Hostinger and Cloudways are both excellent hosting platforms, but they serve completely different audiences. Hostinger is the best budget hosting for beginners and new sites. Cloudways is the best managed cloud hosting for growing sites that have outgrown shared hosting.
Choosing between them is not about which one is “better.” It is about which one matches where you are right now in your WordPress journey.
The quick answer: If you are starting a new site, launching a blog, or building your first WordPress website, start with Hostinger. If your site already gets consistent traffic (25,000+ monthly visitors) and your shared hosting is struggling to keep up, upgrade to Cloudways.
Here is the full side by side comparison across 8 categories.
Hostinger vs Cloudways: Quick Comparison
| Feature | Hostinger | Cloudways |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | Under $3/month ✓ | Around $14/month |
| Hosting Type | Shared + Cloud | Managed Cloud |
| Server Resources | Shared | Dedicated ✓ |
| Free Domain | Yes ✓ | No |
| Free Email | Yes ✓ | No (add on) |
| Free SSL | Yes ✓ | Yes ✓ |
| Daily Backups | Yes ✓ | Yes ✓ |
| Staging Environment | Business plan only | All plans ✓ |
| Billing | 1 to 4 years upfront | Monthly pay as you go ✓ |
| Ease of Use | Very beginner friendly ✓ | Slight learning curve |
| Best For | New sites and beginners | Growing sites and stores |
| Free Trial | 30 day money back | 3 day free trial ✓ |
| Our Verdict | Get Hostinger | Get Cloudways |
8 Key Differences Explained
1. Pricing and Value
Hostinger starts under $3 per month on long term plans (1 to 4 years). That price includes a free domain name, free email, free SSL, daily backups, CDN, and one click WordPress installation. It is the best overall value in WordPress hosting.
Cloudways starts around $14 per month for the entry level DigitalOcean plan. It does not include a free domain or email. You pay monthly with hourly tracking and can cancel anytime. No long term commitment required.
Winner: Hostinger for value. Cloudways costs more but delivers dedicated cloud resources, which is a different category of hosting entirely.
2. Performance and Speed
Hostinger uses LiteSpeed servers with NVMe SSD storage and built in caching. For shared hosting, it is one of the fastest options available. Performance is solid for sites under 25,000 monthly visitors.
Cloudways gives you dedicated cloud resources on your choice of infrastructure (DigitalOcean, Vultr, AWS, Google Cloud). Your CPU and RAM are not shared with anyone. This means consistent performance regardless of traffic spikes, time of day, or what other sites are doing.
Winner: Cloudways for raw performance. But Hostinger is more than fast enough for new and small to medium sites.
3. Ease of Use
Hostinger’s hPanel dashboard is designed for beginners. Everything is clearly labeled, well organized, and intuitive. WordPress installs with one click during signup. Domain management, email setup, and file management are all simple.
Cloudways has a more technical dashboard. You manage servers and applications separately. It is not difficult to learn, but beginners typically need 20 to 30 minutes to get familiar with the interface compared to Hostinger’s plug and play experience.
Winner: Hostinger for beginners. Cloudways is manageable but has a steeper initial learning curve.
4. Scalability
Hostinger offers shared, cloud, and VPS hosting tiers. You can upgrade between tiers as your site grows. However, scaling within shared hosting has limits because you still share server resources.
Cloudways lets you scale your server resources (CPU, RAM, storage) with a few clicks and zero downtime. You can also switch between cloud providers or add additional servers. The pay as you go model means you only pay for what you use during growth periods.
Winner: Cloudways for scalability. It is designed specifically for sites that need to grow without hitting resource ceilings.
5. Features Included
Hostinger includes everything in the box: free domain, free email, free SSL, daily backups, CDN, WordPress staging (on Business plan), and malware scanner. No add ons needed for essential features.
Cloudways includes free SSL, automated backups, staging environment on all plans, built in caching (Varnish, Redis, Memcached), and free site migration. However, email hosting, domain registration, and advanced CDN require separate purchases or add ons.
Winner: Hostinger for all in one value. Cloudways wins on performance features (server level caching) but costs extra for basics that Hostinger includes free.
6. WordPress Specific Features
Both platforms offer one click WordPress installation, automatic WordPress updates, and WordPress specific optimization. Hostinger uses LiteSpeed with LiteSpeed Cache integration for optimal WordPress performance. Cloudways uses Varnish, Redis, and Memcached for server level caching.
Cloudways also includes staging environments on every plan, which is valuable for testing changes before going live. Hostinger limits staging to its Business plan and above.
Winner: Cloudways for WordPress power features. Hostinger is still excellent for most WordPress sites.
7. Support
Hostinger offers 24/7 live chat and email support. Response times are generally fast (under 5 minutes for chat). Support quality is good for common WordPress issues and account management.
Cloudways offers 24/7 live chat and ticket support. Their support agents tend to be more technically knowledgeable, especially for server level issues. However, some users report inconsistent support quality since the DigitalOcean acquisition.
Winner: Tie. Both offer 24/7 support. Hostinger is faster for basic issues. Cloudways is better for advanced technical problems.
8. Security
Hostinger includes server level firewall, malware scanner, DDoS protection, and free SSL on all plans. Their isolated account environments prevent cross site contamination on shared servers.
Cloudways includes dedicated firewalls, automated security patching, IP whitelisting, two factor authentication, free SSL, and regular platform updates. Because your server is dedicated, you have no risk of other sites affecting your security.
Both platforms are secure. For additional WordPress level security, we recommend WPS Hide Login, Limit Login Attempts, WP 2FA, and UpdraftPlus for backups. See our WordPress Security Guide for the complete setup.
Winner: Cloudways slightly, due to dedicated resources and server level isolation.
Scorecard: Who Wins Each Category?
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Pricing and Value | Hostinger |
| Performance and Speed | Cloudways |
| Ease of Use | Hostinger |
| Scalability | Cloudways |
| Features Included | Hostinger |
| WordPress Features | Cloudways |
| Support | Tie |
| Security | Cloudways |
| Final Score | Hostinger 3 — Cloudways 4 — Tie 1 |
Our Recommendation: Start with Hostinger, Upgrade to Cloudways
This is not a question of one being better than the other. They serve different stages of your website’s growth.
Start with Hostinger if: You are launching a new site. You are a beginner. Your budget is limited. You have under 25,000 monthly visitors. You want everything included at one low price.
Upgrade to Cloudways if: Your shared hosting is slowing down. You get over 25,000 monthly visitors. You run a WooCommerce store. You manage multiple client sites. You need dedicated resources and staging environments.
The ideal path for most WordPress users: Start with Hostinger. Build your content. Grow your traffic. When your site consistently generates revenue and traffic that strains shared hosting, migrate to Cloudways. Cloudways includes free site migration, so the switch is painless.
Frequently Asked Questions
What to Read Next
- Full Hostinger breakdown: Read our Hostinger Review.
- Full Cloudways breakdown: Read our Cloudways Review.
- Compare all hosting options: See our Best WordPress Hosting guide.
- Hostinger vs Bluehost: See our Hostinger vs Bluehost comparison.
- Speed up your site: Follow our How to Speed Up WordPress guide.
- Secure your site: Read our WordPress Security Guide.