Best Cloud Hosting Providers & Services
There are many different types of web hosting you can choose from, you’ve got Shared Hosting, VPS hosting, WordPress Hosting, Dedicated Hosting and Cloud Hosting to name a few.
- Low per hour cost from $0.00075/hour
- Full SSH Access
- Choose your own OS
- Unlimited Bandwidth & Storage
- SSH & GIT Access
- Free Backups & Dedicated IP Address
- Unlimited Disk Space & Bandwidth
- 99.9% uptime Guaranteed
- Access to cPanel
Which is best for you depends on your needs and experience, could cloud web hosting be the right choice for your next or current online project?
We take a look at the best Cloud Hosting providers, and if you read to the bottom, you’ll be able to find out a few FAQs about this hosting type.
Top 5 Cloud Hosting providers:
- Hostinger – best cloud hosting provider for features
- DreamHost – best for techies
- HostGator – best cheap cloud web hosting
- Cloudways – best managed cloud hosting
- A2 Hosting – best fast cloud hosting
1. Hostinger – best for features
Hostinger offer a variety of hosting plans to suit many people’s needs. When it comes to their Cloud Hosting plans, you’ll have 3 to pick from, Cloud Startup, Cloud Professional, and Cloud Enterprise.
Each one gives you:
- Free SSL
- Free Domain
- Free CDN
- Daily Backups
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Dedicated IP Address
Only the amount of SSD Storage, RAM, and CPU Cores change between the plans.
You’ll get GIT and SSH Access as standard with 99.9% uptime guaranteed and 24/7 live chat support open 365 days a year.
The cheapest option is the Cloud Startup plan starting at $9.99/month, which for the power and resources you get is certainly a step up from any shared hosting plans at a reasonable price.
To configure your server, you’ll get access to their custom control panel (hPanel), making any changes and configurations you need easy, even for those with little technical skills.
Hostinger hosting is worth a look for small businesses looking to access the benefits that hosting on the Cloud can bring.
2. DreamHost – best for techies
DreamHost make a bold statement, letting you launch a cloud server in 30 seconds or less thanks to their accelerated networks and next-gen processors.
We haven’t tested their capabilities, but it sounds feasible to have an up, and running server made to your configuration from the moment you press the ‘launch server’ button.
This configuration can be set up via their DreamCompute option. From here, you’ll get access to fast SSD storage, SSH access, and the opportunity to use whichever Operating System you wish, whether that’s Linux, Windows, or more.
Depending on which setup you start with will determine how much you pay, but unlike Hostinger, which gives you fixed pay monthly price, DreamHost pricing is set at an hourly rate starting at $0.00075 per hour for their cheapest plan and $0.16 per hour for their most expensive.
You’ll get free unlimited bandwidth built-in to all plans, with a max monthly price you’ll pay thanks to additional hours in that period being free.
If you’re looking to run a website and not just use it to play around with then, you’re going to want to at least look at their 2GB Ram Server at $0.02 per hour for any decent website speeds.
3. HostGator – best cloud web hosting for cheap
HostGator feature on many of my best web hosting lists and for good reason. They offer a good service at an affordable price.
Like Hostinger, HostGator offers 3 cloud hosting solutions: Hatchling Cloud, Baby Cloud, and Business Cloud.
Each one is tailored to your specific needs, with an increase of 2GB of RAM and 2 CPU Cores between each cloud hosting plan.
The cheapest plan comes in at $4.95 per month with unmetered bandwidth and disk space, free domain, and a free SSL certificate with 99.9% uptime guaranteed.
No matter which plans you sign up for, you’ll get access to their intuitive cPanel, where you’ll be able to manage your server settings and take a look at all the stats.
With 24/7/365 support, there’s always someone around to chat to via live chat, or you can use their extensive KnowledgeBase to frequently asked questions and common setup problems.
HostGator cloud provider might not give you all the perks right from the start but will let you grow and upgrade your servers as needed.
4. Cloudways – best managed cloud hosting
Cloudways offer a different approach from the other Cloud hosting services on my list giving you a flexible pay as you go service with no contracts.
You’ll get access to a managed hosting plan from a variety of different data centers including:
- DigitalOcean
- Linode
- Vultr
- AWS
- Google Cloud
On the Cloudways website, you’ll find all the different price plans for each data center with all their features clearly stated.
If you choose to go with Cloudways, you’ll be able to get 24/7365 support, managed backups, dedicated firewalls, choose from over 60 server locations worldwide, and access to CloudwaysCDN to help speed up your site, unlimited staging areas, and auto-healing servers.
When it comes to pricing, DigitalOcean offers the cheapest plan through Cloudways at just $10/ month for their most basic option. The Google Cloud Platform is the most expensive at $33.18 per month.
If you’re looking for more choices than your standard hosting providers, Cloudways certainly gives you that and takes care of most of the heavy lifting.
5. A2 Hosting – best fast cloud hosting
Another all-round hosting provider, A2 Hosting offer fast cloud server hosting thanks to their SwiftServer Platform and Turbo Servers features which offer up to 20x faster page load speeds (apparently).
There’s a choice of 6 VPS cloud hosting price plans, 3 using their Standard VPS and 3 using their Turbo Cloud VPS.
From $6.99 per month for their cheapest plan, you’ll get 1GB RAM, 2TB bandwidth, and 150 GB SSD with 1 CPU core. It’s not the best configuration you’ll find for the price, but you will get full root access, letting you configure and install everything you need to your own specs.
With access to their 24/7 support and knowledge base, you’ll be able to combat any problems that occur with a 99.9% uptime commitment that should hopefully see your website always accessible.
Not being a managed solution means you’re going to have to get your hands dirty, making this not the best solution for those without any technical knowledge. Perhaps stick to a managed hosting plan from one of the other providers on my list.
Overall A2 hosting is a customizable option that gives those on a budget and the know-how the chance to operate a lightning-fast cloud-based server for even the most demanding web-based projects.
Note: prices in the image are subject to change. Go to A2 Hosting for the most up-to-date pricing.
Which are the best cloud hosting providers?
Cloud Hosting is a good bet if you’re after a flexible hosting option.
You’ll get to pick from a variety of plans with the ease of being able to upgrade and scale your resources as you need.
It’s a great middle-ground hosting solution for those looking to grow their websites where the traditional shared hosting and dedicated hosting are either too slow or too expensive.
When it comes to picking the right hosting service you’re going to want to make sure you know what you need. So take time to figure out:
- The resources you need now (disk space / bandwidth)
- The price you can afford to pay on a monthly basis
- How much speed you need
- What server access you need
When it comes to security, Cloud servers are pretty secure and are certainly more secure than if you’re keeping your files on your home server. The data centers encrypt the files and have added layers of security, making it harder for hackers to get access.
Overall, cloud computing is for small to large businesses looking for a scalable solution where you can expect fast growth. If you’re a small website with little traffic but still need speed, then a VPS hosting solution is probably more suited to your needs.
Take a look at one of our top Cloud Hosting providers and see if they have what you need.
- Free SSL Certificate & Free Domain
- Free Daily Backups
- Perfect for beginners & small businesses
- Plans start from $1.99*
Related Articles:
- Best website hosting services
- Best cheap web hosting
- Best VPS hosting
- Best WordPress hosting
- How do you host a website?
Cloud Hosting FAQs
What is Cloud hosting?
Cloud Hosting uses multiple servers’ resources (CPU, RAM, SSD) to offer a faster, more reliable solution than your standard physical single server solution. Files are stored and accessed from a variety of physical and virtual servers not only for redundancy, offering virtually no downtime but also for speed.
Are cloud servers faster?
Cloud Hosting is faster than regular hosting. It increases the number of servers it uses and resources, helping to reduce bottlenecks and improve overall performance, whether that’s for streaming, traffic-heavy websites, or web applications.
What are the disadvantages of cloud-based hosting?
Even though hosting in the cloud has many advantages, cloud hosting isn’t infallible.
Much like any server provider, if their servers go down due to power outages or are manipulated by hackers, then there’s always the chance that your website will go offline.
There are minimal security risks, but even those with the best security practices can suffer from the unfortunate misuse of services and outside forces. This is the same for many traditional hosting servers, no matter which you choose.
