Cloudways vs MonoVM: guide for 2024

Cloudways vs MonoVM: Final verdict

Comparing Cloudways and MonoVM, each excels in different aspects of web hosting but addresses distinct user needs.

• 
  Cloudways (Overall grade: 8.5)
  
  delivers managed cloud hosting with exceptional uptime and performance, making it a strong choice for businesses prioritizing reliability and scalability. Its advanced tools, easy-to-use control panel, and robust caching strategies enhance website speed and overall efficiency. However, the absence of shared and VPS hosting might limit its appeal to some users. Despite these minor drawbacks, Cloudways is highly recommended for high-traffic websites, eCommerce, and development projects that require top-tier performance and flexibility.
• 
  MonoVM (Overall grade: 6.9)
  
  provides solid web hosting services with competitive pricing, enterprise-level hardware, and a 99.99% uptime guarantee. It supports a variety of hosting types, including VPS and dedicated hosting, making it suitable for multimedia websites and businesses seeking diverse hosting solutions. However, MonoVM falls short in some features, like the lack of a website builder and explicit mention of advanced scaling solutions, which could be limiting for users aiming for rapid growth. Nonetheless, its global data center network and reliable infrastructure offer a dependable hosting experience for less demanding projects.

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: Specialized in managed cloud hosting with top-tier performance and reliability.

Cloudways stands out due to its managed cloud hosting services that offer exceptional uptime and performance. With an uptime achievement of nearly perfect scores over the past three years and a commendable average server response time, Cloudways makes a compelling case for businesses that prioritize reliability. Its user-friendly control panel, performance optimization features, and multiple cloud infrastructure options further enhance its appeal.

MonoVM provides a solid web hosting service with a 99.99% uptime guarantee and uses enterprise-level hardware. Despite lacking some features such as a website builder and money-back guarantee, it offers competitive pricing and supports both Linux and Windows. MonoVM’s global data center network ensures high availability, making it a good choice for users seeking dependable hosting across various locations.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: Efficient and scalable hosting with superior speed and caching techniques.

When comparing the general performance of Cloudways and MonoVM, several factors stand out. Cloudways utilizes SSD drives, which are three times faster than HDDs, significantly enhancing website speed and performance. Their built-in advanced caching mechanisms like Memcached, Varnish, Nginx, and Redis help in achieving lightning-fast load times. MonoVM also uses enterprise-grade SSDs in a RAID10 configuration for both Windows and Linux hosting, ensuring reliable service. Both providers offer CDN services, but Cloudways includes Cloudflare Enterprise, providing a stronger defense against DDoS attacks. Regarding data centers, Cloudways partners with multiple cloud providers, offering a broader reach, while MonoVM’s data centers are equipped with the latest networking technologies for high uptime.

Website speed

Cloudways offers an optimized stack with NGINX, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, and PHP-FPM, ensuring that high traffic and server requests are handled efficiently. With PHP 8.2 ready servers and auto-healing capabilities, Cloudways guarantees faster load times and more reliable performance. In contrast, MonoVM provides automated tools to improve load times, including backups, database updates, and broken link checks. While MonoVM ensures quality service with its enterprise-grade SSDs, Cloudways’ performance is enhanced by advanced caching strategies and optimized server stacks, contributing to better overall website speed.

Scalability

Cloudways shines in scalability with its vertical scaling capabilities. Users can easily scale up server resources such as RAM, CPU, and storage at minimal costs without needing to upgrade plans. Their 1-click actions for tasks like backup, restore, and cloning add to the ease of scaling. MonoVM offers automated server maintenance and database updates but doesn’t detail if scaling happens automatically or the costs involved. While both offer scalable solutions, Cloudways provides more transparency and user-friendly scaling options.

🏆 Winner
MonoVM: A well-rounded and efficient hosting service with a strong focus on robust security measures and regular backups.
Both Cloudways and MonoVM have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational
security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

Cloudways and MonoVM both offer impressive technical security measures. Cloudways provides free SSL certificates with a 1-click installation, supports the latest PHP versions, and employs server-level and platform-level firewalls. Additionally, it incorporates Fail2ban for login attempts and bot protection via MalCare. MonoVM also offers SSL certificates and the ability to manage TLS/SSL security. MonoVM includes Imunify 360 for comprehensive malware scanning and firewall protection, making its measures robust. Both services provide two-factor authentication and automatic updates, but Cloudways extends its technical measures into automated DDoS mitigation with Cloudflare Enterprise and regular security patches.

Operational security measures:

Operational security is another essential aspect, and both providers cater well to it. Cloudways features regular security patches, server OS updates, and the auto-healing server technology, providing continuous protection. It also offers SSH and SFTP access to safely update files. MonoVM excels with its daily, weekly, and monthly automatic backups, which ensure data restoration if necessary. Moreover, MonoVM’s logging and monitoring allow for real-time tracking of visitor stats and resource usage. While Cloudways focuses more on preventive measures, MonoVM ensures operational security with a balance of proactive and reactive strategies.

Compliance and certifications:

Cloudways relies on PCI-DSS compliant hardware from its cloud infrastructure providers though it doesn’t claim PCI-DSS compliance itself. It emphasizes GDPR compliance through its strong data protection practices. MonoVM, while not providing specific details on GDPR or PCI compliance, includes vital security measures like SSL certificates and data encryption that suggest high security standards are maintained. HIPAA compliance information is not provided for either hosting service.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: A superb choice for those seeking a robust, flexible, and user-friendly hosting solution.

Cloudways and MonoVM offer a variety of features that cater to different user needs. Cloudways highlights flexibility and user-friendliness with features like 1-click actions, team collaboration, and SSH/SFTP access, making it perfect for developers and businesses needing high customization. It also offers free migration and automated backups, which can be a significant advantage for users lacking technical skills. MonoVM, meanwhile, emphasizes high-end hardware and solid performance with SSD RAID 10 technology and guaranteed 99.99% uptime. It provides a free domain registration and daily backups, along with a familiar cPanel for ease of use. One notable difference is that Cloudways lacks an explicit website builder, whereas MonoVM doesn’t mention one straightforwardly either, which doesn’t automatically set either apart in this aspect.

Another key difference lies in the support options and scalability. Cloudways offers remarkable scalability with its vertical scaling and no long-term contract system, making it a suitable choice for dynamically growing businesses. It also provides various security features like dedicated firewalls, 2FA, and IP whitelisting, ensuring robust protection of web assets. MonoVM offers automation for server maintenance tasks and database management, accompanied by a powerful firewall. Additionally, its support includes VIP service with certified IT experts available 24/7. Although both providers offer email hosting, Cloudways also extends email services via Rackspace Email Add-on and Elastic Email, along with transactional email capabilities. MonoVM may lack explicit mention of such add-ons but does provide mailbox management.

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 MonoVM 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 extends its email capabilities through services like Rackspace Email Add-on and Elastic Email, suitable for campaigns and transactional emails. MonoVM offers basic mailbox management and email hosting capabilities. Cloudways seems to provide a more comprehensive email solution, including external integrations for enhanced functionality, whereas MonoVM’s support indicates availability but lacks detailed transactional capabilities comparison.

🏆 Winner MonoVM:Comprehensive support and enhanced features make it a top-choice for various hosting 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.

Comparing the pricing plans between Cloudways and MonoVM reveals several distinctions. MonoVM offers more budget-friendly options, especially for managed WordPress hosting, starting at just $8.33 per month with various added features such as monthly SSL certificates and VIP support. On the other hand, Cloudways has a wider range of cloud hosting options with scalable resources suitable for varied needs, starting at $11 per month for basic plans. MonoVM includes a comprehensive set of features, such as Imunify 360 and domain reputation reports, even in lower-tier plans, which gives it a slight edge for value.

Enterprise plans

For enterprises, Cloudways offers a substantial range of high-RAM and high-core options across its various cloud hosting providers like AWS, GCE, and Vultr, with prices scaling up to $3,569.98 per month. MonoVM, although primarily focused on budget-friendly options, provides comprehensive managed WordPress hosting plans with extensive support and features that could benefit enterprise-level websites.

🏆 Winner Cloudways: A highly user-friendly hosting provider with streamlined setup and robust support options.

Cloudways offers an intuitive control panel that simplifies server and application management. With 1-click actions for tasks like backup, restore, and application launches, it caters to both technical and non-technical users efficiently. The ease of use extends to features like pre-installed Git, SSH, and SFTP access. In contrast, MonoVM uses the standard cPanel, which is widely known in the industry but may not be as intuitive for beginners. While cPanel is feature-rich and powerful, it tends to be more complex, making it less accessible for users with limited technical knowledge.

Migration tools for both hosting providers ensure a mostly stress-free switch. Cloudways provides free migration for the first website, making it very appealing for new users. Their migration process is straightforward, and their team assists in the entire transfer, ensuring minimal downtime. MonoVM also offers website transfer assistance handled by their experts, making the migration process smooth. Both services make migrations hassle-free; however, free migration availability gives Cloudways a slight edge.

Both Cloudways and MonoVM provide comprehensive help centers. Cloudways offers a rich repository of articles and guides along with a 24/7 live chat and ticketing system for prompt responses. MonoVM, on the other hand, complements its knowledge base with popular blogs and 24/7 support. Each provider ensures their users have access to a range of articles and expert support whenever needed.

The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. Cloudways offers a rich repository of articles and guides along with a 24/7 live chat and ticketing system for prompt responses. MonoVM, on the other hand, complements its knowledge base with popular blogs and 24/7 support, ensuring comprehensive user support.

🏆 Winner: Cloudways: Optimal user management and role assignment capabilities.

In comparing the user management features of Cloudways and MonoVM, Cloudways demonstrates clear strengths. Cloudways integrates its user management within the WordPress Admin Panel, allowing detailed control over user roles and permissions. Through straightforward steps, users can add, edit, delete, and change roles, ensuring tailored access based on specific responsibilities. In contrast, there is no specific information on MonoVM’s user management capabilities, making it less clear how well it facilitates detailed role and permission configurations.

Cloudways offers a user-friendly interface for managing users through the WordPress Admin Panel. Accessible via direct URL entry or through the Cloudways Platform, it provides a streamlined process. The steps involved in adding, editing, or deleting users are intuitive, with a designated area within the admin panel to handle all user-related actions efficiently. Without concrete details on MonoVM, it’s uncertain what tools or interface are available for user management, but the absence of this information puts it at a disadvantage.

When it comes to controlling access and managing a growing user base, Cloudways shines with its structured role-based system. It allows clear delineation of tasks and permissions, such as distinguishing between content creators and system administrators. The ability to handle numerous users without compatibility issues highlights its scalability. MonoVM’s effectiveness in this area remains unknown due to the lack of detailed information, making Cloudways the more reliable choice for handling large numbers of users with diverse roles.

Cloudways User Roles Table:

🏆 Winner Cloudways: Cloudways stands out with its extensive customer support options, comprehensive features, and dedicated premium service.

The comparison of Cloudways and MonoVM highlights some key differences in their customer support offerings. Both providers offer 24/7/365 support via email and live chat. Cloudways goes further by providing an extensive array of support channels such as private Slack channels, especially when opting for their premium add-on packages. The inclusion of proactive monitoring and customization support underlines Cloudways’ commitment to high-quality customer service.

On the other hand, MonoVM provides a solid range of support services, including VIP support for certain hosting types. Their focus is on covering broad aspects of site management, including server configurations, SSL installation, and malware scanning. The absence of a dedicated enterprise support option such as a dedicated account manager may be a limitation for businesses needing more personalized support, giving Cloudways an edge in this comparison.

Cloudways vs MonoVM: 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.

MonoVM is recognized for offering an affordable array of services, including VPS hosting, web hosting, domain registration, and SSL certificates. Users appreciate its reliability and the user-friendly interfaces that ease account management and support access. However, some customers note that MonoVM lacks certain advanced features and customization options, particularly in higher-tier plans, and may experience limitations in resource scaling and upgrading. Additionally, there are mentions of compromised customer support quality.

Cloudways vs MonoVM: FAQ