Cloudways vs Atlantic.net: guide for 2024

Cloudways vs Atlantic.net: Final verdict

Looking over Cloudways vs. Atlantic.Net, both offer strong web hosting services, but each caters to different user needs and preferences.

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  Cloudways (Overall grade: 8.5)
  
  provides an excellent solution for users needing dynamic, high-performance websites, especially those using WordPress and eCommerce platforms. The platform boasts features like SSD hosting, multiple caching mechanisms, and vertical scaling that enhance speed and flexibility. Cloudways also provides a near-perfect uptime of 99.99% and an intuitive control panel with 1-click actions for backups and cloning, simplifying server management. However, it lacks domain registration and built-in email hosting, which might necessitate additional solutions for some users.
• 
  Atlantic.Net (Overall grade: 8.2)
  
  stands out with its impressive 100% uptime guarantees and robust security features, including compliance certifications such as SOC 2 TYPE II, SOC 3 TYPE II, and HIPAA. The platform’s daily backups, high data transfer limits, and PCI compliance make it highly reliable, especially for businesses needing stringent security standards. Although it provides dedicated and VPS hosting options with a strong emphasis on security, the lack of broader performance-enhancing features and an in-house email solution might limit its appeal for certain high-performance applications.

Hosting types offered

Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.

Although both offer a variety of hosting plans tailored to different needs, in certain cases, one platform may prove to be more suitable.

Detailed comparison

Winner Atlantic.Net: A world-class provider with unparalleled uptime guarantees and compliance certifications.

Atlantic.Net stands out with its impressive 100% uptime guarantees across network, hardware, and infrastructure. Its SOC 2 TYPE II and SOC 3 TYPE II certified data centers ensure top-tier security and reliability. With 24/7 monitoring, daily backups, and an easy-to-navigate control panel, users can manage their hosting environment efficiently. The additional PCI and HIPAA compliance make it an excellent choice for businesses needing stringent security standards.

🏆 Winner: Cloudways also presents a strong case with a near-perfect uptime of 99.99% and an array of performance metrics such as an average server response time of 229ms. It shines in offering managed cloud services and supports multiple cloud infrastructure providers. However, despite its excellent performance and unique features like vertical scaling and built-in caches, the lack of domain registration and email hosting might require additional solutions.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: Offers superior performance features and scalability for dynamic websites.

When comparing the performance of Cloudways and Atlantic.Net, Cloudways stands out due to its speed-enhancing features and support for dynamic websites. Cloudways offers SSD hosting, significantly reducing page load times with advanced integrated caching mechanisms such as Memcached, Varnish, Nginx, and Redis. Their optimized stack that includes NGINX, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, and PHP-FPM is designed to handle high traffic loads. Furthermore, Cloudflare Enterprise adds an extra layer of protection and performance. Atlantic.Net focuses on large storage plans, memory, and CPU optimization at low costs. They also provide features like daily backups, snapshots, and RAID-10 Cloud Storage for redundancy. Both services offer scalable solutions, but Cloudways provides a broader range of in-built performance features.

Website Speed

Cloudways excels in boosting website speed through SSD hosting and built-in advanced caching features, ensuring lightning-fast load times. With PHP 8.2 ready servers and auto-healing capabilities, websites experience minimal downtime. The included WordPress Cache Plugin, Breeze, is used by hundreds of thousands to further optimize load times. Atlantic.Net’s WordPress VPS Hosting also provides a speedy solution with one-click deployment and daily backups, albeit with a narrower focus on WordPress setups. They ensure redundancy with RAID-10 Cloud Storage, while offering performance and security with up-to-date Linux OS and Apache Web Server. However, the advanced caching and broader optimization tools in Cloudways give it an edge.

Scalability

Cloudways offers vertical scaling, allowing users to easily adjust server resources such as RAM, CPU, and storage. This flexibility enables high availability and performance at lower costs. With 1-click actions for operational tasks like backup/restore and cloning, scaling is made simple and cost-effective. Atlantic.Net provides scalable solutions as well, including dedicated hosts and managed private clouds alongside hybrid cloud options with load balancing. The cost for scaling in Atlantic.Net is customized and may vary based on individual needs. Cloudways makes scaling more accessible with its intuitive interface and straightforward processes.

🏆 Winner
Atlantic.Net: Atlantic.Net offers a robust security suite and strong compliance measures, making it a reliable choice for businesses with stringent security requirements.

Both Cloudways and Atlantic.Net, have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational
security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

Cloudways provides server-level and platform-level firewalls, automated protection with Fail2ban and bot protection, regular security patches, and a dedicated Cloudflare Enterprise for DDoS mitigation. Atlantic.Net, on the other hand, includes a managed firewall, intrusion prevention service, encrypted VPN, and Trend Micro Deep Security Suite for comprehensive protection. Both offer SSL certificates, although Cloudways includes free 1-click SSL implementation. For PHP versions, Cloudways supports up to PHP 8.2, whereas specific versions for Atlantic.Net are not listed.

Operational security measures:

Cloudways utilizes tools like a vulnerability scanner in collaboration with Patchstack, two-factor authentication (2FA), IP whitelisting, and auto-healing servers. Atlantic.Net offers managed firewalls, intrusion prevention services, encrypted backups, and multi-factor authentication. Additionally, Atlantic.Net has a log management system and both onsite and offsite backup options for faster recovery. Cloudways incorporates application isolation and database security, ensuring WooCommerce stores are isolated from others.

Compliance and certifications:

Atlantic.Net is PCI, GDPR, and HIPAA ready, offering a robust compliance suite, including HIPAA-compliant hosting, PCI-compliant solutions, and GDPR readiness. Cloudways leverages PCI-DSS compliant hardware provided by cloud infrastructure partners like Google Compute Engine and AWS, although specific compliance such as HIPAA is not mentioned. Cloudways has measures likely aligning with GDPR, focusing on data protection and security.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: Cloudways provides a versatile and robust hosting solution suitable for various applications.

Both Cloudways and Atlantic.Net offer a plethora of features for hosting solutions, catering to different user requirements. Cloudways excels in providing SSD hosting, built-in caches, and an optimized stack, ensuring a high-performance environment. User-friendliness is emphasized with 1-click actions for backups and website cloning, making it simple for users to manage their applications. Moreover, Cloudways includes free migration, automated backups, and SSH/SFTP access, which enhances the ease of use. In contrast, Atlantic.Net’s standout feature is its one-click WordPress VPS hosting that launches in less than 30 seconds, configured with the latest technologies. This appeals to users looking for a swift and modern hosting setup. They offer different pricing plans and load balancing, making them flexible for various needs. Despite the comprehensive range of features, they do not explicitly provide a website builder, which could be a limitation for some.

Security and scalability are strengths both providers share, though they approach them differently. Cloudways offers dedicated firewalls, SSL certificates, two-factor authentication, and vertical scaling with pay-as-you-go plans. Their support system includes 24/7 expert support and a robust troubleshooting toolkit. Atlantic.Net, on the other hand, adds value with HIPAA-compliant hosting and vulnerability scans, making it a good fit for users requiring stringent security measures. They also assist with server migrations and provide on-watch platinum monitoring. Both providers support multiple operating systems and offer root access, yet Cloudways’ inclusion of Cloudflare Enterprise and advanced caching plugins (like Breeze and Redis) gives it an edge in optimizing performance for WooCommerce and similar applications.

Both providers support a range of users from beginners to experts with user-friendly website builders and WordPress staging areas. However, in terms of developer tools, both Cloudways and Atlantic.Net offer robust options including SSH access, support for multiple programming languages, and Git for version control, thus appealing to developers looking for advanced capabilities.

Email services:

Email services at Cloudways are provided through Rackspace and Elastic Email add-ons, which allow users to set up their email campaigns and handle transactional emails effectively. Atlantic.Net does not explicitly offer dedicated email hosting services but focuses on reselling third-party services like Google Workspace or Outlook. This could influence a customer’s choice, depending on their email hosting requirements.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: Offers an extensive range of scalable hosting plans suitable for diverse needs.

Evaluating the pricing of plans among various hosting providers can be complex due to their differing pricing and renewal strategies. Additionally, certain plans require annual commitments, which adds to the difficulty of making comparisons. The prices listed are based on monthly commitments; plans requiring annual commitments are indicated. Additionally, although some providers offer identical plans for WordPress and shared hosting, we have created separate tables for each to enhance clarity.

When comparing Cloudways and Atlantic.Net, Cloudways excels with a more comprehensive suite of hosting types, including WordPress, eCommerce, AWS, GCE, Vultr, and Linode options. Cloudways also offers flexible pay-as-you-go hourly pricing models. However, Atlantic.Net provides more affordable prices in the general-purpose category and robust feature sets like daily cloud backups, RAID-10 storage, and tailored security options. Each provider has its strengths, making it crucial to assess based on your unique needs.

Enterprise plans

Cloudways provides a versatile range of high-capacity plans, making it an advantageous choice for enterprises needing extensive resources and scalability. Their AWS and Google Compute Engine hosting options offer robust setups with a high number of processors and RAM. Atlantic.Net, on the other hand, delivers competitive enterprise plans with impressive features like daily backups, managed services, and high data transfer limits. Ultimately, the choice depends on the specific enterprise requirements, considering factors like resource needs, price flexibility, and included features.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: A more user-friendly hosting platform with extensive 1-click actions and features.

Cloudways provides an intuitive and user-friendly control panel that simplifies server and application management. The platform’s interface is designed for both technical and non-technical users, offering straightforward access to various functions such as backup/restore, website/server cloning, and launching applications including WordPress, Magento, Laravel, and PHP apps. Pre-installed Git, SSH, and SFTP access further enhance the ease of managing your web server and applications. Users can also benefit from 1-click cloning and free staging URLs, making it simpler to test changes before going live.

Atlantic.Net offers a standard control panel with their One-Click WordPress VPS Hosting. Users can quickly launch WordPress applications with root access to the server and full access to the control panel. Setting up a WordPress VPS server is streamlined, taking less than 30 seconds. However, the process requires several steps, such as naming the server, choosing the data center location, and selecting additional options like SSH or cloud backups. While the control panel is effective, it doesn’t offer the same breadth of 1-click actions and intuitive features found in Cloudways.

Cloudways stands out with its free migration service for the first website from any web host, making it easier for users to switch to their platform. The process is designed to be smooth and hassle-free, providing an extra incentive for new users. In contrast, Atlantic.Net offers detailed support for server migrations, but does not explicitly mention a free migration service, making this process potentially more cumbersome and costly if engaging their support services.

Both Cloudways and Atlantic.Net provide extensive help centers and support resources. Cloudways has a comprehensive knowledge base with articles and guides, a 24/7 live chat, a ticketing system, and a strong community of experts. Cloudways’ Help Center can be accessed here: Cloudways Help Center. Atlantic.Net provides 24/7/365 support with a team of experienced staff, and their resources include server management and other technical services. Their help center can be accessed here: Atlantic.net Help Center.

🏆 Winner Atlantic.Net: Comprehensive access control and meticulous role-based permissions.

Both Cloudways and Atlantic.Net provide robust user management capabilities, but differ in flexibility and control granularity. Cloudways focuses on WordPress roles with a user-friendly approach, including simple steps to add, edit, delete, and manage user roles such as Super Admin, Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber. On the other hand, Atlantic.Net aligns user management with stringent compliance requirements like PCI and HIPAA. It emphasizes business-need-to-know principles and integrates multi-factor authentication (MFA) for heightened security and clear permission delineation.

The user interfaces and tools provided by each platform also vary. Cloudways utilizes the WordPress admin panel, enabling users to manage roles and permissions directly within WordPress. It offers an intuitive setup where users can navigate to “All Users,” add new users, or adjust existing user roles with ease. Conversely, Atlantic.Net presents a more comprehensive control interface, incorporating MFA and detailed audit controls. This setup offers seamless integration with a variety of cloud and on-premise applications, ensuring secure and efficient user management across different platforms.

When assessing effectiveness in access control measures, Cloudways provides practical options for team collaboration, delegating responsibilities based on user roles. However, Atlantic.Net excels with its stringent access restrictions under PCI and HIPAA guidelines, ensuring unauthorized access is minimized. The platform’s policy enforcement and endpoint security measures contribute to managing a growing number of users efficiently. Automated alerts and role-based policies ensure user actions are monitored and controlled effectively.

Cloudways User Roles Table:

Atlantic.Net User Roles Table:

🏆 Winner Cloudways: Cloudways offers a wide range of customer support channels and proactive monitoring features.

Cloudways excels in providing numerous customer support options, including live chat, email/ticket support, and phone support upon request. Their support add-ons come in three tiers—Standard, Advanced, and Premium—all offering different response times and additional features like customization support and proactive monitoring. Premium support even includes a private Slack channel and a personal account manager. This flexibility makes Cloudways highly responsive to various customer needs.

Atlantic.Net, on the other hand, focuses primarily on traditional support channels like phone and email, available 24/7. They also offer a rich knowledge base and blog for self-help, and multiple specialized email addresses for different types of queries. Though they have a dedicated and experienced support team, they lack some of the more modern support options like live chat and enterprise-grade support features seen in Cloudways.

Cloudways vs Atlantic.net: User feedback

User feedback for this hosting provider is predominantly positive, highlighting easy-to-use interface and robust customer support as key strengths. Users appreciate the intuitive platform, simplified server management, and various performance-boosting features, making it ideal for both personal and client projects. However, some users noted challenges for those with limited technical knowledge and expressed concerns about pricing, lack of email hosting, and occasional user interface issues. Overall, the strong support and fast, reliable performance make it a favored choice despite minor drawbacks.

Users generally praise the hosting provider for its strong reliability, great value for cost, and high performance, particularly in maintaining uptime and fast network speeds. The customer portal and service tools are appreciated for their ease of use, although some customers find navigation to help pages cumbersome and suggest improvements in the console’s functionality. Support is often noted as responsive and helpful, although a few users desire faster response times and multilingual support. Some users also wish for expanded backup options and additional features in specific data centers but overall, find the service robust and dependable for their needs.

Cloudways vs Atlantic.net: FAQ