Short answer
As of October 23, 2026, Cloudways wins more of the head-to-head checks (3 vs 2) and ranks higher overall (#88 of 160). Cloudways is cheaper to start ($11.00 vs $100.00 a month) and SiteGround Cloud has more locations (11 vs 9).
Verdict
Cloudways is cheaper to start: DigitalOcean Micro costs $11.00 per month against $100.00 at SiteGround Cloud, and it stays cheaper per gigabyte of RAM ($11.00 vs $17.71 median).
SiteGround Cloud has the wider footprint with 11 locations in 8 countries, against 9 in 8 at Cloudways; both offer Frankfurt, London, Singapore and Sydney.
On features, only Cloudways bills hourly, only Cloudways offers DDoS protection and only Cloudways offers an API.
Customers rate SiteGround Cloud higher on Trustpilot: 4.9 from 31,150 reviews versus 4.6 from 3,766.
Overall Cloudways ranks #88 and SiteGround Cloud #143 of 160 providers we track. Choose Cloudways if price matters most or you want hourly billing; choose SiteGround Cloud if you need a wider choice of locations.
Cloudways and SiteGround side by side
| Cloudways | SiteGround Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | DigitalOcean Micro: $11.00/mo | Jump Start: $100.00/mo |
| Entry plan specs | 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD, 2 TB traffic | 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD, 5 TB traffic |
| Cheapest Windows plan | No Windows | No Windows |
| Median price per GB RAM | $11.00 | $17.71 |
| Data-center locations | 9 in 8 countries | 11 in 8 countries |
| Regions | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania |
| Virtualisation | KVM (underlying DigitalOcean/Vultr/Linode droplets) | Google Cloud-based managed cloud (virtualization type not published) |
| Hourly billing | Yes | No |
| NVMe storage | Yes | — |
| DDoS protection | Yes | — |
| Backups | Paid | Free |
| Managed option | Yes | Yes |
| Payment methods | card, paypal | — |
| Money-back | Not published | 14 days |
| Uptime SLA | No uptime percentage published; support-response SLA with 5% monthly-fee credit per missed hour | Not published |
| Trustpilot | 4.6 (3,766 reviews) | 4.9 (31,150 reviews) |
| Founded / HQ | 2012, Mosta MT | 2004, Sofia BG |
Highlighted cells mark the better value where the comparison is objective (lower price, more locations, higher rating).
Plans at the same size
The closest matching plans by RAM from each provider.
| RAM | Cloudways | $/month | SiteGround | $/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Linode 1GB (1 vCPU, 25 GB) | $14.00 | no plan | — |
| 2 GB | DigitalOcean Micro (1 vCPU, 50 GB) | $11.00 | no plan | — |
| 8 GB | DigitalOcean Medium (4 vCPU, 160 GB) | $88.00 | Jump Start (4 vCPU, 40 GB) | $100.00 |
| 16 GB | no plan | — | Business Plus (12 vCPU, 120 GB) | $300.00 |
Locations
Cloudways operates 9 locations (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania); SiteGround Cloud operates 11 (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania).
Cities both offer: Frankfurt, London, Singapore and Sydney.
Only Cloudways: Amsterdam, Bangalore, New York, San Francisco and Toronto.
Only SiteGround: Ashburn, Council Bluffs, Dallas, Eemshaven, Los Angeles, Madrid and Paris.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cloudways or SiteGround Cloud better?
As of October 23, 2026, Cloudways wins more of the head-to-head checks (3 vs 2) and ranks higher overall (#88 of 160). Cloudways is cheaper to start ($11.00 vs $100.00 a month) and SiteGround Cloud has more locations (11 vs 9).
Is Cloudways cheaper than SiteGround Cloud?
Cloudways has the lower entry price: $11.00 against $100.00 per month. The plans-at-equal-RAM table compares them size by size.
Which has more data centers, Cloudways or SiteGround Cloud?
SiteGround Cloud, with 11 locations in 8 countries versus 9 at Cloudways. Both operate in Frankfurt, London, Singapore and Sydney.
Do Cloudways and SiteGround Cloud offer Windows VPS?
Neither offers Windows Server.
Sources
Prices, plans and locations were read from these pages; last checked October 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm on the provider's site before you buy.