Cloudways vs Fastcomet: Final verdict
Looking over Cloudways vs. FastComet, both offer impressive features but cater to different user preferences.
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Cloudways (Overall grade: 8.5)
stands out with its robust performance and flexibility, making it an ideal choice for developers and high-traffic websites. The platform’s managed cloud hosting guarantees virtually perfect uptime, supported by advanced caching tools and fast server response times. Its highly customizable environment, integrated security features like Fail2Ban, and scalability options make it suitable for agencies and growing businesses. However, the absence of traditional hosting services like shared hosting and the lack of included email hosting may deter some users.
FastComet (Overall grade: 7.7)
provides reliable hosting with a strong focus on ease of use and comprehensive support. The use of cPanel ensures a familiar interface for traditional hosting management, coupled with ample features like free SSL certificates, domain registration, and extensive security measures such as Imunify360. FastComet’s competitive pricing, especially in shared and cloud hosting plans, makes it a cost-effective option for small and medium-sized businesses. While it excels in support and operational security, limited disk space and higher costs compared to some competitors might be potential drawbacks for price-sensitive users.
Overall grade:8.5 |
Overall grade:7.7 |
|
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Uptime and Availability | 9.5 | 9.1 |
Hosting Performance | 8.8 | 9.2 |
Hosting Security | 8.0 | 8.6 |
Price | 8.6 | 8.8 |
Hosting Features | 6.9 | 8.2 |
Ease Of Setup | 9.0 | 8.6 |
User Management | 8.2 | 0.0 |
Customer Support | 9.2 | 9.2 |
User feedback | 4.7/5 | 4.5/5 |
Hosting types offered
Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.
Shared hosting | No | Yes |
Cloud hosting | Yes | No |
WordPress hosting | Yes | Yes |
Ecommerce hosting | Yes | Yes |
VPS hosting | No | Yes |
Dedicated hosting | No | Yes |
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
Uptime and availability
Evaluates the average uptime statistics, uptime guarantee and overall availability of the hosting
provider
Score Components:
- Uptime percentage (30%): evaluates the uptime statistics in given period of time
- Uptime guarantee (20%): Assesses if the platform offers an uptime guarantee and
whether the actual uptime matches the promised guarantee. - General performance (25%): Evaluates how fast is the average response time and overall
it’s stability. - Responsiveness (10%): Adaptability to different devices and screen sizes.
- Availability (25%): Reflects the total downtime and number of outages.
Winner Cloudways: Cloudways provides exceptional uptime and performance for managed cloud hosting users.
Cloudways stands out with impressive uptime results: 100% for both 2020 and 2021, and 99.99% for 2022. This near-perfect record outperforms many competitors, making it highly reliable. Their average server response time of 229ms and fully loaded time of 0.9s further signify strong performance, making it a solid option for managing servers across multiple cloud platforms and offering various advanced features.
FastComet offers a guaranteed uptime of 99.9%, backed by proactive monitoring and compensations for downtimes. While still reliable, it falls short compared to Cloudways’ consistency over recent years. FastComet shines with its wide network of data centers and CDN access points, providing good network uptime and public network speed. Both providers offer 24/7 support, but Cloudways’ higher performance metrics give it the edge.
Which one has better hosting performance?
Score Components:
- Hosting speed (30%): This includes SSD quality, Load times, PageSpeed score ranges,
additional information on website speed, built-in plugins for performance enhancement, available caching
methods, and CPU/RAM options - CDN (20%): Considers whether CDN is available or not, whether it’s free or paid, and
the quality of the CDN service - Available data centers (30%): Evaluates the number of data centers and their locations
globally. - Scalibility (20%): Looks at whether elastic scaling is available, the process required
to scale (manual upgrade vs. automatic scaling), the presence of dedicated servers, and the costs
associated with scaling.
🏆 Winner
FastComet: FastComet offers advanced server hardware, a network of global data centers, and comprehensive security features.
Both Cloudways and FastComet offer impressive hosting speeds with their SSD-based setups. Cloudways uses SSD drives which are three times faster than traditional HDDs, whereas FastComet leverages NVMe SSDs that are seven times faster in queries and file access. Cloudways incorporates advanced caching tools like Memcached, Varnish, Nginx, and Redis, while FastComet offers an all-in-one site acceleration plugin with LiteSpeed cache. Cloudways has Cloudflare Enterprise for global CDN coverage, while FastComet integrates free Cloudflare CDN with 200+ access points. Cloudways has several data centers; FastComet surpasses with 11 data centers across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Website Speed
Cloudways impresses with a range of caching options, including the WordPress Breeze plugin, boosting its speed capabilities. The built-in NGINX and Redis caches further contribute to swift load times. FastComet’s use of AMD EPYC servers and LiteSpeed Enterprise web server outpaces Cloudways’ NGINX and Apache combo, delivering 12x faster performance for WordPress. With HTTP/3 support and NVMe SSDs, FastComet’s setup ensures quicker connections and loading speeds.
Scalability
Cloudways offers vertical scaling, allowing customers to increase their server resources such as RAM, CPU, and storage with minimal costs. FastComet offers elastic scaling through a scalable cloud system, enabling seamless increases in resources with a 1-click purchase. While both provide dedicated server solutions, Cloudways’ focus on a flexible scaling approach makes it more user-centric. Unfortunately, specific cost details for scaling on either platform are not provided.
Which one has better security features?
and regulatory requirements
Score Components:
- Technical security measures (40%): This includes encryption, firewalls, DDoS
protection, secure configurations, server monitoring, access control and availability of security addons
(e.g Sitelock security). - Operational security measures (30%): Encompasses data privacy, backups and data
redundancy. - Compliance and certifications (20%): Adherence to legal and regulatory requirements
(e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) and possession of certifications (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2). - Business and reliability (10%): Factors in the provider’s reputation, uptime
guarantees, and customer support.
🏆 Winner FastComet: FastComet offers a comprehensive suite of security features for a safer and more robust hosting environment.
Technical security measures:
FastComet provides unlimited free SSL certificates with ACMEv2 support and a one-click installation. Cloudways also offers free SSL certificates through Let’s Encrypt. Both providers support multiple PHP versions, though Cloudways includes the very latest, PHP 8.2. For firewall protection, Cloudways uses both server-level and platform-level firewalls, while FastComet employs a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to guard against numerous web-based threats. Cloudways offers automated protection mechanisms such as Fail2ban and bot protection, and FastComet uses Imunify360 for comprehensive traffic monitoring and protection. FastComet further integrates DNS and DDoS protection via Cloudflare, similar to Cloudways’ Cloudflare Enterprise integration for DDoS mitigation.
Operational security measures:
Cloudways has automated protection features including regular security patches and updates, Fail2ban, and bot protection powered by MalCare. FastComet performs daily and on-demand malware scans and has automatic application updates. FastComet also isolates accounts within a CloudLinux environment to prevent cross-account vulnerabilities. Both hosts offer two-factor authentication, though FastComet additionally uses CageFS security for enhanced account isolation. For account monitoring, FastComet’s automated monitoring system evaluates performance to preemptively handle resource spikes, whereas Cloudways focuses more on regular updates and patches for server integrity.
Compliance and certifications:
For GDPR compliance, FastComet provides GDPR Protection by default, masking WHOIS information for EEA customers. Cloudways likely aligns with GDPR due to its security and data protection practices but does not explicitly state compliance. Neither Cloudways nor FastComet claims HIPAA compliance. Cloudways is not PCI-DSS compliant, though it uses hardware that is. Similarly, FastComet does not explicitly mention PCI compliance but showcases significant security measures.
SSL certificate |
Free 1-Click SSL |
Free, Unlimited SSL |
Additional security features |
Fail2ban, MalCare Bot Protection |
Imunify360, SpamExperts |
PHP versions |
Up to PHP 8.2 |
8.2, 8.1, 8.0, 7.4, and others |
GDPR compliance |
Likely, but not stated explicitly |
GDPR Protection, Domain Privacy |
HIPAA compliance |
Not specified |
Not specified |
PCI compliance |
Not PCI-DSS compliant |
Not specified |
Hosting features
Score Components:
- Domains (20%): Assesses the availability of a free domain, domain purchase options, and
pricing - Email (15%): Considers if the provider offers full email hosting, or is reselling
third-party service, and if the email is only transactional or not - Website builder (15%): Checks if website builder is available, and it’s user
friendliness and overall the level of customization allowed. - Staging environment (20%): Determines if a staging environment is available, allowing
for testing changes before going live. - FTP & SFTP accounts (10%): Evaluates if and how easily users can access FTP and
SFTP accounts - Git and SSH access (20%): Assess whether Git is integrated into the hosting service and
if SSH access is provided
🏆 Winner
Example hosting one: Offers a comprehensive suite of hosting features and superior support services.
Both Example hosting one and Example hosting two provide robust hosting solutions, but they cater to different user needs. Example hosting one excels in performance with its SSD hosting, built-in caches, optimized stack, and advanced security features like dedicated firewalls and IP whitelisting. It’s particularly user-friendly for developers with its 1-Click actions, team collaboration tools, and comprehensive support. Example hosting one streamlines complex processes such as server and website cloning, making it ideal for those who need a highly customisable environment without compromising on ease of use.
Example hosting two, on the other hand, offers more straightforward web hosting management through its cPanel control panel and includes a free domain name registration with every hosting account. Its Imunify360 security suite and multiple data centers enhance reliability and security. Example hosting two also provides unlimited FTP accounts and free SSL certificates for extra value. Notable perks include their WordPress Toolkit for mass management and off-site backups up to 30 days, which makes it appealing for users who prefer a more traditional web hosting setup with extensive support and easier upgrade options.
Free domain |
No |
Yes |
Free SSL |
Yes, Let’s Encrypt |
Yes, Let’s Encrypt |
Email hosting |
Yes, add-ons |
Yes |
Website builder |
No |
Yes, WordPress Toolkit |
Staging environment |
Yes |
Yes |
FTP & SFTP accounts |
Yes |
Yes |
Git and SSH access |
Yes |
Yes |
Free backup |
Yes |
Yes, up to 30 days |
Money back guarantee |
No |
Yes |
a location.
As a result, in rare cases, the features mentioned here can differ from the ones you see on their websites.
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 Example hosting one and Example hosting two 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:
Example hosting one offers Rackspace Email Add-on and Elastic Email for transactional emails and email hosting, providing options for integrating email campaigns. Example hosting two includes free email hosting and offers more integrated email services, suitable for users seeking to manage their own email activities comprehensively.
Price
Score Components:
- Plan value (40%): What each pricing tier offers.
- Transparency and clarity (30%): Clearness of pricing structures.
- Flexibility of plans (20%): Range of options to suit different budgets.
- Hidden costs (10%): Additional expenses not included in the plan.
🏆 Winner
Example hosting two: FastComet scores slightly higher overall, mainly due to the robust features included in their plans and the transparency of what’s included.
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.
Comparing the pricing plans of Cloudways and FastComet reveals key differences in their offerings. Cloudways provides a variety of WordPress hosting plans, eCommerce hosting plans, and infrastructure-focused hosting options such as AWS, GCE, Vultr, and Linode with detailed hardware specifications and higher price points. FastComet, on the other hand, offers competitively priced shared hosting plans with substantial features like free domain registration, secure off-site backups, and CDN integration, making it attractive to small and medium-sized businesses. Both providers offer cloud VPS hosting options, but FastComet’s pricing includes broader features like unlimited websites and enhanced security, making it a cost-effective choice for users requiring more resources and support.
DO1GB $11
1 website, 25 GB storage, 1 TB bandwidth, includes 1 GB RAM and 1 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.0
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N/A
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DO2GB $24
1 website, 50 GB storage, 2 TB bandwidth, includes 2 GB RAM and 1 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.2
|
N/A
|
DO4GB $46
1 website, 80 GB storage, 4 TB bandwidth, includes 4 GB RAM and 2 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.5
|
N/A
|
DO8GB $88
1 website, 160 GB storage, 5 TB bandwidth, includes 8 GB RAM and 4 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.7
|
N/A
|
DO16GB $149
1 website, 320 GB storage, 6 TB bandwidth, includes 16 GB RAM and 8 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.8
|
N/A
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DO32GB $240
1 website, 640 GB storage, 7 TB bandwidth, includes 32 GB RAM and 8 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.9
|
N/A
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DO48GB $342
1 website, 960 GB storage, 8 TB bandwidth, includes 48 GB RAM and 12 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.9
|
N/A
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DO64GB $421
1 website, 1280 GB storage, 9 TB bandwidth, includes 64 GB RAM and 16 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.7
|
N/A
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DO92GB $566
1 website, 1920 GB storage, 10 TB bandwidth, includes 92 GB RAM and 20 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.7
|
N/A
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DO128GB $729
1 website, 2560 GB storage, 11 TB bandwidth, includes 128 GB RAM and 24 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.6
|
N/A
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DO192GB $1056
1 website, 3840 GB storage, 12 TB bandwidth, includes 192 GB RAM and 32 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.5
|
N/A
|
N/A
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Starter Plan $8.95
1 website, 10 GB storage, 20480 MB traffic, includes 1 GB RAM and 1 Core processor. Free domain registration, SSL, CDN integration, daily backups. Value for price:7.8
|
N/A
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Essential Plan $11.95
1 website, 20 GB storage, 35840 MB traffic, includes 2 GB RAM and 2 Core processor. Free domain registration, SSL, CDN integration, daily backups. Value for price:8.2
|
N/A
|
Plus Plan $17.95
Unlimited websites, 30 GB storage, 66560 MB traffic, includes 3 GB RAM and 3 Core processor. Free domain registration, SSL, CDN integration, daily backups. Value for price:8.7
|
N/A
|
Extra Plan $24.95
Unlimited websites, 40 GB storage, 97280 MB traffic, includes 4 GB RAM and 4 Core processor. Free domain registration, SSL, CDN integration, daily backups. Value for price:9.0
|
DO1GB $11
1 website, 25 GB storage, 1 TB bandwidth, includes 1 GB RAM and 1 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:7.9
|
Cloud 1 Plan $65.95
Unlimited websites, 50 GB storage, 2 TB bandwidth, includes 2 GB RAM and 1 Core processor. Free domain transfer, website setup, and DDoS protection. Value for price:8.0
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DO2GB $24
1 website, 50 GB storage, 2 TB bandwidth, includes 2 GB RAM and 1 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.1
|
Cloud 2 Plan $76.95
Unlimited websites, 80 GB storage, 4 TB bandwidth, includes 4 GB RAM and 2 Core processor. Free domain transfer, website setup, and DDoS protection. Value for price:8.5
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DO4GB $46
1 website, 80 GB storage, 4 TB bandwidth, includes 4 GB RAM and 2 Core processor. 24/7 support. Value for price:8.4
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Cloudways vs Fastcomet: Ease of setupEvaluates the ease of setting up and migrating websites on the hosting
platform. Score Components:
9.0
8.6
🏆 Winner Cloudways: A user-friendly hosting platform with one-click actions and intuitive controls. Cloudways provides an intuitive control panel designed for seamless usability for both technical and non-technical users. The custom panel offers one-click actions for tasks such as backup/restore, server cloning, and application launching, simplifying complex operations. SSH and SFTP access enables secure file updates, and pre-installed Git supports streamlined auto-deployment. Vertical scaling is straightforward, allowing users to adjust resources as needed. The user-friendly control panel boosts accessibility, catering to users looking for efficient server and application management. FastComet, by contrast, utilizes the industry-standard cPanel, providing a familiar interface for those accustomed to traditional web hosting management tools. The cPanel includes comprehensive management features, allowing users to install over 450 applications via its one-click marketplace. Immediate account activation and smart control center enhance the user experience by providing essential data about hosting services. This combination of features within a familiar interface makes FastComet’s admin panel accessible but may require a slight learning curve for non-technical users unfamiliar with cPanel. Both Cloudways and FastComet offer free migration services with different approaches. Cloudways provides free migration for the first website from any web host, utilizing automated tools to minimize downtime and manual intervention. FastComet offers express transfer, a people-powered migration service included in all plans, ensuring a seamless transition without site downtime. Both providers make the migration process as painless as possible, catering to users looking to switch to a new host without incurring additional costs.
User managementAssesses the platforms’ capabilities in managing user roles, permissions, and
accessibility. Score Components:
8.2
0
🏆 Winner Cloudways: Cloudways offers comprehensive user management and role-based access control, making it a superior choice for advanced user management needs. Cloudways demonstrates a clear advantage in managing user roles, permissions, and accessibility compared to FastComet, which lacks detailed information in this area. Using the WordPress admin panel through Cloudways, users have the flexibility to assign specific roles such as Super Admin, Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber. This allows for tailored access levels and responsibilities, catering to various team needs. By contrast, with no available user role management details, FastComet doesn’t offer the visible flexibility found in Cloudways, making it less adaptable for nuanced user management. Cloudways uses a straightforward interface within the WordPress Admin Panel, simplifying the process of accessing user management features. Users can quickly navigate through the admin panel to add, update, or delete user accounts and change roles as needed. The direct access via the Cloudways platform provides another level of convenience. In the absence of specific tools and interface descriptions from FastComet, it is challenging to assess how user-friendly or effective their user management system might be. Regarding access control measures and scalability, Cloudways excels with detailed role descriptions and the ability to manage user roles through the WordPress Admin Panel. This ensures that as teams grow, roles and responsibilities can be easily adjusted without compromising security or efficiency. Cloudways’ approach allows multiple team members to collaborate seamlessly, regardless of their geographic location. In contrast, with FastComet not providing detailed user management features, it remains unclear how effectively it can handle scaling and maintaining user permissions. Cloudways user roles table:
Customer supportEvaluates the quality, availability, and scope of the customer support offered by the
hosting provider. Score Components:
9.2
9.2
🏆 Winner Cloudways: Offers comprehensive customer service with multiple support channels and personalized options through premium add-ons.
Cloudways and FastComet both provide 24/7 customer support through a variety of channels. Cloudways offers support via email, live chat, and phone, with additional customization and premium options available for a fee. These add-ons include private Slack channels and dedicated account managers, along with faster response times. Cloudways’ premium support ensures proactive monitoring and quicker resolutions for high-priority issues. FastComet also ensures round-the-clock support through live chat, phone, and an email/ticketing system. They highlight their quick resolution times, claiming that most issues are resolved within 15 minutes. Additionally, FastComet includes immediate activation, express transfer, and free site migrations in all plans. Priority support and detailed tutorials are available without extra charge, showcasing their commitment to customer service. While both have similar customer service scores, Cloudways stands out with its advanced support customization options. Cloudways vs Fastcomet: User feedbackCloudways consistently receives high praise for its ease of use, robust performance, and excellent customer support. Many reviewers highlight the platform’s intuitive interface, effective server management features, and the ability to choose from top-tier cloud providers like AWS and DigitalOcean. Users appreciate the scalable hosting options and reliable customer service, which often includes quick response times and helpful assistance. However, some customers note areas for improvement, such as the absence of email hosting, limitations on server vendor choices, and discrepancies in pricing transparency. Overall, Cloudways is deemed a solid hosting provider, especially valued for its managed hosting features and performance enhancement capabilities. Fastcomet’s hosting services receive high praise for their reliability, speed, and exceptional customer support. Users appreciate the extensive feature set, user-friendly control panel, and uptime consistency, making it an excellent choice for personal and small business websites. However, some users find the price point to be higher than certain competitors, and a few have encountered issues with disk space limits, email services, and occasional downtime. Overall, Fastcomet is recommended for its robust support and high-quality performance, though potential customers should weigh the cost and specific feature needs. Cloudways vs Fastcomet: FAQWhich platform is better suited for hosting WordPress websites? Both Cloudways and FastComet are well-suited for hosting WordPress websites, offering optimized performance and security features. Cloudways excels with robust performance and a range of caching options, while FastComet uses high-speed AMD EPYC servers and LiteSpeed Enterprise. The choice will depend on specific needs such as performance and ease of use, but both are tied in this category. Are both platforms suitable for beginners? FastComet is generally more suitable for beginners due to its use of cPanel—a familiar and user-friendly interface. Cloudways, while powerful and flexible, is better suited for users with some technical expertise as it offers a custom control panel. FastComet’s straightforward setup and comprehensive support make it an ideal choice for newcomers. Which hosting service offers better security features? FastComet offers comprehensive security features like unlimited free SSL certificates, Imunify360, SpamExperts, and daily malware scans, making it extremely robust. Cloudways also provides a secure environment with free SSL certificates, Fail2ban, and bot protection via MalCare. However, FastComet’s broader suite of security services gives it an edge in this category. Which platform offers better customer support? Both Cloudways and FastComet provide 24/7 support through multiple channels like live chat, email, and phone. Cloudways offers advanced support options through premium add-ons, including dedicated account managers and private Slack channels. FastComet includes express transfer and priority support in its standard plans, showcasing strong customer service, though Cloudways’ customizable support options slightly outshine. Which service is more suitable for hosting a high-traffic website? Cloudways is more suitable for hosting high-traffic websites due to its vertical scaling capabilities and optimized stack for performance. The platform’s use of advanced caching tools and fast server response times enhance its handling of high-traffic loads. FastComet, while reliable, doesn’t offer the same level of performance optimization for high-traffic scenarios. What are the differences in the control panels offered by each hosting service? Cloudways uses a custom control panel designed for ease of use, featuring one-click actions for backup, restore, and application management, catering well to developers. FastComet uses cPanel, an industry-standard tool with a familiar interface that provides extensive management options and one-click application installations. Cloudways’ panel is more tailored to advanced users, while FastComet’s cPanel is more accessible for beginners. The making of this blog We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.
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