Contabo vs ScalaHosting: guide for 2024

Contabo vs ScalaHosting: Final verdict

Looking over Contabo vs. ScalaHosting, 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.

• 
  ScalaHosting (Overall grade: 8.8)
  
  showcases superior uptime guarantees, advanced security features, and a user-friendly control panel. With an uptime promise of 99.9% and a compensation structure for unscheduled downtime, ScalaHosting’s SPanel and SShield add significant value, offering automated protection against web attacks. The platform also excels in providing features tailored for ecommerce, agencies, and WordPress, making it an ideal choice for diverse user requirements. The managed cloud VPS plans and superior customer support with 24/7 live chat further enhance its appeal. Although slightly pricier, the value provided, including real-time malware protection, free domain, and enhanced security measures, justifies the cost for users seeking reliability and advanced tools.
• 
  Contabo (Overall grade: 7.6)
  
  stands out with its affordable and powerful VPS hosting plans, capable of handling complex tasks efficiently. Contabo’s strengths lie in high storage configurations, dedicated server options with GPU support, and extensive traffic allowances, making it suitable for high-traffic and multimedia websites. The uptime guarantee of 99.996% and the use of AMD EPYC processors ensure dependable performance. However, the lack of managed cloud VPS and shortcomings in their user interface and customer support, including the absence of live chat and perceived slower response times, limit its overall appeal. Despite these drawbacks, Contabo is an excellent budget-friendly option for users looking for high-powered VPS hosting.

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
ScalaHosting: ScalaHosting secures its place with superior uptime and innovative monitoring tools.

ScalaHosting showcases an impressive uptime guarantee of 99.9%, paired with a robust compensation structure for any unscheduled downtime. The platform’s unique SPanel and SShield add layers of functionality and security, providing clients with optimized cloud VPS hosting and automated protection against web attacks. Additionally, ScalaHosting manages to achieve loading speeds of under one second and maintains consistent performance globally, without the need for a CDN.

Contabo, with its 99.996% uptime guarantee, offers swift AMD EPYC processors and high-speed SSD options. Their globally distributed data centers ensure accessibility, while free DDoS protection and mandatory two-factor authentication underscore their commitment to security. Despite these strengths, ScalaHosting’s advanced monitoring tools, proprietary features, and seamless global performance give it the edge.

🏆 Winner:
ScalaHosting: Best performance and security features for demanding users.

Contabo and ScalaHosting both offer impressive performance, but several factors set them apart. ScalaHosting utilizes OpenLiteSpeed and LiteSpeed Enterprise web servers, ensuring top-notch speed and performance. Contabo, on the other hand, relies on AMD EPYC processors and offers fast SSD and NVMe storage. When considering data centers, Contabo has a wider global presence with locations in the US, UK, Germany, and Singapore, whereas ScalaHosting boasts data centers in the US, EU, and AWS integrated locations across various continents, enhancing CDN options and global reach.

Website Speed

ScalaHosting leverages industry-leading web servers and SSDs, contributing to high-speed performance and minimal lag. Contabo offers substantial connection speeds of up to 1Gbit/s, with an option for 10Gbit/s, making it competitive. While both prioritize speed, ScalaHosting’s dedication to speed optimization tools, including LiteSpeed servers and real-time security measures, provides a slight edge in delivering rapid load times and enhanced PageSpeed scores.

Scalability

Contabo allows effortless VPS upgrades without downtime, making scalability straightforward. ScalaHosting features on-demand scalability, letting users scale resources up or down with a single click. While specific cost details for scaling with Contabo are not provided, ScalaHosting’s managed VPS plans start at $29.95/month, and they ensure that resource upgrades are smooth and flexible. Both services accommodate growing needs, but ScalaHosting’s easy-to-use scaling options make it particularly user-friendly.

🏆 Winner ScalaHosting: ScalaHosting stands out for its strong focus on compliance and advanced security tools, ensuring robust protection for clients.

Technical security measures:

Contabo provides SSL certificates, PHP version flexibility, and always-on DDoS protection. ScalaHosting offers a range of SSL certificates with instant activation and free installation. Both providers support multiple PHP versions, but ScalaHosting includes versions up to PHP 8.2. Contabo employs proprietary DDoS protection software, while ScalaHosting uses the SShield Security System for malware protection, complete with on-demand scans and 24/7 monitoring. Both hosters include FTP backups, with ScalaHosting additionally offering disaster recovery backups stored offsite.

Operational security measures:

Contabo’s two-factor authentication (2FA), Imunify AV, and magnetic card-controlled data centers ensure a secure environment. ScalaHosting focuses on firewall configurations, brute-force protection, and providing customized security rules. Both providers offer virus and spam protection, but Contabo enhances its offering with Imunify AV+. ScalaHosting features free CloudFlare CDN and automated daily backups for streamlined operational security. Contabo’s monitoring tools and role-based access controls further enhance their operational security profile.

Compliance and certifications:

Contabo is fully GDPR compliant and emphasizes industry-standard security practices, though specific details on PCI compliance are not given. ScalaHosting’s US-based data centers comply with NIST, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GLBA, SOC 1, SOC 2, SSAE 18, ITAR, and EU-US Privacy Shield, making it highly versatile for various regulatory requirements. ScalaHosting’s extensive certifications and compliance positions it as a leader in this category.

🏆 Winner ScalaHosting: A versatile and user-friendly choice, ideal for users seeking diverse tools and reliable performance.

Contabo and ScalaHosting each bring robust features to the table, catering to various user preferences. Contabo stands out with multiple OS options, including Ubuntu, Windows, and CentOS, providing flexibility for different application needs. Their control panel boasts a variety of advanced features, like object storage and private networking, alongside a powerful infrastructure using AMD EPYC 7282 16-core processors. Unique benefits include free DDoS protection and a strong uptime guarantee, which is crucial for businesses that require consistent online availability. While FTP/SFTP specifics aren’t detailed for Contabo, their SSH access is robust, supporting full root control.

ScalaHosting focuses on ease of use with a user-friendly interface that covers file and email management seamlessly. Their offering includes built-in tools like an easy-to-use file manager, PHP Version Manager, and a custom PHP.ini editor, catering to developers and site administrators who seek more control. Additionally, they provide WordPress Cloning & Staging and NodeJS support, which are beneficial for developers working on dynamic web projects. ScalaHosting also supports the latest software and diverse PHP versions, ensuring compatibility with modern applications. Key features like email disk quotas and a comprehensive backup system further enhance its appeal.

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 Contabo and ScalaHosting 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:

Both Contabo and ScalaHosting offer comprehensive email services, but ScalaHosting has broader capabilities with email disk quotas, auto-responders, and a catch-all email option. While Contabo allows the creation and management of email accounts, ScalaHosting goes a step further, letting users manage forwarders and establish more customized email rules. Neither provider explicitly mentions transactional email capabilities or reselling third-party email services like Google Workspace directly from their control panels, which might be a consideration for businesses focusing on specific email campaigns.

🏆 Winner ScalaHosting:Known for enhanced security and real-time malware protection.

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 the pricing plans of Contabo and ScalaHosting, it is clear that both offer a range of plans with unique features. Contabo provides extensive options in VPS, VDS, and Dedicated Servers with highly customizable features and robust traffic allowances. ScalaHosting, on the other hand, excels in shared, WordPress, and managed cloud VPS plans offering significant discounts, strong security attributes, and added features like free domains and real-time malware protection. Based on these factors, ScalaHosting proves to be a more favorable choice for users seeking enhanced security and additional freebies at a competitive price.

Enterprise plans

For enterprise-level needs, Contabo offers extensive dedicated server options such as the AMD EPYC 32 Cores (€301.97/month) with powerful hardware configurations, 256GB RAM, and extensive traffic capabilities, ensuring high performance and reliability. ScalaHosting’s Build #4 managed cloud VPS plan ($94.95/month), on the other hand, provides guaranteed resources, full 24/7 management, and comprehensive security features, making it an excellent choice for businesses requiring robust support and security.

🏆 Winner ScalaHosting: Offers streamlined setup with quick migration services and a user-friendly control panel.

Contabo uses a proprietary Control Panel that allows users to manage their server setup and various other functions such as reviewing services, upgrading the VPS, and ordering add-ons. It’s designed with multiple menus to help users control the status of their server and operating system, making it quite practical for technical users. ScalaHosting, on the other hand, offers SPanel, an all-in-one control panel that is accessible and user-friendly, even for non-technical users. SPanel’s integration means users can manage every aspect of their hosting account without needing additional licenses or significant technical expertise.

When it comes to migration tools, ScalaHosting stands out by offering free website migration, where trained technicians handle the entire process and notify you upon completion. This service is included and does not require additional fees. Contabo does not explicitly offer free migration services, making ScalaHosting the more accessible choice for users looking to switch hosting providers effortlessly.

In terms of help center resources, both providers offer extensive tutorials and support articles. Contabo provides a range of tutorials on its website, accessible via the “Tutorials” and “FAQ” menus. Customers can contact support through a ticketing system or by phone, with assistance available most of the week. ScalaHosting’s knowledge base includes guides for various hosting types and offers 24/7 live chat and ticket support, promising quick response times. The comprehensive help resources make ScalaHosting more accessible for users needing ongoing support.

The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. Contabo provides a range of tutorials on its website, accessible via the “Tutorials” and “FAQ” menus. Customers can contact support through a ticketing system or by phone, with assistance available most of the week. ScalaHosting’s knowledge base includes guides for various hosting types and offers 24/7 live chat and ticket support, promising quick response times. The comprehensive help resources make ScalaHosting more accessible for users needing ongoing support.

🏆 Winner
ScalaHosting: ScalaHosting provides a comprehensive range of user management features, making it the clear winner in this comparison.

Both Contabo and ScalaHosting offer a variety of options for managing user roles and permissions, but they approach it in distinct ways. Contabo allows users to authorize people and set certain permissions for their server, providing straightforward control over user roles. On the other hand, ScalaHosting offers more flexibility, enabling users to create, modify, and terminate accounts while also setting limits on resources such as disk space and databases. ScalaHosting further extends its capabilities by allowing users to access their data via SSH and providing API tokens for integration with third-party applications.

When evaluating the user interfaces, Contabo’s control panel is user-friendly, enabling users to manage services with ease. It includes options like upgrading VPS, ordering add-ons, and setting up names for servers. In contrast, ScalaHosting’s SPanel provides extensive tools such as email account management, DNS editing, and PHP version management. ScalaHosting’s interface also includes advanced features like generating full account backups and managing cron jobs, giving users a wide array of tools to manage their accounts effectively.

For access control measures, both hosting providers offer strong security features such as two-factor authentication. Contabo makes this mandatory for all customers, ensuring a high level of account security. ScalaHosting also supports two-factor authentication and offers CAPTCHA for different user groups. Furthermore, ScalaHosting provides detailed server health stats and automated quota management, which are crucial for managing an increasing number of users efficiently. The ability to create additional admin accounts further enhances ScalaHosting’s scalability, making it suitable for growing businesses.

Contabo user roles table:

ScalaHosting user roles table:

🏆 Winner
ScalaHosting: ScalaHosting offers comprehensive support options and high customer satisfaction ratings.

ScalaHosting clearly stands out with its 24/7 technical and abuse support, live chat, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Their initial response time for support tickets is 15 minutes, which indicates a swift resolution process. Contabo, while offering a variety of support channels, lacks 24-hour coverage and live chat, and has no money-back guarantee.

Additionally, ScalaHosting’s migration services and higher customer satisfaction ratings emphasize their reliability. Contabo’s strengths include managed services and a 99.996% uptime guarantee but fall short in areas like user interface design and live chat availability.

Contabo vs ScalaHosting: User feedback

Contabo’s hosting services are highly appreciated for their affordability and powerful VPS plans, which can handle demanding software and complex tasks efficiently. Users find the setup process relatively easy and often compliment the cost-effectiveness and reliability of the service, despite occasional downtime reported by some. However, criticisms are directed towards their customer support, which has been described as slow and unresponsive at times, and their user interface could benefit from modern improvements. Frequent downtimes without notice and issues with specific regional servers have also been noted as areas needing improvement.

ScalaHosting has earned high praise from users for its exceptional customer support, reliable uptime, and innovative SPanel technology. Many reviews highlight the company’s fast and knowledgeable technical support team, which ensures a smooth and efficient experience for users. While some users feel the pricing could be more competitive, the overall sentiment is that the services offered justify the cost. Users appreciate the platform’s ease of use, robust security features, and the flexibility of hosting solutions, making ScalaHosting a top choice for web hosting needs.

Contabo vs ScalaHosting: FAQ