Cloudways alternatives
12 alternatives to Cloudways in Best Hosting for Media Publishers, independently scored — 5 for small publishers, 7 mid-market, 9 enterprise.
Cloudways scores 3.2/5 in this benchmark. Last verified Nov 12, 2026 · No vendor payments.
| Compare | Tool | Score | Best for | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best-in-Class 1 | ||||||
WordPress VIP Enterprise managed WordPress built for high-traffic publishers and answer engines. | 4.2 | Enterprise | ||||
| Strong Choice 4 | ||||||
Google Cloud Platform Enterprise-scale raw infrastructure for data-driven media ecosystems. | 3.8 | Enterprise | ||||
Kinsta Premium managed WordPress hosting on Google Cloud with a polished, developer-first dashboard. | 3.9 | Small, Mid-market | ||||
Pagely Managed WordPress for enterprise and media on dedicated AWS hardware with high availability. | 3.9 | Enterprise | ||||
WP Engine Managed WordPress hosting that balances performance, support and price for growing publishers. | 4.1 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
| Fair Fit 2 | ||||||
 Amazon Web Services Global hyper-scale infrastructure for bespoke digital publishing stacks. | 3.5 | Enterprise | ||||
Pantheon WebOps platform for WordPress, Drupal and Next.js portfolios that need governance at scale. | 3.6 | Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
| Limited 5 | ||||||
Hostinger Launch and grow your business with one agentic platform. | 2.1 | Small | ||||
Hostzop Cloud Regional managed infrastructure and Tier 3 data center services. | 2.9 | Mid-market | ||||
Liquid Web Managed WordPress (formerly Nexcess) Expect more expertise from your host | 2.7 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
Pressable Enterprise-grade managed CMS hosting backed by industry-leading infrastructure. | 2.9 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
Rocket.net AI-native managed CMS hosting optimized for high-performance content delivery. | 3.1 | Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
| Compare | Tool | Score | Best for | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong Choice 2 | ||||||
Kinsta Premium managed WordPress hosting on Google Cloud with a polished, developer-first dashboard. | 3.9 | Small, Mid-market | ||||
WP Engine Managed WordPress hosting that balances performance, support and price for growing publishers. | 4.1 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
| Limited 3 | ||||||
Hostinger Launch and grow your business with one agentic platform. | 2.1 | Small | ||||
Liquid Web Managed WordPress (formerly Nexcess) Expect more expertise from your host | 2.7 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
Pressable Enterprise-grade managed CMS hosting backed by industry-leading infrastructure. | 2.9 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
| Compare | Tool | Score | Best for | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong Choice 2 | ||||||
Kinsta Premium managed WordPress hosting on Google Cloud with a polished, developer-first dashboard. | 3.9 | Small, Mid-market | ||||
WP Engine Managed WordPress hosting that balances performance, support and price for growing publishers. | 4.1 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
| Fair Fit 1 | ||||||
Pantheon WebOps platform for WordPress, Drupal and Next.js portfolios that need governance at scale. | 3.6 | Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
| Limited 4 | ||||||
Hostzop Cloud Regional managed infrastructure and Tier 3 data center services. | 2.9 | Mid-market | ||||
Liquid Web Managed WordPress (formerly Nexcess) Expect more expertise from your host | 2.7 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
Pressable Enterprise-grade managed CMS hosting backed by industry-leading infrastructure. | 2.9 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
Rocket.net AI-native managed CMS hosting optimized for high-performance content delivery. | 3.1 | Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
| Compare | Tool | Score | Best for | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best-in-Class 1 | ||||||
WordPress VIP Enterprise managed WordPress built for high-traffic publishers and answer engines. | 4.2 | Enterprise | ||||
| Strong Choice 3 | ||||||
Google Cloud Platform Enterprise-scale raw infrastructure for data-driven media ecosystems. | 3.8 | Enterprise | ||||
Pagely Managed WordPress for enterprise and media on dedicated AWS hardware with high availability. | 3.9 | Enterprise | ||||
WP Engine Managed WordPress hosting that balances performance, support and price for growing publishers. | 4.1 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
| Fair Fit 2 | ||||||
Amazon Web Services Global hyper-scale infrastructure for bespoke digital publishing stacks. | 3.5 | Enterprise | ||||
Pantheon WebOps platform for WordPress, Drupal and Next.js portfolios that need governance at scale. | 3.6 | Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
| Limited 3 | ||||||
Liquid Web Managed WordPress (formerly Nexcess) Expect more expertise from your host | 2.7 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
Pressable Enterprise-grade managed CMS hosting backed by industry-leading infrastructure. | 2.9 | Small, Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
Rocket.net AI-native managed CMS hosting optimized for high-performance content delivery. | 3.1 | Mid-market, Enterprise | ||||
Before you switch — what Cloudways does well
Strengths
- Choice of 5 underlying cloud providers
- Very cost-efficient for the performance
- Easy vertical scaling
And where it was marked down
- Less hand-holding than fully-managed WP hosts
- Faster support SLAs need paid add-ons
- Email is a paid add-on ($1/mailbox/mo)
Common questions
What is the best alternative to Cloudways?
There is no single best one. The 12 tools below are grouped by editorial tier and listed A to Z inside each tier. 7 score above Cloudways's 3.2/5 and 5 below it. Which suits you depends on your publication's size, revenue model and vertical.
Why would a publisher move away from Cloudways?
Our editors flagged: Less hand-holding than fully-managed WP hosts; Faster support SLAs need paid add-ons; Email is a paid add-on ($1/mailbox/mo). Whether those matter depends on your setup — many publishers run Cloudways successfully despite them.
Are these alternatives ranked by paid placement?
No. Every tool here is grouped by editorial tier and listed A to Z within each tier — there is no position to buy. Scores are set by SODP's editorial team against each category's published criteria, and vendors cannot pay for inclusion, for a score, or for a position on this page.
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Where to next
Four questions, and a scored stack across every benchmark — not just Best Hosting for Media Publishers
Every scored tool in Best Hosting for Media Publishers, with the criteria behind each number
The full assessment, strengths and cost of ownership
