This comparison of Cloudways vs Nexcess matches up two outstanding web hosts that are both great choices for WordPress and WooCommerce hosting. Cloudways offers Managed Cloud Hosting, while Nexcess (part of Liquid Web) continues to be a premier Managed Hosting Provider for WordPress and WooCommerce websites.
Let’s see what each host has to offer, how they perform, and ultimately which host is the better fit for your situation.
Cloudways vs Nexcess: Details
| Choice of 5 Different Cloud Providers | Optimized Web Servers |
| Easy Server and Application Setup | Automatic WordPress Installation |
| Optimized Web and Database Servers | Premium Image Compression |
| Cloudflare CDN | Custom Nexcess CDN |
| Free Site Migration | Free Site Migration |
| Website Staging with All Plans | Website Staging with All Plans |
| Automatic and On-Demand Data Backups | Automatic and On-Demand Data Backups |
| 99% Uptime | 100% Uptime Guarantee |
| Responsive and Helpful Support | Responsive Customer Support |
Cloudways vs Nexcess: Differences
Cloudways is now part of Digital Ocean, while Nexcess is part of Liquid Web. But both of these web hosts operate on their own for the most part. Cloudways specializes in Managed Cloud Hosting, offering 5 different cloud providers—including Digital Ocean. Nexcess features both Managed WordPress and Managed WooCommerce Hosting.
Advantages of Choosing Cloudways over Nexcess:
- Choose from 5 Different Cloud Providers
- Cloud Hosting Redundancy and Latency Benefits
- Faster Website Performance
- Three Levels of Expert Customer Support
- Enterprise-Grade Security
- Host Unlimited Websites
- Full Control of Cloud Server
- Free 3 Day Trial (No Credit Card Needed)
Advantages of Choosing Nexcess over Cloudways:
- Managed WordPress Hosting Specialist
- Superior WooCommerce Hosting
- Store Builder Option for WooCommerce
- Includes Premium Image Compression
- Includes iThemes Security
- Free Email Hosting
- Includes Plugin Performance Monitor
- 30 Day Money Back Guarantee
Cloudways vs Nexcess: Speed and Performance
In our testing and my personal experience using both Cloudways and Nexcess, they are two of the fastest performing hosts for WordPress websites. Cloudways features optimized web and database servers on five different cloud platforms. Nexcess providers optimized servers along with premium image compression and their integrated CDN.
Cloudways slightly faster speed results on a consistent basis, and they are the winner in this category. See some of our sample speed test results below:
Cloudways vs Nexcess: Website Staging
Cloudways and Nexcess both include website staging with their hosting plans. Both staging platforms are easy to use and perform very well. In fact, because it’s so close in this category, we have to call it a tie here. Creating a staging environment and pushing changes to production are equally effective with both Cloudways and Nexcess.
Cloudways vs Nexcess: Data Backup
Cloudways and Nexcess both allow you to create on-demand data backups in addition to the automatic backups that are generated daily. In this category, Cloudways does get an edge because they offer more flexibility when it comes to data backup and restore. With Cloudways, you can actually adjust the frequency of your automated backups, so they can run more frequently. And, you can also set the length of your data retention for restoring.
Based on the above customization options, Cloudways has the advantage here.
Cloudways vs Nexcess: Customer Support
While Cloudways and Nexcess both offer 24/7 expert support, we’ve found Cloudways to be slightly more responsive and helpful. While it’s very close in this category, Cloudways did more consistently offer slightly more responsive assistance. Also, Cloudways does offer three levels of expert support if you need more help. Therefore, in the support category, Cloudways is again the winner.
Cloudways
Started Business: 2012
BBB Rating: N/A
Data Center Location: US, CAN, EUR, ASIA, AUS, South America
Price: $12 mo. – $274.33 mo.
Unlimited Bandwidth: No
Unlimited Storage: No
Unlimited Email: No
Host Multiple Domains: Yes
Hosting Interface: Cloudways Dashboard
Server Uptime: 99%
Full Refund Period: Pay as You Go
Dedicated Hosting Available: (Dedicated Environment)
Advantages of Choosing Cloudways:
- Free 3 Day Trial without Credit Card
- Pay As You Go Pricing (No Lock-In)
- Choose from 5 Cloud Providers
- Managed Offsite Backups
- Enterprise Grade Security
- Free SSL
- Dedicated Firewalls
- Over 60 Global Data Centers
- One-Click Scaling
- Cloudflare Enterprise CDN
- Unlimited Application Installation
- Optimized with Advanced Cache
- Breeze Cache Plugin for WordPress
- Website Staging Area
- Dedicated Environment
- One-Click Server Cloning
- Auto Healing Services
- Team Management
- 3 Levels of Expert Support
- Free Website Migration
Click Here to See More Details on Cloudways
Nexcess
Started Business: 1999
BBB Rating: A+
Data Centers: Lansing, Michigan; Phoenix, AZ; Amsterdam, EUR
Price: $13.30 mo. – $104.30 mo.
Unlimited Bandwidth: No
Unlimited Storage: No
Unlimited Email: Yes
Host Multiple Domains: Yes (Except Spark Plan)
Hosting Interface: Custom
Server Uptime: 100%
Full Refund Period: 30 Days
Dedicated Hosting Available: Yes (Liquid Web)
Advantages of Choosing Nexcess:
- Specialize in Upscale Managed Hosting
- Automatic Plugin Updates
- 100% Uptime Guarantee
- Auto Image Compression
- Manage Multiple Sites with iThemes Sync
- iThemes Security Pro
- No Pageview Limits
- Automatic Daily Backups Stored Offsite for 30 Days
- Full Server Access
Click Here to See More Details on Nexcess
Recommendation
Both Cloudways and Nexcess provide excellent hosting for WordPress websites. For WordPress hosting, we would recommend Cloudways. The faster speed, server customization options, and other cloud hosting benefits make them the better choice for both businesses and agencies.
However, when it comes to WooCommerce, Nexcess is our recommendation. The additional online store features together with iThemes Security and other WooCommerce optimizations make them the better choice for online stores.
Overall, while it’s a close call here, in this comparison Cloudways is the winner. See our Cloudways Review Ratings below:
The post Cloudways vs Nexcess (October 2022) – “Better for WordPress!” first appeared on Web Hosting Cat.
