The 9 Best Cloud Hosting Providers
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Want to know more about cloud hosting and read reviews on the best providers? You’ve come to the right place.
Cloud hosting pulls its resources from a variety of sources to create a virtual server instead. With shared hosting, if your server goes down, your site goes down. If a cloud server goes down, other servers in the network pick up the slack. Cloud hosting gives you an excellent balance between affordability and power.
What Is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud hosting is where your site is stored on multiple servers, which lets you pull resources from a variety of different places. This makes cloud hosting a very scalable, reliable, and flexible type of hosting, perfect for sites that experience hikes and dips in things like traffic.
Cloud hosting is great for anyone who needs flexibility. Think of your plan like a pay-as-you-go mobile: you decide your own resource limits each month, and pay accordingly. If you have a big marketing campaign coming up, for example, cloud hosting allows you to prepare for a one-off busy month.
There are dozens – if not hundreds – of hosting providers to choose from, and finding the right one can be a daunting prospect. That’s why we’ve undertaken hours of research to find the best cloud hosts in the business.
Best Cloud Hosting Providers and Services
- A2 Hosting: Best Overall for Cloud Hosting.
- Cloudways: A Close Runner-Up.
- Kamatera: Best for Customization.
- SiteGround: Best features.
- Hostwinds: Best for Those on a Budget.
- InMotion: Best Help & Support.
- HostGator: Unmetered Storage.
- DreamHost: Cheapest Cloud Hosting.
- Hostinger: Best Control Panel.
Let’s have a quick look at the top three from our list. A2 Hosting takes first place, with impressive features and an anytime money-back guarantee. Cloudways earns the second spot for its flexible data center options, while Kamatera takes third place with excellent customization options.
And we didn’t just pluck this list out of thin air; we’ve carefully cross-referenced features, compared uptime and reliability, checked prices and tested help and support channels to ensure we’re bringing you the best of the best.
You can take a closer look at these top three providers by comparing their star ratings below.
Read on for a complete breakdown of our ratings. We’ll cover which providers are suited to which needs, look at pricing, and throw in a few honorable mentions as well. Now let’s get going!
Also check out:
Best Web Hosting Services 2019 — Away from cloud hosting, find out who the overall best providers are.
Web Hosting Comparison Chart — For a side-by-side view of the top providers, see our detailed chart.
Side-By-Side Cloud Hosting Comparison
Hosting Provider | Max RAM | Max CPUs | Max Bandwidth | Root Access | Max Storage Space | Uptime | Cheapest Price | WBE Rating (/5) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A2 Hosting | 32GB | 12 | 9TB | ✓ | 250GB | 99.95% | $4.99/mo | 4.2 |
Cloudways | 384GB | 96 | 20TB | ✗ | 3840GB | 99.99% | $10/mo | 4 |
Kamatera | 524GB | 104V | 40GB | ✓ | 1000GB | 99.95% | $4/mo | 3.8 |
SiteGround | 10GB | 8 | 5TB | ✗ | 120GB | 99.98% | $80/mo | 3.7 |
Hostwinds | 96GB | 16 | 9TB | ✓ | 750GB | 99.97% | $4.99/mo | 3.6 |
InMotion | 8GB | Unmetered | 86TB | ✓ | 260GB | 99.97% | $17.99/mo | 3.2 |
HostGator | 6GB | 6 | Unmetered | ✗ | Unmetered | 99.99% | $4.95/mo | 3 |
DreamHost | 16GB | 8 | Unmetered | ✓ | 100GB | 99.95% | $4.50/mo | 3 |
Hostinger | 16GB | 8 | Unmetered | ✗ | 200GB | 99.97% | $9.99/mo | 2.9 |
If some of these terms sound like a load of techie jargon to you, don’t worry. Below, we’ll run through what they mean, and why they’re important:
Random-access Memory (RAM) is a kind of digital brainpower. It provides the data storage necessary for computers to complete tasks. The more RAM your site has, the more work it can handle. For most websites, a gigabyte (GB) or two ought to have you covered.
Computer Processing Units (CPUs) are the cores of your server. They act as the brain, processing information. Naturally, the more you have, the more efficient your site becomes.
Bandwidth is the amount of data that can flow between servers (i.e. your site), the internet, and users. Bandwidth dictates how much information can travel along its connections, as well as how quickly. Hosting with good bandwidth allows your site to cope with high traffic.
Root Access gives you the ability to customize your server’s environment. You can install specialist software, such as extra security, and make changes to hardware settings. This adds an extra layer of flexibility to your hosting and gives you greater control.
Uptime literally refers to the amount of time your website is up online. It’s impossible to achieve 100% uptime, but the aim is to get as near to that as possible. After all, if your site goes down, no one can access it.
How Do You Choose the Right Cloud Hosting Provider?
There are several key factors to consider when choosing a cloud hosting provider. We’ve tried to cater to them here. Only you can know exactly what you need; all we can do is point you in the right direction.
A few key things we recommend prioritizing are:
Your budget is a big one. How much are you willing to spend on hosting?
Customer support can be a godsend if you’re new to this whole web hosting malarkey. Not only will it support you through any hosting hiccups, but you’ll learn about how it works.
Money back guarantees ensure you don’t get trapped in an 18-month contract for a service you don’t want or need. It gives you time to see a provider in action.
Uptime is one of the most important features to consider. If your website goes down regularly it becomes a nightmare for everyone involved, so finding a provider that offers near-perfect uptime is a major plus.
Root access can also be useful to the more techie folk out there. Having more control over your server’s environment means you can install extra software that will benefit your site specifically.
The Best Cloud Hosting Providers: Conclusion
Cloud hosting is a modern, reliable form of hosting – it’s no wonder you’re interested in it!
From our research, there are nine standout cloud hosting providers. Each brings something slightly different to the table, so it’s important to know what you’re looking for.
To recap, let’s run through the top providers and what they specialize in.
The 9 Best Cloud Hosting Providers: The Roundup
- A2 Hosting: Best Overall for Cloud Hosting (from $5/month).
- Cloudways: A Close Runner-Up (from $10/month).
- Kamatera: Best for Customization (from $4/month).
- SiteGround: Best Features (from $80/month).
- Hostwinds: Best for Those on a Budget (from $4.99/month).
- InMotion: Best Help & Support (from $34.99/month).
- HostGator: Unmetered Storage (from $12.95/month).
- DreamHost: Cheapest Cloud Hosting (from $4.50/month).
- Hostinger: Best Control Panel (from $29/month).
If you’re looking for the crème de la crème of cloud hosting, A2 Hosting is the way to go. It has better features than any of its competitors, and won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
If you’re short on cash, the hosting provider we’d recommend is DreamHost. It offers the best value for money, with cloud hosting costing from just $4.50 per month.
Beyond price, features are the main thing you should look at. Identify what’s most important to you – storage, RAM, uptime etc. – and work from there. If you need a more detailed, side-by-side comparison, have a look at our web hosting providers comparison chart.
The Best Cloud Hosting Providers: FAQs
What’s the difference between shared hosting and cloud hosting?
Shared hosting involves multiple sites sharing the same server. Cloud hosting involve multiple sites sharing the resources of multiple servers. Cloud hosting isn’t bound to one location, and is therefore less prone to outages – if one server goes down, another can pick up the slack.
How much does cloud hosting cost?
Cloud hosting is very flexible, so the price you pay depends on the amount of resource you use. Generally speaking, cloud hosting starts at around $5, and can go up into the hundreds (or sometimes even thousands). Most sites will only need to pay between $5 and $50, though.
Can I change between hosting providers?
Yes. It’s like moving house online – you sign up to a new provider, move your digital belongings to your new home, then cancel your agreement with the old provider. This may sound finicky, but you’d be surprised how simple it is. Some providers – like HostGator – even offer to make the move for you.
Can I host a website myself?
It’s possible, but we don’t recommend it. At its heart, good hosting is about accessibility – anyone, anywhere should be able to access a website at any time. Setting up your own server requires a lot of technical knowhow, and chances are you’ll end up spending more for a less reliable server.
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