Flywheel vs ScalaHosting: guide for 2024

Flywheel vs ScalaHosting: Final verdict

Looking over ScalaHosting vs. Flywheel, 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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  ScalaHosting (Overall grade: 8.8)
  
  offers diverse hosting types, including shared and cloud hosting, which broadens its appeal to a wider range of users. Its robust support and flexibility make it a solid choice for ecommerce and businesses with high-traffic websites. The inclusion of innovative features like SPanel, SShield Security System, and extensive PHP support provides added value, especially for developers and technical users requiring detailed control and customization. The 99.9% uptime guarantee and competitive pricing enhance its reputation for reliability. However, ScalaHosting’s pricing, while justified by its features, might be on the higher side for small-scale operations.
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  Flywheel (Overall grade: 8.4)
  
  focuses on delivering excellent managed WordPress hosting with tools like FlyCache, Genesis Framework, and premium themes. The platform excels in providing a seamless experience for agencies and users needing high performance and strong security for WordPress sites. Flywheel’s intuitive admin panel, demo sites, and free migrations add to its user-friendliness. Nonetheless, Flywheel’s absence of email hosting and additional charges for scalability could be limitations for some users. Its tailored features for WordPress make it ideal for specific use cases but might not cater to broader hosting needs as effectively as ScalaHosting.

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 Flywheel: offers unparalleled reliability and high performance with a solid uptime guarantee.

Flywheel guarantees an uptime of over 99.9%, backed by an SLA, and its actual performance in a monitored test showed a perfect 100% uptime. The response time is faster than the market average at 371ms. They leverage Google Cloud servers with pre-configured CDN, ensuring high-speed performance. Flywheel provides 24/7/365 support, including phone support for higher-spending customers, and offers a 60-day money-back guarantee for new plans.

ScalaHosting also guarantees 99.9% uptime with compensation for unscheduled downtime and delivered 100% uptime during the testing period. Their SPanel provides detailed uptime and performance monitoring, and they use multiple data centers globally. ScalaHosting achieves loading speeds under 1 second with global performance under 3 seconds without a CDN. 24/7 support is available via live chat, email, and tickets, with limited phone support for sales inquiries.

🏆 Winner ScalaHosting: Reliable and versatile hosting tailored for a variety of needs.

Generally, both Flywheel and ScalaHosting offer high performance, but ScalaHosting’s industry-leading hardware using OpenLiteSpeed and LiteSpeed Enterprise web servers often results in quicker load times and better performance metrics. Flywheel’s managed caching and dedicated servers contribute to its speed, but ScalaHosting’s real-time SShield Security System provides an added layer of protection. Flywheel offers CDN through Fastly, which boosts page speed for visitors, whereas ScalaHosting relies on multiple data centers worldwide, including AWS integration for extensive geographical coverage. Both services provide free SSL certificates, contributing equally to security.

Website Speed

Flywheel focuses on improving site performance through its FlyCache technology and managed server-level caching. This, combined with CDN powered by Fastly, ensures quick page loads. ScalaHosting, on the other hand, employs OpenLiteSpeed and LiteSpeed Enterprise web servers known for high performance. Both hosting services deploy auto-healing technology to minimize downtime. Flywheel boasts that it can increase WooCommerce site speeds by up to 40%, whereas ScalaHosting’s robust hardware often sets the industry benchmark for speed.

Scalability

ScalaHosting provides on-demand scalability, allowing users to easily upgrade or downgrade resources with a click, without sharing server space. Managed Cloud VPS plans start from $29.95/month. Flywheel also offers custom plans and dedicated resources, but scaling involves additional charges—$1 per 1,000 extra visitors and $1 per GB over the limit. ScalaHosting’s flexibility in scaling and payment for only used resources often makes it a more cost-effective and elastic choice for businesses needing to scale quickly.

🏆 Winner
Flywheel: Offers comprehensive security features and compliance measures.

Both Flywheel and ScalaHosting have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

Flywheel provides free SSL certificates for each site and supports third-party SSL certificates, whereas ScalaHosting offers multiple SSL certificate options at various prices. Flywheel supports PHP 8.1, while ScalaHosting supports multiple PHP versions ranging from 5.6 to 8.2. Both Flywheel and ScalaHosting offer automated backups and malware protection. Flywheel distinguishes itself with free malware removal and instantly detecting and blocking intruders across all sites on its servers. ScalaHosting’s SShield Security System blocks 99.998% of attacks and offers 24/7 proactive monitoring.

Operational security measures:

Flywheel employs Fastly WAF for application-layer protection and provides plugin security alerts via email. It also includes auto-healing technology to sustain service continuity in case of failures. ScalaHosting, on the other hand, offers a dedicated firewall with each hosting plan and features like brute-force protection and virus & spam protection. ScalaHosting stands out with features such as Gzip compression and SSH access. Flywheel’s operational security also benefits from intelligent IP blocking and regular security notifications, which keep users informed about potential vulnerabilities.

Compliance and certifications:

Flywheel adheres to several compliance standards, including HIPAA, GDPR, 21 CFR Part 11, GCP, and SOC 2 Audit. ScalaHosting’s compliance features cover HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC 1, and SOC 2 among others, as their data centers are based in the US. ScalaHosting boasts a range of certifications under SSAE 18 and ITAR, and its services comply with the EU-US Privacy Shield requirements. Both hosts provide robust compliance features to meet diverse regulatory needs.

🏆 Winner ScalaHosting: A versatile hosting provider well-suited for developers and those in need of extensive customization options.

Flywheel and ScalaHosting offer robust features tailored to different user needs, but they diverge significantly in their specialization. Flywheel is a managed WordPress hosting provider that emphasizes ease of use, offering a seamless experience with free migrations, managed security, and extensive support. Its unique selling points include 14-day demo sites, FlyCache, and a collection of premium WordPress themes. Flywheel’s plans are designed with WordPress users in mind and offer features like managed caching, security, and software updates. However, Flywheel does not provide email hosting, which could be a key consideration for some users.

ScalaHosting, on the other hand, is flexible in supporting various types of users from developers to business clients. It provides extensive customization options with features like a Custom PHP.ini Editor, multiple PHP versions, and support for various frameworks including NodeJS and Python. ScalaHosting also offers email hosting and a range of user-friendly admin interface features for account management. For developers, the support for GIT & SVN and integration with WP CLI can be significant advantages. Additionally, it has comprehensive backup and restoration functionalities, making it a secure choice for many businesses. ScalaHosting’s extensive support for email capabilities and additional tools like WHMCS integration offer a compelling choice for users looking for diverse functionalities.

Email services at Flywheel do not offer email hosting, instead recommending third-party providers like Google Workspace.

ScalaHosting, however, provides comprehensive email hosting services, including features like creating email accounts, forwarding, auto-responders, and setting disk quotas, which makes it a perfect choice for users who need complete control over their email functionalities.

🏆 Winner ScalaHosting: A feature-rich, cost-effective provider suitable for a range of 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.

Flywheel offers a range of plans tailored for WordPress users, with the Tiny plan starting at $13/month and prices scaling up to $242/month for the Agency plan. These plans include features like free migrations, 24/7 customer support, and a 60-day money-back guarantee for some plans. In contrast, ScalaHosting provides a more varied assortment of hosting services, including shared, WordPress, email, and cloud VPS plans. The lowest tier, Mini, starts at just $2.95/month, offering unmetered bandwidth and shared CPU & RAM. For businesses needing more robust resources, ScalaHosting’s Build #4 Managed Cloud VPS plan, priced at $94.95/month, guarantees dedicated resources and comes with a host of premium features, such as real-time malware protection and daily offsite backups.

Enterprise plans

Flywheel’s Agency and Custom plans offer advanced support and scalability options with the capacity to manage up to 30+ sites, extensive storage, and millions of monthly visits. Targeted towards digital agencies, these plans include a dedicated account manager and quarterly business reviews. ScalaHosting’s top-tier Managed Cloud VPS plans, such as Build #4, provide high security, guaranteed resources, daily backups, and advanced management options. These plans are ideal for enterprises requiring dedicated resources and premium features designed for optimal performance and security.

🏆 Winner Flywheel: Streamlined website setup and support options make Flywheel a top choice for many users.

Flywheel features a custom admin panel designed for ease of use, making it accessible for both technical and non-technical users. Better designed for WordPress, it includes Blueprints for saving themes and plugins, staging sites for testing, and site cloning capabilities. The addition of a local development environment aids developers looking to work offline. Flywheel’s admin panel is intuitive and simplifies the management of complex web tasks, which is bolstered by their 14-day demo sites where users can test the panel before commitment.

ScalaHosting offers an all-in-one control panel called SPanel, designed to manage every aspect of a hosting account without additional licensing fees. SPanel includes features for managing websites, domains, emails, and databases, making it user-friendly for newbies and scalable for more experienced users. It provides quick setup and navigates the technical aspects such as software installation seamlessly. With its managed VPS hosting solution, ScalaHosting ensures that an operating system and necessary tools are pre-installed, further simplifying website management.

Both Flywheel and ScalaHosting offer free site migrations, making it convenient to transition to their platforms. Flywheel includes a Migration Dashboard for tracking migration progress, while ScalaHosting uses trained technicians to handle the migration process and notify users upon completion. These services come at no additional cost, reducing the hassle of transferring existing sites.

Flywheel’s help center features 24/7/365 chat support, extensive help documentation, phone support during business hours, and a dedicated account manager for personalized attention. Flywheel also offers managed plugin updates and monthly performance insights. ScalaHosting provides a comprehensive knowledge base with categories ranging from billing to SPanel tutorials, supplemented by 24/7 live chat and ticket support. Both platforms make support easily accessible, but Flywheel’s additional tailored resources and dedicated manager option can offer more in-depth assistance for complex needs.

🏆 Winner ScalaHosting: A versatile and user-friendly platform that excels in comprehensive user management and control.

When comparing Flywheel and ScalaHosting in managing user roles, permissions, and accessibility, both platforms offer distinctive features tailored for user management. Flywheel provides collaborators with full access to site management, including adding or removing other collaborators, managing domains, and changing settings, minus billing-related tasks. Conversely, ScalaHosting features a more granular approach with options such as setting limits on resources, managing account details, and letting users access their data via SSH. ScalaHosting also supports multiple admin accounts, making it a more adaptable option for growing teams and larger user bases who require detailed control and flexibility in user role configurations.

The user interface tools for managing users also differ between the two platforms. Flywheel focuses on simplicity with a dashboard that allows collaborators to manage various aspects of the site, while ScalaHosting provides a feature-rich SPanel with extensive controls over user accounts, server health, and resource allocations. ScalaHosting’s interface includes options for email and DNS management, file backups, and more, making it a comprehensive tool for advanced users. Flywheel’s dashboard, though less extensive, offers seamless integration with SFTP and WordPress admin, providing straightforward access for users.

In terms of access control measures and managing a growing user base efficiently, ScalaHosting takes the lead with diverse options like creating, suspending, and terminating accounts, enforcing two-factor authentication, and managing SSH access. This flexibility makes it highly effective for administrators who need to scale their operations. Flywheel, while providing solid collaborator access controls, lacks some of these advanced features, particularly regarding security enhancements and handling large-scale user management.

ScalaHosting user roles table:

Flywheel user roles table:

🏆 Winner
ScalaHosting: stands out with highly rated customer service, free website migration, and a robust 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Both Flywheel and ScalaHosting offer impressive customer support features. Flywheel excels with 24/7 chat support and a comprehensive range of additional support resources, including knowledgebase articles, eBooks, and a free 14-day email course. However, their phone support is limited to business hours on weekdays, which may be a drawback for some customers. Flywheel’s specialized support for WooCommerce hosting and dedicated account managers adds value for varied user needs.

ScalaHosting provides round-the-clock technical support and fast response times through live chat and support tickets. They ensure free website migration with no downtime, appealing to new users transitioning to their services. ScalaHosting’s global data centers and a strong uptime guarantee make them highly reliable. Their customer feedback on Trustpilot reflects high satisfaction, making them an attractive option for those looking for dependable and highly rated support.

Flywheel vs ScalaHosting: User feedback

Flywheel is highly regarded for its user-friendly interface, efficient website management tools, and overall performance, particularly for WordPress sites. Users appreciate the inclusive features such as SSL, backups, and support for local site developments. However, there are concerns regarding the recent changes in pricing plans and occasional slow customer service responses. Additionally, while the platform excels in handling multiple client websites, it might not be the best fit for smaller-scale operations or sites requiring extensive custom server configurations.

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.

Flywheel vs ScalaHosting: FAQ