Cloudways vs Leaseweb: Final verdict
Looking over Cloudways vs. Leaseweb, it’s clear why both hosts are so popular. They have both hosted millions of
websites that run on WordPress for decades, building up a loyal customer base.
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Cloudways (Overall grade: 8.5)
excels with its optimized managed cloud hosting, offering superior uptime, including a perfect 100% in 2020 and 2021, and 99.99% in 2022. Its hosting stack is highly optimized for speed with SSD drives and advanced caching, ensuring quick load times. It shines with its comprehensive performance tools, secure environment, and user-friendly features like 1-click server scaling, built-in caches, and robust support options. However, its lack of domain registration and email hosting might be a downside for some, but its flexibility and performance make it ideal for users prioritizing ease of use and speed.
Leaseweb (Overall grade: 8.0)
boasts a robust infrastructure with high-end CPUs and dedicated server options, making it ideal for high-traffic websites needing powerful compute resources. It promises a 99.999% uptime and offers globally integrated networks for low latency. Its comprehensive security features and compliance measures make it a secure and reliable choice for enterprise-level needs. The service may not be as intuitive for non-technical users due to its traditional management interface and lack of automated migration; however, its strong performance, scalable options, and varied support channels ensure that tech-savvy users and businesses with specific security or compliance requirements are well-catered for.
Overall grade:8.5 |
Overall grade:8.0 |
|
---|---|---|
Uptime and Availability | 9.5 | 8.7 |
Hosting Performance | 8.8 | 8.6 |
Hosting Security | 8.0 | 8.3 |
Price | 8.6 | 8.3 |
Hosting Features | 6.9 | 6.8 |
Ease Of Setup | 9.0 | 7.1 |
User Management | 8.2 | 7.0 |
Customer Support | 9.2 | 9.1 |
User feedback | 4.7/5 | 2.8/5 |
Hosting types offered
Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.
Shared hosting | ||
Cloud hosting | ||
WordPress hosting | ||
Ecommerce hosting | ||
VPS hosting | ||
Dedicated hosting |
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: Optimized managed cloud hosting with exceptional uptime and performance metrics.
Cloudways boasts excellent uptime records from 2020 to 2022, maintaining 100% in 2020 and 2021, and 99.99% in 2022. It provides a system status page for transparency about outages and maintenance. The hosting service also offers a user-friendly control panel and supports various cloud infrastructure providers. Though it doesn’t include domain registration or email hosting, Cloudways ensures excellent performance with an average server response time of 229ms.
Leaseweb promises an impressive core uptime guarantee of 99.999%, though its shared hosting uptime can vary. Their network capacity is substantial, with over 10 Tbps and a global reach through strategically located data centers. Leaseweb’s support options are varied, including telephone and live chat, with faster response times for high-end plans. Despite its strengths, Leaseweb’s fully loaded time for website performance was recorded at 3.3 seconds, which is longer compared to Cloudways’ 0.9 seconds.
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 Cloudways: Fast and secure hosting with comprehensive performance and scaling features.
When comparing the general performance, Cloudways stands out with its use of SSD drives, which are three times faster than traditional HDDs. It boasts advanced caching methods like Memcached, Varnish, Nginx, and Redis, seamlessly integrated to enhance load times. Furthermore, Cloudways offers a content delivery network (CDN) through Cloudflare Enterprise, known for its multi-layered DDoS mitigation. With several server locations worldwide, Cloudways ensures globally optimized speed and reliability. On the other hand, Leaseweb delivers high compute power with CPUs up to 64 cores and configurable server specifications, targeting high-performance single-tenant needs. Leaseweb includes a strong, globally integrated network with 43 points of presence and a substantial bandwidth capacity, ensuring low latency. However, its CDN capabilities aren’t explicitly mentioned, implying they might not be as robust as Cloudways.
Website Speed
Cloudways provides a highly optimized stack with NGINX, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, and PHP-FPM, ensuring fast page load times and better performance under high traffic. It’s ready for PHP 8.2 and offers auto-healing servers to maintain uptime. Leaseweb, with its powerful CPUs from Intel and AMD, ensures that compute-intensive tasks are handled efficiently, aiming for high IOPS and minimal latency. Both promise excellent website speeds, though Cloudways’ built-in caching and PHP optimization give it a slight edge in delivering faster load times consistently.
Scalability
Cloudways offers vertical scaling that allows users to easily increase resources like RAM, CPU, and storage without significant cost increments. Its elasticity enables quick adjustments to server capacity without changing plans. Cloudways also supports unlimited app installations and one-click actions for seamless scaling. Leaseweb’s flexibility comes from its configurable servers, but details on elasticity or cost-specific scaling aren’t provided. Cloudways wins here with its user-friendly vertical scaling options and clear transparency on how to increase server capacity efficiently.
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 Leaseweb: Leaseweb boasts superior security features and compliance measures, making it a leading choice for hosting services.
Both Cloudways and Leaseweb, have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational
security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.
Technical security measures:
Cloudways offers a range of high-quality SSL certificates, PHP 8 support, dedicated server-level firewalls, and automated protection like Fail2ban and bot protection powered by MalCare. Leaseweb, on the other hand, provides SIEM SOC services, DDoS IP protection with global scrubbing centers, and SSL certificates. Both have robust security measures, but Leaseweb’s penetration testing and hardware-based DDoS mitigation give it an edge in this category.
Operational security measures:
Cloudways features 24/7 server-level protection, regular security patches, and application isolation for WooCommerce stores, ensuring continuous security and uptime. Leaseweb offers 24/7 monitoring from a Security Operations Center (SOC), customizable security profiles and rules, and enterprise-grade backup solutions via Acronis. Leaseweb’s proactive monitoring and customizable security measures are slightly more comprehensive, offering better operational security.
Compliance and certifications:
Cloudways leverages PCI-DSS compliant hardware from underlying cloud providers like Google Compute Engine and Amazon AWS but is not PCI-DSS compliant itself. Leaseweb ensures full PCI compliance and follows GDPR regulations rigorously. While Cloudways aligns with GDPR, the lack of direct PCI compliance places it at a disadvantage compared to Leaseweb, which demonstrates stronger adherence to compliance standards.
SSL certificate |
Free 1-Click SSL |
SSL Certificates |
Additional security features |
Various, including Fail2ban and MalCare |
SIEM SOC, DDoS IP protection |
PHP versions |
PHP 5.6 to 8.2 |
Not specified |
GDPR compliance |
Likely aligns, not explicit |
Yes |
HIPAA compliance |
Not specified |
Not specified |
PCI compliance |
Not PCI-DSS compliant |
Yes |
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 Cloudways: A versatile hosting provider excelling in performance, security, and ease of use.
Cloudways and Leaseweb both bring unique strengths to the table, catering to different user needs. Cloudways offers SSD hosting with built-in caches, which bolsters performance significantly. Its feature-rich setup includes the Breeze Plugin, NGINX, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP-FPM optimizations, and real-time server monitoring, ensuring a high-performance environment for WooCommerce and other applications. With additional security measures like dedicated firewalls, SSL certificates, 2FA, and IP whitelisting, it’s designed for users who prioritize security. Leaseweb also offers robust hosting through its Linux-based web hosting plans and VPS hosting, ensuring a 100% availability guarantee with an emphasis on strong DDoS and firewall protection. Its virtual private servers come with root/admin access, catering to more technically skilled users who need complete server control.
From a user-friendliness perspective, Cloudways shines with its 1-click actions for backup/restore and website/server cloning, alongside tools for team collaboration and staging URLs. It’s an ideal choice for users seeking ease of use and advanced features without long-term contracts. Leaseweb’s offerings include web hosting plans suitable for small to large needs, emphasizing mailboxes, domains, and fast delivery times. However, Leaseweb’s customization options via the Customer Portal and a variety of operating systems reflect flexibility though might be better suited to users comfortable with navigating control panels and requiring higher growth and scalability.
Free domain |
No |
No |
Free SSL |
Yes |
Yes |
Email hosting |
Rackspace Add-on, Elastic Email |
Yes |
Website builder |
No |
Yes (with Plesk) |
Staging environment |
Yes |
No |
FTP & SFTP account |
Yes |
Yes |
Git and SSH access |
Yes |
Yes |
Free backup |
Automated Backups |
No |
Money back guarantee |
No |
No |
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 Cloudways and Leaseweb 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 leverages Rackspace and Elastic Email for robust email hosting solutions, suitable for campaigns and transactional emails. Leaseweb directly includes email hosting within its web hosting plans, providing users with generous mailboxes ranging from 10 to 250, depending on the plan. Both offer practical email solutions, but Cloudways’ integration with third-party services can offer additional flexibility for diverse email needs.
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
Cloudways: Cloudways 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.
The pricing of Cloudways and Leaseweb varies significantly across different hosting types. Cloudways offers a range of options in WordPress hosting starting at $11 per month, accommodating from 1 GB RAM to 192 GB RAM plans. Leaseweb, on the other hand, features affordable web hosting plans starting from €5.99 per month, focusing heavily on SSD storage and domain support. For cloud hosting, Cloudways has extensive offerings from various providers like AWS and Google Compute Engine, while Leaseweb focuses on flexibility in public, hybrid, and VMware clouds with prices starting from US$44.61 per month for dedicated servers.
DO1GB $11
1 website, 25 GB storage, 1 TB bandwidth, expert support, primary focus on performance. Value for price:8.5
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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DO2GB $24
1 website, 50 GB storage, 2 TB bandwidth, advanced caching, SSL included. Value for price:8.6
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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DO4GB $46
1 website, 80 GB storage, 4 TB bandwidth, enhanced security, expert support. Value for price:8.7
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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DO8GB $88
1 website, 160 GB storage, 5 TB bandwidth, custom server configuration. Value for price:8.8
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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DO16GB $149
1 website, 320 GB storage, 6 TB bandwidth, dedicated resources. Value for price:8.9
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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DO32GB $240
1 website, 640 GB storage, 7 TB bandwidth, priority support. Value for price:9.0
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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DO48GB $342
1 website, 960 GB storage, 8 TB bandwidth, premium performance. Value for price:9.1
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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DO64GB $421
1 website, 1280 GB storage, 9 TB bandwidth, VIP support. Value for price:9.2
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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DO92GB $566
1 website, 1920 GB storage, 10 TB bandwidth, expert support. Value for price:9.3
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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DO128GB $729
1 website, 2560 GB storage, 11 TB bandwidth, advanced support. Value for price:9.4
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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DO192GB $1056
1 website, 3840 GB storage, 12 TB bandwidth, top-tier resources. Value for price:9.5
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
|
Small – Linux €5.99
1 website, 25 GB SSD storage, MYSQL 5, 1-day delivery. Value for price:7.8
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
|
Medium – Linux €8.99
1 website, 100 GB SSD storage, MYSQL 10, 1-day delivery. Value for price:8.0
|
N/A
Value for price:N/A
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Large – Linux €10.99
1 website, 250 GB SSD storage, MYSQL 50, 1-day delivery. Value for price:8.2
|
AWS Small $38.56
1 website, 20 GB storage, 2 GB bandwidth, premium support. Value for price:7.9
|
1x Intel Quad-Core Xeon E3-1270 $44.61
1 website, 1 TB SATA storage, 30 TB traffic, available within 5 days. Value for price:8.0
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AWS Medium $91.84
1 website, 20 GB storage, 2 GB bandwidth, enhanced support. Value for price:8.0
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1x Intel Quad-Core Xeon E3-1270v5 $61.10
1 website, 120 GB SSD storage, 30 TB traffic, available within 5 days. Value for price:8.2
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Cloudways vs Leaseweb: Ease of setupEvaluates the ease of setting up and migrating websites on the hosting
platform. Score Components:
9.0
7.1
🏆 Winner Cloudways: The ease of setup and user-centric features make Cloudways an excellent choice for website hosting. Cloudways provides a custom, intuitive control panel that simplifies server and application management through user-friendly interfaces. Whether you’re tech-savvy or a beginner, Cloudways ensures accessibility with features like 1-click actions for backups, restores, and application launches. The control panel also includes pre-installed Git for seamless code deployment, SSH and SFTP access for secure file transfers, and free staging URLs for development. These features collectively create an environment where both technical and non-technical users can manage their websites efficiently. Leaseweb, on the other hand, follows a more traditional approach to admin panel management with processes delineated through a quick start guide. The setup process is straightforward but might be more manual compared to Cloudways. Users progress from order received to account creation and confirmation before the service is delivered within one day. While the admin panel includes necessary functionalities, it may not provide the same level of user-friendliness or advanced features, making it somewhat less accessible for non-technical users.
Cloudways stands out in terms of migration tools by offering free migration for the first website, facilitating an easy transition from other hosts. This automated migration service removes much of the hassle associated with moving a website. Leaseweb does not specify free migration services, which could mean users might have to migrate their sites manually or incur additional fees for the service, making it less convenient.
User managementAssesses the platforms’ capabilities in managing user roles, permissions, and
accessibility. Score Components:
8.2
7.0
🏆 Winner Cloudways: A user-friendly hosting provider with comprehensive user management features. Cloudways and Leaseweb offer distinctive approaches to managing user roles, permissions, and accessibility. Cloudways provides a structured and easy-to-follow process via the WordPress Admin Panel, suitable for various user roles such as Super Admin, Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber. Each role has specific permissions, enabling flexibility in delegating responsibilities. Leaseweb, while not explicitly detailing its user management procedures, leverages control panels like Plesk, cPanel, and Vesta. These control panels generally offer robust user management features, although specifics may require further exploration through Leaseweb’s documentation or support. In terms of user interfaces and tools, Cloudways excels by integrating the WordPress Admin Panel, which is both intuitive and straightforward. Users can easily perform tasks such as adding, editing, or deleting users through a graphical interface. The detailed steps provided by Cloudways simplify the management process, making it accessible even for non-technical users. Leaseweb’s interface depends on the chosen control panel, all of which provide considerable control though might vary in usability and learning curve. Plesk and cPanel are known for their user-friendly interfaces, while Vesta may be more appealing to advanced users. Evaluating the effectiveness of access control measures, Cloudways offers a clear advantage with predefined WordPress roles that cater to different levels of access. This ensures that as the user base grows, administrators can delegate tasks without compromising security. The roles are specific and cover most access needs from complete site control to content creation. Leaseweb’s potential lies in the capabilities of its control panels, which can manage growing user bases efficiently. However, the absence of explicit user role details may require administrators to spend additional time configuring and understanding the available options. Cloudways user roles table:
Customer supportEvaluates the quality, availability, and scope of the customer support offered by the
hosting provider. Score Components:
9.2
9.1
🏆 Winner: Cloudways: Offers a wide array of customer support options with proactive monitoring and multiple advanced support levels.
Cloudways and Leaseweb both offer extensive customer support options available 24/7. Cloudways provides email, live chat, and phone support, with additional channels like a private Slack channel for premium users. They also include proactive server monitoring and a dedicated account manager for their higher-tier plans. Response times range from 12 hours for standard to 10 minutes for high-priority tickets on the premium plan. Leaseweb offers similar support services, including live chat, email, and phone support, as well as a fax and online contact form. Their SLAs range from 12 hours for basic support to 30 minutes for platinum levels. Additionally, Leaseweb offers self-help resources, such as a knowledge base and API documentation, along with extensive payment and billing cycle options. Cloudways vs Leaseweb: 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. The hosting provider excels in offering comprehensive services with impressive billing and contract flexibility, making it easier for businesses to manage their finances. Users appreciate the choice between “Volume” and “Premium” network options, which cater to different performance needs, and find the support and user interface to be intuitive and straightforward. However, customers have raised concerns about high charges for excess traffic, restrictive password policies, inconvenient login procedures, limited payment gateways, and a lack of variety in available system distributions. Overall, while the service is robust and user-friendly, there are areas in need of improvement to enhance the customer experience. Cloudways vs Leaseweb: FAQWhich hosting service offers better security features? Cloudways and Leaseweb both implement robust security measures, but Leaseweb has a slight edge with SIEM SOC services, DDoS IP protection with global scrubbing centers, and hardware-based DDoS mitigation. Cloudways counters with dedicated server-level firewalls, automated protection like Fail2ban, and bot protection powered by MalCare. Which platform offers better customer support? Both Cloudways and Leaseweb provide extensive customer support, including phone, live chat, and email/ticket options. Cloudways offers proactive server monitoring and a dedicated account manager for higher-tier plans, ensuring quick response times and detailed assistance. Leaseweb offers similar support services with 24/7 availability and SLA options for faster support. What are the major differences in pricing and value between Cloudways and Leaseweb? Cloudways offers a range of cloud hosting options starting at $11 per month, with extensive flexibility and performance enhancements. Leaseweb features affordable web hosting plans starting from €5.99 per month, focusing on SSD storage and domain support, and dedicated servers from $44.61 monthly. Cloudways provides more flexibility, while Leaseweb is suited to users needing SSD storage and domain support. How do the providers handle email hosting and what features are included? Cloudways integrates with Rackspace and Elastic Email for hosting solutions, suitable for campaigns and transactional emails, providing flexibility. In contrast, Leaseweb includes email hosting within its web hosting plans, offering generous mailboxes ranging from 10 to 250. Both options are practical, but Cloudways offers additional flexibility through third-party integrations. Which service is more suitable for hosting a high-traffic website? Leaseweb is particularly suited for high-traffic websites, offering a 99.999% uptime guarantee, substantial bandwidth capacity, and high-end dedicated servers. Although Cloudways also delivers strong performance with SSD drives and advanced caching, Leaseweb’s infrastructure and global network integration make it ideal for handling high-traffic environments. The making of this blog We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.
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