)

Cloudways Round winner

24/7 live chat support with no phone option. Free first migration handled by Cloudways engineers (additional migrations $5 each). Premium support tier available. Sub-rating: 4.8/5.

ScalaHosting

24/7 expert chat support (average 15s response) with no phone option. Free zero-downtime migration included. Sub-rating: 4.7/5.

And the customer support winner is Cloudways Cloudways' engineer-led migrations and premium support tier add value; marginally higher sub-rating (4.8 vs. 4.7) reflects user perception.
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5 Ease of Use

Cloudways uses its own managed platform; ScalaHosting uses SPanel, a custom cPanel alternative. Ease depends on user familiarity and preference.

Winner
Control Panel
Cloudways Platform
SPanel (Custom)

Cloudways Round winner

Cloudways Platform abstracts server management entirely—no SSH or cPanel needed. One-click vertical scaling, auto-scaling, and simplified WordPress deployment. Ideal for non-sysadmins. Sub-rating: 4.8/5.

ScalaHosting

SPanel offers cPanel-like familiarity but with a learning curve for cPanel users; includes SWordPress Manager for one-click WordPress operations. More granular control via custom VPS builds. Sub-rating: 4.7/5.

And the ease of use winner is Cloudways Cloudways' abstracted, non-technical interface and one-click operations are simpler for beginners and non-developers.
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6 Privacy & Security

Both include free SSL and modern security. ScalaHosting emphasizes AI-powered threat blocking; Cloudways relies on cloud provider infrastructure and SPanel-managed environments.

Winner
Free SSL
Free CDN
NVMe SSD
Yes (DigitalOcean Premium)
Yes (All Plans)

Cloudways

Free SSL, free CDN (Cloudflare Enterprise add-on available), leverages DigitalOcean/AWS/GCP native security. No dedicated security feature; relies on cloud provider isolation.

ScalaHosting Round winner

Free SSL, free CDN, SShield AI security blocks 99.998% of attacks in real-time, and SWordPress Manager auto-updates. Custom SPanel environment includes dedicated security controls.

And the privacy & security winner is ScalaHosting SShield AI's 99.998% attack-blocking rate and real-time threat prevention provide explicitly quantified security advantages.
Visit ScalaHosting

7 Server Locations

Cloudways offers significantly broader global reach through three cloud providers; ScalaHosting has a concentrated footprint.

Winner
Data Centers
60
4
Headquarters
Malta
USA

Cloudways Round winner

60+ data centers across DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud, providing global redundancy and regional latency optimization.

ScalaHosting

4 global data centers with limited redundancy options. Fully customizable VPS placement but fewer options for users with global audience needs.

And the server locations winner is Cloudways 60+ data centers vs. 4 gives Cloudways dramatically superior global reach and redundancy.
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Final Verdict: Cloudways vs ScalaHosting

And the overall winner is Cloudways
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Why choose Cloudways

  • Managed cloud hosting eliminates server administration—focus on code, not ops
  • Lightning Stack + Object Cache Pro ($95/mo value free) drives exceptional performance
  • 60+ global data centers across three cloud providers ensure low latency worldwide
  • Pay-as-you-go billing and vertical scaling align costs with actual growth
Visit Cloudways

When to consider ScalaHosting

  • When budget is the primary constraint—$2.95/month starting price is unbeatable
  • When you want flexibility to grow from shared to custom VPS without provider switching
  • When cPanel familiarity or SPanel customization appeals to you
  • When you need a money-back guarantee to trial hosting risk-free
Visit ScalaHosting

Alternatives to Consider

5.0

30-Day Money-back Guarantee

Visit Review
4.8

45-Day Money Back Guarantee (Shared) / 7-Day (VPS)

Visit Review
4.7

60-Day Money Back Guarantee (Industry-Leading)

Visit Review
4.7

30-Day Money Back Guarantee

Visit Review

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Cloudways or ScalaHosting for WordPress?

Both support WordPress. Cloudways offers optimized WordPress hosting on managed cloud with automatic caching; ScalaHosting provides dedicated WordPress plans with SWordPress Manager for one-click install/updates/security. Cloudways is better for performance-critical sites; ScalaHosting is better for budget WordPress blogs.

Which is better if I want to switch providers later?

Both offer free migration. Cloudways includes engineer-led migration on the first move; ScalaHosting includes zero-downtime migration on all plans. Cloudways' cloud architecture (DO/AWS/GCP) and SPanel's cPanel-like interface both have broad market adoption, making future switching feasible from either.

Do they include email hosting?

ScalaHosting includes email via SPanel with no fixed mailbox limit. Cloudways has no native email and requires a paid Rackspace add-on at $1/mailbox/month, making it a hidden cost for email users. ScalaHosting is significantly better if email hosting matters.

What's the difference between Cloudways' 3-day trial and ScalaHosting's 30-day guarantee?

Cloudways offers a 3-day free trial with no credit card required, letting you test the platform instantly but with limited time. ScalaHosting charges upfront but refunds within 30 days if unsatisfied, giving you longer to evaluate but requiring payment first. ScalaHosting's guarantee is more user-friendly for risk-averse buyers.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Cloudways or ScalaHosting for WordPress?
Both support WordPress. Cloudways offers optimized WordPress hosting on managed cloud with automatic caching; ScalaHosting provides dedicated WordPress plans with SWordPress Manager for one-click install/updates/security. Cloudways is better for performance-critical sites; ScalaHosting is better for budget WordPress blogs.
Which is better if I want to switch providers later?
Both offer free migration. Cloudways includes engineer-led migration on the first move; ScalaHosting includes zero-downtime migration on all plans. Cloudways' cloud architecture (DO/AWS/GCP) and SPanel's cPanel-like interface both have broad market adoption, making future switching feasible from either.
Do they include email hosting?
ScalaHosting includes email via SPanel with no fixed mailbox limit. Cloudways has no native email and requires a paid Rackspace add-on at $1/mailbox/month, making it a hidden cost for email users. ScalaHosting is significantly better if email hosting matters.
What's the difference between Cloudways' 3-day trial and ScalaHosting's 30-day guarantee?
Cloudways offers a 3-day free trial with no credit card required, letting you test the platform instantly but with limited time. ScalaHosting charges upfront but refunds within 30 days if unsatisfied, giving you longer to evaluate but requiring payment first. ScalaHosting's guarantee is more user-friendly for risk-averse buyers.

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