Hands-on tested · Hostinger runs this site Pricing checked 22 Oct 2026 How I review
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Short answer: choose Hostinger if you want the lowest cost for one or a few websites, with your domain, email and a simple dashboard in one package. Choose Cloudways if your site is growing, you want to pay monthly without a long contract, and you want to pick your own cloud server and scale it as traffic rises. Hostinger is the better first host; Cloudways is the better next step.
How I compared them: this website has run on Hostinger for about seven years, so my Hostinger notes come from daily use, including a speed test on this site in July 2026. My Cloudways notes come from my hands-on Cloudways review. Prices were checked on both official websites on 22 October 2026. Hostinger is running Black Friday prices right now, and those will end. I have not run a controlled speed test of both hosts on the same site, so I do not declare a speed winner.
Table of Contents
- 1Hostinger vs Cloudways at a Glance
- 2The Real Difference: a Package vs a Server
- 3Pricing Compared
- 4Performance
- 5Ease of Use
- 6Support
- 7Scaling as Your Site Grows
- 8Which Should You Choose?
- 9Final Verdict
- 10Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Hostinger cheaper than Cloudways?
- Is Cloudways faster than Hostinger?
- Is Cloudways good for beginners?
- Does Cloudways include a free domain or email?
- Can I move from Hostinger to Cloudways later?
- Does Hostinger have a free trial?
Hostinger vs Cloudways at a Glance
| Hostinger | Cloudways | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Shared, cloud and VPS hosting in one package | Managed cloud servers on DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google Cloud |
| Entry price | Premium: $2.49/month on a 48-month term (Black Friday) | DigitalOcean Standard 1 GB: $11/month, billed monthly |
| Renewal | Premium renews at $10.99/month | No promotional term; the monthly price is the price |
| Contract | Lowest prices need a 48-month prepayment | Monthly, pay as you go |
| Free domain and email | Domain and mailboxes free for the first year | Neither included; email is a paid add-on |
| Dashboard | hPanel | Cloudways platform |
| Trial or refund | 30-day money-back guarantee | 3-day free trial without a credit card |
| Best for | First sites, blogs, small businesses | Growing sites, stores and agencies |
The Real Difference: a Package vs a Server
Hostinger sells hosting as a package. You pick a plan, and the domain, email, SSL, backups and website builder come with it, all managed from hPanel. You do not choose servers or think about RAM; Hostinger sets the limits for each plan.
Cloudways sells a managed server. You choose a cloud provider, a region and a server size, and Cloudways installs and maintains the hosting stack on it: web server, caching, security, backups and staging. You can run as many websites as the server can handle, but you also decide when it needs more resources, and you arrange your domain and email elsewhere.
That single difference explains most of what follows: Hostinger is simpler and cheaper to start, while Cloudways gives you more control and more room to grow, at a higher monthly cost.
Pricing Compared
| Plan | Price | Renews / ongoing | Main resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostinger Premium | $2.49/month (48 months, $119.52 upfront) | $10.99/month | 3 websites, 20 GB SSD, weekly backups |
| Hostinger Unlimited | $3.49/month (48 months, $167.52 upfront) | $16.99/month | Unlimited websites, 50 GB NVMe, daily backups |
| Hostinger Cloud Startup | $7.99/month (48 months, $383.52 upfront) | $25.99/month | 4 CPU cores, 4 GB RAM, 100 GB NVMe |
| Cloudways DigitalOcean 1 GB | $11/month | $11/month | 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD, 1 TB transfer |
| Cloudways DigitalOcean 2 GB | $24/month | $24/month | 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD, 2 TB transfer |
| Cloudways DigitalOcean 4 GB | $46/month | $46/month | 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 80 GB SSD, 4 TB transfer |
Hostinger is far cheaper up front, but you pay for four years in advance to get that price, and renewals are three to four times higher. Cloudways costs more each month but has no long commitment and no renewal jump.
Over four years, the difference is large even on similar listed resources. Hostinger Cloud Startup (4 GB RAM) costs $383.52 for 48 months. A Cloudways 4 GB DigitalOcean server costs $46 a month, or $2,208 over the same 48 months, before extras. The Cloudways server is yours alone, while Hostinger’s cloud plan is a managed package with set limits, so this is not a like-for-like comparison, but it shows how much the long prepaid term saves. On Cloudways, also budget for offsite backup storage ($0.033 per GB per server), email (mailboxes are a paid add-on) and a domain from a registrar.
Before buying, check my Hostinger coupon guide and Cloudways coupon guide for current deals and what they actually save.
Performance
Both hosts are fast enough for most WordPress sites, and the right setup matters more than the brand.
Hostinger runs LiteSpeed web servers, which work well with the free LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress. In my own test on this site in July 2026, cached pages loaded in 0.6 seconds with a 325 ms time to first byte. Shared plans share server resources with other customers, so very busy sites eventually need Hostinger’s cloud or VPS plans.
Cloudways gives your sites a server of their own, so heavy traffic on another customer’s site does not affect yours. Every plan includes its Lightning Stack, Redis caching and a server firewall, and Object Cache Pro is included on 4 GB servers and above. In the case study in my Cloudways review, a WordPress site moved from shared hosting went from a 3.4-second to a 1.2-second load time, but that was a single historical migration, not a benchmark against Hostinger.
Ease of Use
Hostinger is easier for a first website. hPanel brings hosting, domains, email, SSL and backups together, and WordPress installs in a few clicks. After years of using it on this site, I find it simple to manage without any server knowledge.
Cloudways is not hard, but it asks more of you. You choose the provider, region and server size, point your domain’s DNS yourself, set up email separately and keep an eye on server resources and the monthly bill. In return, you get staging, cloning and server-level controls that Hostinger’s shared plans do not offer.
Support
Both offer 24/7 support. Hostinger provides live chat and email but no phone support. Cloudways offers 24/7 support from its engineers, with faster premium support available as a paid add-on. Neither host fixes your plugins or theme for you, so expect to handle application problems yourself.
Scaling as Your Site Grows
With Hostinger, you grow by moving up the ladder: from shared hosting to Cloud Startup and the larger cloud plans, then to a VPS. Each move is a plan change, and the best prices again depend on a long prepaid term.
With Cloudways, you scale the server itself. You can add RAM and CPU from the dashboard, choose a different provider or region for a new server, and run several sites on one server. Plan scaling carefully, though: resizing can briefly interrupt the site, and on some providers moving back to a smaller server means cloning rather than a simple downgrade.
Which Should You Choose?
- Your first website or a small blog: Hostinger Premium.
- Several small sites on a budget: Hostinger Unlimited.
- A busy site, but you want an all-in-one package: Hostinger Cloud Startup.
- A growing store or business site, monthly billing: Cloudways, starting with a 2 GB server.
- An agency hosting client sites: Cloudways, for staging, cloning and per-server control.
- You want your domain and email included: Hostinger.
Still deciding? See how Hostinger compares with a traditional host in my Hostinger vs Bluehost comparison, or browse my best cloud hosting and best web hosting guides.
Final Verdict
For most people starting out, Hostinger is the better choice: it is much cheaper up front, includes your domain and email, and is easy to manage. It is what I use for this website. Cloudways is the better choice once a site earns money or outgrows shared hosting, and you would rather pay a higher monthly price for your own server, monthly billing and room to scale. Whichever you pick, compare the full cost over the time you expect to stay, not just the first month.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hostinger cheaper than Cloudways?
Yes, for the first term. Hostinger Premium costs $2.49 a month on a 48-month Black Friday deal, while Cloudways starts at $11 a month for a 1 GB DigitalOcean server. Hostinger renews higher, and Cloudways has extra costs for backup storage and email, so compare the full multi-year bill.
Is Cloudways faster than Hostinger?
Not necessarily. Cloudways gives your sites a dedicated cloud server, which helps busy sites, while Hostinger uses LiteSpeed with built-in caching. For a typical small site, setup and caching matter more than the host. I have not run a controlled test of both on the same site.
Is Cloudways good for beginners?
It is manageable, but harder than Hostinger. You choose a server, handle DNS and arrange email yourself. A first website is usually easier on Hostinger.
Does Cloudways include a free domain or email?
No. You register a domain separately, and email is a paid add-on. Hostinger includes a free domain and mailboxes for the first year on most plans.
Can I move from Hostinger to Cloudways later?
Yes. Many sites start on shared hosting and move to a cloud server as they grow. Cloudways lists free migration among its features, but test the moved site before switching your domain.
Does Hostinger have a free trial?
No, but it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Cloudways offers a 3-day free trial without a credit card.
