Cloudways vs Deluxe Hosting: guide for 2024

Cloudways vs Deluxe Hosting: Final verdict

Comparing Cloudways and DeluxeHosting, each hosting provider offers distinct advantages that cater to different types of users and needs.

• 
  Cloudways (Overall grade: 8.5)
  
  excels in managed cloud hosting, leveraging platforms like AWS and Google Cloud to deliver exceptional uptime and impressive performance metrics. It’s particularly suitable for high-traffic websites, eCommerce, and businesses requiring scalable and flexible hosting options. Advanced security features such as dedicated firewalls, automated protection, and two-factor authentication further enhance its appeal. The platform’s standout features include fast loading speeds, user-friendly server management with 1-click actions, and comprehensive 24/7 support. However, it lacks domain registration and bundled email hosting, which might require users to seek additional services elsewhere.
• 
  DeluxeHosting (Overall grade: 7.4)
  
  is better suited for small businesses and individuals looking for straightforward and reliable shared hosting solutions. It offers essential tools like SSD storage, cPanel, and comprehensive CMS integration, making it practical for those setting up an online presence without heavy technical demands. Despite its solid uptime and attractive features like unlimited domain names and free dedicated IPs in higher-tier plans, DeluxeHosting falls short in higher performance metrics and does not match Cloudways’ support and security offerings. Mixed customer reviews and the lack of advanced features might deter larger enterprises or developers in need of more robust solutions.

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 Cloudways: A premium managed cloud hosting service providing excellent uptime and top-notch performance.

Cloudways stands out with its managed cloud hosting solution, supporting platforms like AWS and Google Cloud. It guarantees 99.99% uptime, and recent tests show almost flawless performance. The platform also excels in server response time and loading speeds, making it a reliable choice for various business needs. Despite not offering domain registration or email hosting, its advanced features and user-friendly control panel compensate well.

Deluxe Hosting offers solid uptime and essential tools like SSD storage, cPanel, and manual backups. Although it guarantees 99.99% network uptime, customer reviews are mixed, and it lacks some advanced features offered by Cloudways. Deluxe Hosting remains a good option for individuals and small enterprises but falls short in providing higher performance metrics and premium support levels that developers and larger businesses often require.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: Offering superior speed, security, and support for WooCommerce stores.

When comparing the performance of Cloudways and DeluxeHosting, Cloudways stands out for its speed and efficiency. With SSD drives that are three times faster than traditional HDDs, integrated advanced caches like Memcached and Varnish, and an optimized stack featuring NGINX, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, and PHP-FPM, Cloudways ensures faster load times and better performance. DeluxeHosting’s performance capabilities are not detailed, making it hard to gauge its efficiency. Cloudways also offers Cloudflare Enterprise for added CDN capabilities, further enhancing website performance and security by mitigating malicious traffic. The availability of 1-click actions for various operational tasks adds to the convenience and efficiency.

Website Speed

Cloudways emphasizes website speed through various advanced features. The use of SSD hosting and built-in caches like Nginx and Redis significantly cuts down page load times. PHP 8.2-ready servers and auto-healing functionalities contribute to seamless and high-speed website performance, making it ideal for managing high-traffic WooCommerce stores. In contrast, we lack specific data to assess DeluxeHosting’s website speed thoroughly.

Scalability

Cloudways offers vertical scaling, enabling users to scale server resources such as RAM, CPU, and storage efficiently with minimal costs. The platform provides 1-click actions for tasks like backup/restore and website cloning, ensuring elasticity and convenience. It is unclear how DeluxeHosting handles scalability since specific details are not provided.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: Robust and multifaceted security coupled with ease of implementation.

Technical security measures:

Cloudways offers free SSL certificates via Let’s Encrypt, while Deluxe Hosting provides Positive SSL and Wildcard SSL at annual fees. Cloudways supports PHP 8 and other versions up to 8.2, giving users more flexibility, whereas Deluxe Hosting does not specify supported PHP versions. Cloudways employs dedicated server-level firewalls and platform-level firewalls, whereas Deluxe Hosting’s security is enhanced through the SiteLock Malware Scanner. Cloudways includes automated protection features like Fail2ban and bot protection via MalCare, which are absent in Deluxe Hosting’s specifications.

Operational security measures:

Cloudways regularly updates security patches and server OS to ensure continuous protection, while Deluxe Hosting offers daily malware scans through SiteLock but does not specify OS updates. Cloudways includes two-factor authentication and IP whitelisting for login security, whereas Deluxe Hosting provides advanced anti-spam filtering for email security. Cloudways ensures database security by allowing remote access only through whitelisted IPs, a feature not mentioned by Deluxe Hosting. Both hosting providers offer 24/7 support, but Cloudways includes additional features like auto-healing servers and built-in advanced caches.

Compliance and certifications:

Cloudways leverages PCI-DSS level 1 compliant hardware from underlying providers but is not PCI-DSS compliant itself. Deluxe Hosting does not specify PCI compliance details. Both providers align practices to GDPR, with Deluxe Hosting offering explicit compliance through sub-processor agreements and data deletion requests. HIPAA compliance is not specified by either hosting.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: Offering superior performance, security, and scalability features.

Cloudways and Deluxe Hosting cater to different audiences with their distinct set of features. Cloudways stands out with its performance-centric approach, providing SSD hosting, built-in caches, and an optimized stack, making it ideal for resource-intensive applications like WooCommerce. The service offers robust security measures including dedicated firewalls, SSL certificates, and login security features like 2FA and IP whitelisting. Cloudways also provides seamless scalability with vertical scaling options and a pay-as-you-go model, which is a boon for growing businesses. Additionally, Cloudways excels in ease of use with 1-click actions, staging URLs, and Git integration, topped with comprehensive 24/7 expert support.

Deluxe Hosting, on the other hand, is more focused on small businesses needing straightforward hosting solutions. Their plans offer ample storage and bandwidth, easy domain management with unlimited domain names in higher-tier plans, and essential CMS integrations like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. While the hosting plans come with personalized email addresses and SEO tools, there are additional features like automatic redundancy and eCommerce store setup which could be attractive for small businesses setting up an online presence. Deluxe Hosting also provides accessible support with a wide range of contact methods, though primarily limited to business hours.

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 Deluxe Hosting 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:

Cloudways offers a choice between Rackspace and Elastic Email for email hosting, making it versatile for both transactional emails and complex marketing campaigns. Deluxe Hosting provides personalized email addresses directly linked to your domain, but does not specify advanced email features or third-party integrations for more elaborate email requirements.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: Cloudways provides an extensive range of hosting plans catering to various needs, offering more versatile pricing options across different hosting types.

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.

Cloudways and DeluxeHosting offer varied hosting packages. Cloudways has a broader spectrum of hosting types, including WordPress, eCommerce, AWS, GCE, Vultr, and Linode hosting, with prices starting from $11/month. Their plans emphasize flexibility by offering both monthly and hourly pricing, more storage, and higher bandwidth capacities. DeluxeHosting primarily focuses on small business web and eCommerce hosting with plans like Basic, Web, and Pro starting at $15.99/month. DeluxeHosting’s unique offerings include unlimited domain names and free dedicated IP on higher plans, along with SSL and logo design services. Here’s a detailed breakdown of their plans and prices:

Enterprise plans

For enterprises, Cloudways offers highly scalable options from AWS and GCE, allowing businesses to choose plans with RAM up to 256 GB and advanced processor configurations. DeluxeHosting, though, lacks dedicated enterprise options, concentrating on small to mid-size businesses. For large-scale operations needing flexible cloud resources, Cloudways provides a better, more comprehensive solution.

🏆 Winner
Cloudways: Cloudways offers an intuitive setup with powerful 1-click actions and user-friendly control panel.

Cloudways features an intuitive control panel that simplifies server and application management, which is especially beneficial for users who may not be technically inclined. The platform supports 1-click actions for various operational tasks, such as backup and restore, website and server cloning, and launching applications like WordPress and PHP. SSH and SFTP access, along with pre-installed Git, contribute to a more seamless workflow for developers and non-developers alike, making Cloudways accessible to a broad audience.

Deluxe Hosting, on the other hand, utilizes the widely recognized cPanel interface, offering a familiar layout for those who have previous experience with web hosting management. The inclusion of a website builder with drag-and-drop functionality and built-in SEO features caters to those seeking a straightforward website setup experience. While cPanel is a standard in web hosting and provides extensive control, it may appear more complex to those who lack technical skills compared to Cloudways’ custom control panel.

Cloudways stands out in terms of migration tools by offering a free migration for the first website from any web host. This makes the transition to Cloudways hassle-free. Deluxe Hosting doesn’t explicitly mention free migration services, potentially incurring additional costs for users who wish to transfer their sites. Having free migration simplifies the process, saving time and effort for users switching to Cloudways.

Both Cloudways and Deluxe Hosting offer comprehensive help centers, but Cloudways edges out with its extensive resources and 24/7 expert support via live chat. The Cloudways Help Center provides numerous articles, guides, and a ticketing system for prompt responses. Deluxe Hosting’s support includes a website builder knowledgebase, tutorials, and 24/7/365 customer support via email and tickets, with phone and chat support available during business hours. The level of support and availability of immediate assistance makes Cloudways a more attractive option.

🏆 Winner
Cloudways: Efficient user management with flexible roles and robust access controls.

Cloudways and Deluxe Hosting both offer comprehensive user management features, but Cloudways stands out with its detailed approach to handling user roles and permissions through the WordPress Admin Panel. Cloudways allows for a granular definition of roles, including Super Admin, Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber. Each role comes with specific permissions, making it easier to delegate responsibilities within a team. On the other hand, Deluxe Hosting focuses on a more simplified model with its Contacts/Sub-Accounts, allowing for distinct contact permissions but with less granularity in role definitions.

Cloudways provides a user-friendly interface integrated directly into the WordPress Admin Panel, accessible via the Cloudways Platform. This seamless integration offers intuitive navigation for managing users and roles. In contrast, Deluxe Hosting requires users to navigate through the client area, using a separate Contacts/Sub-Accounts section for user management. Both platforms allow for easy adding, editing, and deleting of users, but Cloudways’ WordPress integration offers a more straightforward user experience.

In terms of access control, Cloudways excels in offering versatile team collaboration features, allowing users to join different teams and manage various aspects of the server. This flexibility is valuable for growing projects, as it allows for detailed role assignments and access levels. Deluxe Hosting also provides robust access control through its contact permissions but lacks the extensive team collaboration options available in Cloudways. Both platforms handle user additions and deletions efficiently, but Cloudways’ extended user roles make it more scalable for managing a larger user base.

Cloudways user roles table:

Deluxe Hosting user roles table:

🏆 Winner
Cloudways: Offers comprehensive customer service, flexible support options, and proactive monitoring.

Cloudways provides all-around service availability and a suite of support channels, including 24/7 live chat, phone support by request, and multiple premium support options. The premium add-ons further enhance customer experience with rapid response times, proactive monitoring, and access to dedicated account managers for tailored support.

Deluxe Hosting, while offering 24/7 email and ticket support, has more limited live chat and phone support, only available during standard business hours. Their support reviews indicate inconsistent response times and potential issues during critical downtimes. Where Cloudways excels in proactive and varied support options, Deluxe Hosting might fall short in delivering timely and around-the-clock customer support.

Cloudways vs Deluxe Hosting: 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.

This hosting provider generally receives positive feedback for its efficient and reliable service, ensuring minimal downtime and speedy performance. Many users appreciate the responsive and knowledgeable customer support team, which resolves issues promptly. However, some have expressed concerns about occasional billing discrepancies and find the pricing a bit steep compared to similar services. Overall, the provider is highly recommended for its robust performance and excellent customer care.

Cloudways vs Deluxe Hosting: FAQ