While most individuals who are looking to create and host a website of their own are going to be satisfied with website builders or shared hosting plans, others may need some advanced features. In cases like these, you might find yourself looking at the best cloud hosting solutions.
However, while cloud hosting comes with a variety of different benefits, it can be somewhat confusing, too. Worry not, because this is what I’m here for - to tell you all about it, and help you pick the best cloud hosting providers!
Our list will look a little something like this:
Best Cloud Hosting: VPS VS Cloud Hosting
Before we jump into the list of the best cloud hosting providers, there are a few things that we need to figure out, first. Probably the main point of contention is that of VPS hosting VS cloud hosting.
Oftentimes, you will see these two terms used interchangeably. Well, they shouldn’t - VPS web hosting is different from cloud hosting. And yet, spoiler alert - some of the providers that we’ll talk about today offer VPS hosting services instead of cloud ones.
Confusing? Worry not - let’s get to the point.
VPS hosting refers to “Virtual Private Server” hosting. If you choose this service, you will receive just that - a private (shared resources - private access) virtual server that you can use at your own leisure. Cloud hosting, on the other hand, has no single, private server for you to use.
Instead, it hosts your website “on the Cloud” - depending on where you are located in the world, a different server will host your website (it depends on geographical location), and thus, your site will both load up faster, and will also be quite a bit more scalable.
Evidently, we’re just scratching the surface here - but the idea remains true.
We can look at it from a different angle, too. If you’re looking for the best cloud hosting services, chances are that you’re not too bothered with high levels of control, and are content with having simple and straightforward cPanel access.
The situation is very different for anyone who will host their site on a VPS. Here, you will receive full root-level access and control.
Following that, the best cloud hosting providers will offer you the chance to create and host a performance-intensive website. It’ll be more reliable, uptime-wise, but will probably also be pricier, as well.
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VPS hosting, on the other hand, generally has less resources available, but is, yet again, much more customizable. It’s a great option for small and medium-sized websites, and businesses that are just starting to grow.
However, both VPS and cloud hosting do share a lot of similarities, too. This is exactly the reason why you’ll find both hosting types in this list - no matter if you’re looking for the best cloud hosting for WordPress, or any other CMS out there, VPS hosting might still suit your wants and needs!
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Evaluation Criteria
Now, by this point in the list of the best cloud hosting options, we’ve established that we’ll mention both cloud hosting, and also VPS hosting, as well (in some cases). However, what are the actual evaluation criteria that you need to keep in mind when choosing the best option for yourself?
Well, for starters, if you ARE looking for cloud hosting solutions, chances are that you need scalability and top-tier site loading speed - these two features are often at the top of people’s lists. At the same time, this does also include things such as SSD storage, uptime, RAM, CPU numbers, and more.
Next, many individuals and companies that are looking for the best cloud hosting will likely require an opportunity to both host multiple websites, and also have access to different business-related tools. These can include domain names, site migration, Google Ad credits, analytics, and so on.
Then, security is - obviously - a major concern, too. Does the hosting service provide customers with DDoS protection? Are there daily backups, SSL certificates, dedicated IP addresses in place? These and many more questions can surely help pick out the best potential cloud hosting candidates!
Finally, while this might seem obvious, pricing is a major factor to consider, as well. Even if you do manage to find the best cloud server hosting available on this planet, if the price is outrageous, many people will simply turn away, and continue searching for a better compromise.
All of that being established and discussed, though, let us finally move on to the list of the best cloud hosting providers of the current year!
1. HostGator - Reliable; Awesome Cloud Hosting Features
Ranks #1 out of 7 Hosting Providers
- + Great uptime stats
- + Decent site speeds
- + Easy to use
- + An integrated website builder
- + Good customer support
- + 45-day refund
- - Pricey
- - Many features locked behind a paywall
HostGator is one of the leading hosting brands in the world. The company has been around for some time now, and is known for providing customers with some high-end features, reliable hosting, and great deals, to top it all off.
In regards to the best cloud hosting, things aren’t really all that different, either.
Same as most other hosting services, HostGator comes equipped with increasing amounts of memory, CPU cores, and domains, depending on the plan of your choice. All of this is quite standard information for any type of cloud hosting - let’s take a look at HostGator-specific features, though.
For starters, HostGator has some great uptime stats and site speed statistics. Uptime-wise, you can expect the number to linger at around 99,95%. This is truly some top-tier performance!
The term itself refers to the amount of time that your website is online, and able to be reached by potential visitors and customers. The time frame is usually a year. Having this information, and using our uptime calculator tool, we can determine that a website hosted with HostGator will have around 40 seconds of downtime per day, on average.
That’s nothing!
Do keep in mind that this refers to the uptime numbers of shared hosting plans - with the best cloud hosting from HostGator, things could be even better!
When it comes to website loading speeds, you can expect your HostGator-hosted site to load in up to 0,9 seconds. An awesome number, indeed!
The hosting provider offers users a lot of different features and widgets, but is still quite simple to use. The customer support is helpful, there’s an integrated website builder (although this might not be of much use to anyone who’s looking for the best cloud hosting for WordPress), and you’ll have a very generous 45-day money-back guarantee, as well.
What is the Price of HostGator Cloud Hosting?
HostGator’s cloud hosting plans are priced like so:
Hatchling Cloud gives you a single domain, 2GB of memory, and 2 CPU cores. There’s also a free SSL certificate and domain name included in the deal, as well.
Baby Cloud has improved memory (4GB), number of CPU cores (4), and unlimited domains. Lastly, Business Cloud offers improvements on all of these numbers, and also provides customers with a free dedicated IP, SEO tools, and SSL upgrades.
All in all, considering the features of each plan, the prices are very decent!
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2. BlueHost - A VPS Hosting Solution
Ranks #2 out of 7 Hosting Providers
- + Multiple features
- + Good uptime
- + Easy to use
- + WordPress - available
- + 24/7 customer support
- - Poor site speed for non-US-made websites
- - No backup options with some plans
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BlueHost doesn’t have dedicated cloud hosting services. Instead, the company offers its customers VPS hosting plans. As mentioned at the beginning of this list of the best cloud hosting providers, VPS hosting is closely related to cloud hosting services, and thus, still falls under the same category.
Granted that the services are those of VPS hosting, this generally means that you’ll have a lot more power and control over how your website is managed. At the same time, though, it’s an option that relates to smaller websites, and those that aren’t planning on having growth spurts in the near future.
Best cloud hosting aside, BlueHost is known as being one of the top-rated industry leaders, in the realm of web hosting, in general. The company has a reputation for providing users with only the best web hosting experience, whether it be uptime, site speeds, free features, customer support, or else.
If you’re in search of the best cloud hosting for WordPress, you’ll be happy to learn that BlueHost does support WP, to the fullest extent. You’ll be able to install WordPress without any struggle, and start building up your plugins and themes in no time.
Choosing the shared hosting plans offered by BlueHost, you can expect the uptime to be around 99,94%, on average. With VPS hosting, this number can go up even more!
BlueHost’s customer support team is also said to be quite praise-worthy, too. Customers of the brand report the support agents being very reliable, and offering all of the help that you might need with getting your issues resolved.
VPS hosting-wise, BlueHost truly does provide you with all of the control that you might require. You can integrate additional VPS or shared hosting servers with your plans, and manage everything at the same time. This, in turn, allows you to scale your project - something that’s super-important to any and all website owners!
Site speed-wise, the company uses SSD storage. With VPS hosting, you will receive your own SSD space - this, in turn, will allow for much faster website loading speeds, and better performance. Yet again - great news for anyone interested in the best cloud hosting!
What is the Price of BlueHost VPS Hosting?
BlueHost’s VPS hosting plans are priced like so:
With each plan, you will receive increasing SSD storage space, CPU cores, RAM, bandwidth, and even IP addresses.
The prices for the advanced plans are, admittedly, somewhat high, sure. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that, while BlueHost isn’t strictly one of the best cloud hosting providers (the company deals in VPS hosting), it’s still considered to be one of the industry leaders, as far as hosting is concerned, in general.
3. Hostinger - An Affordable Cloud Hosting Solution
Ranks #3 out of 7 Hosting Providers
- + Very affordable
- + 99,9% uptime
- + Very fast hosting service
- + Free plan available
- + Easy to use and navigate
- - Customer support may take somewhat long to answer
- - Inconsistent uptime stats
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Hostinger is often considered to be one of the best cloud hosting providers. Well, it’s rather simple to see why that’s the case, too - the company offers some fantastic features and services, with very approachable price tags attached.
The brand itself has manifested a specific reputation online. Most hosting enthusiasts know Hostinger as the brand that deals in super-affordable, yet quality shared hosting. The affordability factor does also translate to other hosting types, as well - more on that a bit later.
Hostinger has an uptime of 99,9%, and site speeds in the realm of about 1,2 seconds. These are some great numbers, but what makes them even better is the fact that they relate to shared hosting - with cloud hosting services offered by the brand, you can expect the numbers to only go up (or down, site speed-wise).
Hostinger even has an alternative solution for anyone looking for the best cloud hosting for WordPress, as well. Sure, you could purchase a cloud hosting plan and start building up your website from scratch… Or you could host your site, and use the Zyro website builder!
Ease of use, additional free features, dedicated server resources, and more - Hostinger does bring a lot to the cloud hosting table! That said, let’s take a closer look at the cloud hosting plans, their prices, and included features.
What is the Price of Hostinger Cloud Hosting?
Hostinger’s cloud hosting plans look like so:
- Cloud Startup - $9,99 per month
- Cloud Professional - $18,99 per month
- Cloud Enterprise - $69,99 per month
All three of the plans allow you to host up to 300 websites. All of them also have unlimited SSL certificates, databases, bandwidth, free domain names and CDNs, site migrations, dedicated IPs, daily backups, Google Ads credits, and much more.
The only things that are different with each of the plans are the SSD storage resources, RAMs, and number of CPU cores.
Once again - even with cloud hosting, Hostinger stands tall as one of the most affordable options in the industry. The prices do increase upon plan renewal, but the fact remains the same - if you’re looking for an amazing price VS quality ratio, Hostinger should surely be somewhere at the top of your best cloud server hosting list!
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Yes! Show me the Comparison Chart4. InMotion - Less-Affordable, but Great Site Loading Speeds
Ranks #4 out of 7 Hosting Providers
- + Great site loading speeds
- + Free SSL certificate and site transfers
- + Multiple types of hosting available
- + 24/7 customer support
- - No free domain name with entry-level plan
- - Not very affordable
- - Uptime issues
InMotion is a veteran hosting provider in the space. The company is known for providing hosting services not only to individual website creators, but also large companies and resellers, as well.
In regards to the best cloud server hosting, InMotion offers a pretty interesting alternative - cloud VPS hosting. It’s like a combination of the two earlier-discussed types of website hosting! More on that in a bit, though.
First, let’s take a look at what makes InMotion special, and worth trying out.
The brand itself is a true veteran within the industry. It’s been around for quite some time now, and has managed to earn itself a reputation as a reliable and professional service provider.
There are multiple user InMotion reviews left online that talk about the site loading speed aspect of the hosting service in question, too. That’s simply because of the fact that InMotion speed stats are out of this world!
With the shared hosting plans, you can expect your website(s) to load in up to 0,6 seconds. This is, for a fact, great! It’s a fantastic speed stat in of itself, and with InMotion’s cloud VPS hosting solutions, this number is bound to only increase, too!
There’s 24/7 customer support available to be reached, as well. If you get stuck with anything at any point in time, you can be sure that there will always be agents to help you sort it out.
What is the Price of InMotion Cloud VPS Hosting?
InMotion’s prices are, as follows:
- cVPS-1 - $5 per month
- cVPS-2 - $10 per month
- cVPS-3 - $15 per month
- cVPS-4 - $20 per month
- cVPS-6 - $30 per month
- cVPS-8 - $50 per month
- cVPS-16 - $80 per month
- cVPS-32 - $160 per month
Each of the different plans are named after the number of GB of RAM that they come equipped with (so, cVPS-4 would have 4GB of RAM, while cVPS-32 will have 32GB).
Ascending the plans, you can also expect an increase in CPU numbers, SSD storage, file transfer size, and more.
The higher-end plans are aimed at companies and enterprises, while the lower-priced options are for hosting beginners, small businesses, or individuals who want to try out cloud hosting, in general.
Being one of the best cloud hosting providers, InMotion also allows users to choose their data center locations, manage their own SSH keys, pick an operating system, and provides dedicated IPs, too. Great stuff!
All things considered, the prices are fair! While InMotion might not offer the most affordable cloud hosting on the market, the features and add-ons that you receive are notable!
5. A2 Hosting - Superb Speed, Free Site Migrations
Ranks #5 out of 7 Hosting Providers
- + One of the fastest web hosting services
- + Great uptime
- + Helpful customer support
- + Free site migration
- - Slow support response times
- - Basic plan lacks features
A2 Hosting would be one of the best cloud hosting providers… If it were to actually offer cloud hosting services, in the first place. Instead, the brand deals in VPS hosting plans.
Granted that VPS hosting does fall under the terms of our list, though, A2 might be a great option as far as hosting (in general) goes, too.
Truth be told, A2 is one of the more-niche web hosting providers on the current market. While many people have heard about brands such as HostGator or BlueHost, coincidentally, they might have never known about A2.
That said, the company in question offers some amazing features and benefits to its customers. At the forefront of these features, you will find website loading speeds.
Websites that are hosted on one of the A2 shared hosting plans tend to load up in under a second. Naturally, this concerns sites that are actually upkeeped and managed in a thorough manner. Still, though - that’s some incredible speed to be had!
Following that, A2 also boasts an uptime of around 99,96%. This, in turn, puts it somewhere at the very top of the currently-leading hosting brands, at least uptime-wise. This would result in around 34 seconds of downtime every day (on average), if you were to measure it for a year. That’s a low downtime stat!
As noted a bit earlier, A2 Hosting does not have cloud hosting, specifically. Instead, the company deals in virtual private servers - they claim this to be an even faster hosting option when compared to the best cloud server hosting, as well!
A2 guarantees its customers things such as security, 99,9% uptime, all the time; superb site speed stats, and a crew of support agents that are always at the ready when it comes to helping you solve some sort of an issue. While there are some complaints online concerning slow response times of these same agents, it doesn’t seem to be a huge deal.
What is the Price of A2 VPS Hosting?
A2 Hosting offers these plan and pricing options to its users:
- Runway 1 - $4,99 per month
- Runway 2 - $8,99 per month
- Runway 4 - $11,99 per month
- Supersonic 8 - $35,99 per month
- Supersonic 16 - $57,99 per month
- Supersonic 32 - $79,99 per month
All of the prices shown above are displayed with applied promotion deals - you should always check the official website of A2 Hosting in order to determine whether or not these deals are still in place when you’re reading this.
Interestingly enough, while A2 is one of the less-known hosting providers on our list, the company offers some very alluring pricing options for their plans! Sure, these options are so due to the current promotion, but still - the deals are great!
Each of the plans will provide users with increasing RAM, SSD (or NVMe) storage, transfer size, and cores. All plans include root access and money-back guarantees.
If you’re searching for the best cloud hosting service, do make sure to check A2 Hosting out!
6. GoDaddy - An Industry Veteran Hosting Service
Ranks #6 out of 7 Hosting Providers
- + Great uptime
- + Decent site speed
- + Knowledgeable customer support
- + Over 150 simple-to-install apps
- - Lacks a lot of essential features
- - Plan renewals are quite pricey
GoDaddy is a very well-known hosting brand. It’s one of the oldest hosting service providers on the market - the company has been functioning for more than 20 years!
A single look at the user GoDaddy reviews left online will reveal that there are multiple different reasons why individuals pick the brand as their hosting provider of choice. This is true for all of the different types of hosting offered by GoDaddy, too - whether it be shared, VPS, or other types of hosting, as well.
Speaking of which, yes - instead of the best cloud hosting services, GoDaddy is one of the brands that deal in VPS hosting. That said, things are actually quite interesting in this regard - more on that in a minute.
Before that, let’s take a look at why someone would pick GoDaddy as their hosting provider, in the first place.
GoDaddy has a wide selection of different features available for users to check out and utilize. These include everything from the more-general SSL certificates, all the way to WordPress compatibility, too.
The uptime and site loading speed stats are great, as well. With GoDaddy, you can expect uptime in the realm of 99,93% - nice! Speed-wise, websites hosted with the brand in question tend to load up in under 1,3 seconds.
If you’re not looking for the best cloud hosting for WordPress, you’ll be happy to learn that GoDaddy does have their own website builder, too. Meaning, you can choose to create your website with a built-in builder, and don’t need to go out and search for alternatives, or spend your time learning how to use WordPress.
What is the Price of GoDaddy VPS Hosting?
Interestingly enough, GoDaddy offers only two VPS hosting plans for your to pick from:
Admittedly, the difference in prices (and the plans themselves) couldn’t be more notable.
With the Self Managed plan, you’ll be able to have full control over, well, everything - the operating system that’s in place, different advanced settings, and so on. That said, the vast majority of the features will be locked under additional paywalls.
Fully Managed hosting unlocks the full potential of GoDaddy’s VPS hosting. As the name of the plan might imply, here, you won’t really need to worry about doing things yourself - you’ll have an unlimited number of service requests from a dedicated team, and will also be able to use all of the features available with the brand.
Admittedly, GoDaddy’s services will suit a smaller number of people, due to the lack of VPS hosting plans, and a steep pricing curve. Still, worth considering!
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7. Hostwinds - Fast and Stable Cloud Hosting
Ranks #7 out of 7 Hosting Providers
- + Variety of Services
- + 99,97% uptime
- + Unlimited bandwidth & disk space
- + Helpful customer service
- + Attractive prices
- - Limited server locations
- - Not the best results when it comes to speed
Hostwinds is known within the industry for providing users with some stable hosting solutions. In the context of the company in question, “stable” mostly refers to uptime and lack of speed fluctuations.
The company does also provide its customers with awesome features, completely free of charge. These include unlimited bandwidth and disk space, free SSL certificates, a firewall (with your cloud hosting plan), custom ISOs, and more.
Hostwinds does even have a website builder integrated into its service list, too! If you’re not too keen on using WordPress, you can choose to create your website with Weebly. Granted that it’s often seen as one of the best website builders on the current market, that’s some great news!
Hostwinds is also very simple to use. Meaning, if you’re a complete beginner when it comes to web hosting, and have never dealt with any hosting services before, you shouldn’t face any difficulties with the company in question. Great!
What is the Price of Hostwinds Cloud Hosting?
As one of the best cloud hosting providers out there, Hostwinds offers its users these pricing options:
- 1 CPU - $0.006931 per hour
- 1 CPU (Advanced) - $0.013875 per hour
- 2 CPU - $0.026375 per hour
- 2 CPU (Advanced) - $0.040264 per hour
- 4 CPU - $0.054153 per hour
- 4 CPU (Advanced) - $0.069431 per hour
- 6 CPU - $0.106931 per hour
- 8 CPU - $0.173597 per hour
- 12 CPU - $0.298597 per hour
- 16 CPU - $0.456931 per hour
These are some of the strangest pricing options for cloud hosting out there - that’s for sure! Hostwinds price their plans by the hour, instead of having fixed monthly rates.
That said, using some basic-level maths, we can calculate that the beginner plan comes out to be around $4,99 per month, while the most-advanced plan will cost you $328,99 per month. Quite the leap!
Each of the plans provide you with more RAM, storage, and bandwidth. There are also uptime guarantees, nightly backups, server monitoring, and more.
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Conclusions
So, then - that concludes our list of the best cloud hosting providers of the current year. Thank you for sticking with me to the very end!
As you can probably tell by now, there are multiple different ways of how you can approach cloud hosting. In fact, many of the top-rated hosting brands don’t even offer cloud hosting solutions, per se - instead, their equivalent is VPS hosting.
Whatever the case might be, one thing remains true - no matter which hosting provider you were to choose from the list given above, you can be sure that you’ll receive only the top-tier hosting services.
In addition to that, make sure to check out our list of the best hosting brands, in general. Also, if hosting isn’t really your cup of tea, and you’d like to keep things simple, you can also check our list of the best website builders, too.
Once again, thanks for reading, and good luck with finding the best cloud hosting option for yourself! Cheers, and until next time!
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