Cloudways Vs. DreamHost (2023)

Cloudways and DreamHost are two reliable and popular web host providers in 2023, but which is better for your website?

Choosing the wrong host for your website can lead to slow loading speeds, a lack of necessary tools, costly mistakes, and frustration.

I’ve spent years managing websites on leading web hosts, including Cloudways and DreamHost.

So, if you’re a small business owner launching your first site, you must be able to determine which web host is best for you. 

Keep reading to discover the difference between Cloudways vs. DreamHost in 2023! 

How Did We Test Cloudways and Dreamhost Hosting?

The Tweak Your Biz team and I only utilize the highest testing standard with trusted software. 

Therefore, our team relies on lab testing and data instead of objective viewpoints.

Before testing, we launched two staging sites hosted on Cloudways vs. DreamHost to gauge results in the following places:

• Hosting Types & Features
• Performance & Speed
• Help & Support
• WordPress Features
• Extras
• Ease of Use
• Pricing & Value
• Website Security

Cloudways Vs. DreamHost Hosting Winner:

Cloudways vs. DreamHost, which web host is best?

DreamHost is the better choice if you need shared or WordPress hosting services at an affordable rate.

In comparison, Cloudways is perfect for those needing managed hosting services and want the freedom to choose between data centers!

Both web hosts provide fast loading speeds, reliable uptimes, and essential security features!

What is Cloudways Web Hosting?

Cloudways specializes in managed cloud hosting, offering customers an easy-to-use and optimized platform. 

Cloudways is known for simplifying the complexities of server management, allowing users to focus on their businesses instead of technical details. Here is our detailed Cloudways review for more information about this web host!

Who Uses Cloudways?

Cloudways is ideal for developers, agencies, beginners, and small business owners.

Cloudways’ services are perfect for businesses that need maximum performance with fast speeds and reliable uptime. 

What are the Benefits of Cloudways?

Some benefits of Cloudways include fast, managed VPS hosting, low prices, and flexible payment plans. 

Cloudways allows customers to only pay for the storage and data they use during the month, meaning you don’t pay for what you don’t need.

Also, with a VPS server, users get dedicated resources, allowing them to access their website quickly and securely.

Where Cloudways Falls Short

The primary area in which Cloudways falls short is security.

For instance, the host lacks essential security tools that other hosts offer for free.

What is DreamHost?

DreamHost is known for its excellent services, reliable uptimes, and some of the lowest prices in the industry.

DreamHost offers a few hosting options, including shared hosting and WordPress plans. For more information, read our DreamHost review!

Who Uses DreamHost?

DreamHost is great for small businesses, beginners, and those looking for WordPress hosting plans.

Also, DreamHost is perfect for people who want to customize websites because there are VPS hosting plans.

What are the Benefits of DreamHost?

One benefit of DreamHost is low prices, with rates starting at $2.95 monthly. 

Also, DreamHost provides scalability options, allowing customers to upgrade their websites or start a new business.

The company has excellent customer service and a 97-day money-back guarantee!

Where DreamHost Falls Short

DreamHost only has a couple of server locations, meaning speeds can be slow for some international visitors.

Also, DreamHost may not be as user-friendly as other web hosting providers.

Cloudways Vs. DreamHost Hosting: The Details 

What Types of Hosting Does Cloudways Have?

Cloudways provides managed web hosting via the following providers:

• DigitalOcean
• Vultr
• Linode
• AWS
• Google Cloud

What Types of Hosting Does Dreamhost Have?

DreamHost offers more hosting plans, including:

• Shared Hosting
• WordPress hosting
• DreamPress hosting
• VPS hosting (WordPress and other CMSs)

Winner: DreamHost

DreamHost offers more hosting varieties, whereas Cloudways only has managed services available.

Does Cloudways Have Uptime Issues?

Cloudways is almost perfect regarding uptime.

Although the web host doesn’t guarantee uptime, Cloudways’ uptime is reliable, and the server response times are faster than the industry standard.

Does DreamHost Have Uptime Issues?

DreamHost offers one of the best uptimes in the web hosting business. 

The company has an impressive 99.99% average uptime and rarely has downtime.

Winner: Tie

Cloudways and DreamHost each have industry-leading, reliable uptimes and excellent server response times.

How Fast Is Cloudways Hosting?

Cloudways has many data centers, meaning the website speeds are faster than other web hosts. 

Further, your site will rank higher on Google because the Largest Contentful Paint and fully loaded times are speedy.

How Fast Is DreamHost Hosting?

DreamHost provides exceptional page loading speeds. 

The web host has an average page loading speed of 566 milliseconds!

Also, DreamHost’s advanced server infrastructure ensures visitors have an excellent browsing experience regardless of their device or operating system.

Winner: Cloudways

Cloudways has faster speeds because it has more data centers and advanced server infrastructure. Although DreamHost provides speedy page load times, Cloudways is more advanced.

Cloudways Hosting Stress Test

Websites hosted on Cloudways can handle significant website stress due to the powerful VPS servers.

Even when thousands of people are on a site, Cloudways’ performance is stable and fast.

DreamHost Hosting Stress Test

DreamHost is excellent for websites with lots of traffic.

The web host has powerful servers to handle a sudden influx of visitors, and the plans are powerful enough to scale up quickly if needed.

Winner: Tie

Cloudways and DreamHost have powerful servers that can easily handle significant website traffic. Also, load times and performance aren’t affected by more visitors.

How Easy is Cloudways to Use?

Cloudways is easy to use because the host provides managed hosting, meaning professionals handle security and coding.

Further, the control panel is intuitive. 

How Easy is DreamHost to Use?

DreamHost is a bit more complex and may take some time to learn.

The hosting provider has an advanced control panel that can be confusing initially but is very powerful once you get used to it.

Winner: Cloudways

Cloudways is much easier to use than DreamHost due to its simplicity and managed hosting options. DreamHost’s control panel takes more time to learn and master, but it is more powerful once you do.

Cloudways Pricing & Value

The pricing at Cloudways varies based on the server choice.

Some servers, like Google Cloud, are more expensive than others. 

However, the value for the monthly rate is fantastic!

DreamHost Pricing & Value 

DreamHost is an affordable web hosting service with annual plans starting at $2.59 monthly.

Also, DreamHost offers several essential features, such as:

• Unlimited traffic
• Free automated WordPress migrations
• Free SSL certificates

Usually, DreamHost’s renewal rates are significantly lower than other web hosts. 

Winner: DreamHost

Cloudways has great value for the monthly rate, but DreamHost is more affordable and offers several essential features for free. The renewal rates are also very competitive. 

How Secure is Cloudways?

Cloudways provides essential security features, including automatic backups, bot protection, firewalls, and SSL certificates.

However, Cloudways doesn’t provide advanced security, which may deter some customers. 

How Secure is DreamHost?

DreamHost offers a wide range of features to protect your site, including: 

• Cloud storage
• Free SSL certificates
• Multi-level authentication
• Web application firewalls 
• Intrusion detection systems

Also, DreamShield is available for $3 monthly for additional security and protection.

Winner: DreamHost

DreamHost offers essential security and additional protection with DreamShield for extra assurance.

Can We Trust Cloudways?

Yes, we can trust Cloudways because it’s a trustworthy hosting provider with security, reliable uptime, and fast speeds.

Can We Trust DreamHost?

DreamHost is a reliable and trustworthy web hosting provider with millions of customers and excellent reviews.

Winner: Tie

Cloudways and DreamHost are trustworthy hosts with reliable uptime, fast speeds, and essential security features.

Is Cloudways Customer Support Good?

Cloudways provides customer support through a 24/7 live chat, online ticketing, 24/7 Slack channel, and phone. 

However, some customer service options, like the Slack channel, are only available with a premium support add-on. 

Is DreamHost Customer Support Good?

DreamHost offers customer service via online forms and live chat. 

The live chat is only available during certain hours, which could be problematic for certain customers.

Still, the staff is knowledgeable and helpful.

Winner: Cloudways

Cloudways provides more options for customer service, including a 24/7 live chat and phone, as well as additional support with the premium add-on.

Does Cloudways Offer WordPress Hosting?

Cloudways offers excellent managed WordPress hosting.

Customers must install the WordPress app on the web host first.

Fortunately, the process of adding the application is simple. 

Does DreamHost Offer WordPress Hosting?

DreamHost offers WordPress hosting plans, including managed, VPS, and shared plans.

The WordPress plans are optimized and come with 24/7 expert support, free migrations, backups, and built-in caching.

DreamHost’s WordPress hosting plans are affordable and start at $2.59 monthly.

Winner: DreamHost

DreamHost offers optimized WordPress hosting plans with 24/7 expert support, free migrations, backups, and more. The plans are also affordable.

Will Cloudways Help With Website Migration?

Cloudways helps with website migrations, offering one free managed migration per account. 

The Cloudways agents complete the process and migrate your site with no bugs guaranteed.

Will Dreamhost Help With Website Migration?

DreamHost offers free WordPress migrations, which only take a few minutes to complete.

Also, your site will not experience downtime when you transfer it because DreamHost uses a migration plugin.

Winner: Tie

Cloudways and DreamHost both offer free website migrations, with Cloudways offering one free managed migration and DreamHost using a plugin to avoid downtime. 

Does Cloudways Offer Email Hosting?

Cloudways offers an email hosting and management add-on through Rackspace.

Rackspace gives customers everything they need to create an email server for their website.

Does DreamHost Offer Email Hosting?

DreamHost has email hosting plans starting at $1.99 monthly per mailbox. 

The plans include ad-free webmail, 25GB of storage space per mailbox, and more!

Winner: Tie

Cloudways offers an email hosting and management add-on through Rackspace, while DreamHost has various email hosting plans.

Does Cloudways Have a Website Builder?

Cloudways offers a website builder through the WP Page Builder plugin for WordPress sites.

Unfortunately, no website builder is available for other content management systems.

Does DreamHost Have a Website Builder?

DreamHost’s website builder plans offer 200+ templates, industry-specific themes, drag-and-drop technology, and real-time SEO recommendations.

The best part is that you can try the website builder for free and only pay $2.59 monthly when launching your site!

Winner: DreamHost

DreamHost’s website builder plans have a wide range of features, including 200+ templates and drag-and-drop technology. Plus, you can try the builder for free!

Cloudways Alternatives 

If you’re still unsure about Cloudways, consider these alternatives!

A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is an excellent alternative because it provides fast web page loading and server response times.

Further, the speedy loading times are credited to the host’s Turbo Boost servers (a unique feature).

Cloudways and A2 Hosting are comparable in price, and A2 offers some less expensive plans.

Hostinger

Hostinger is another alternative, offering low monthly prices, reliable uptime, and cloud hosting.

Hostinger provides more hosting options than Cloudways!

DreamHost Alternatives 

For those who don’t think DreamHost is right for their business, many other hosting providers are available!

Liquid Web

Liquid Web provides superior managed hosting solutions and cloud VPS plans tailored to your needs.

Unlike DreamHost, Liquid Web offers advanced cloud hosting with additional features such as fully managed backups, Cloudflare CDN integration, and more.

Also, Liquid Web’s cloud VPS plans are affordable and include high-performance hardware and industry-leading SLAs!

HostGator

HostGator offers low monthly rates and fast loading speeds.

Compared to DreamHost, HostGator offer most hosting plans that are more affordable.

Now You Decide

DreamHost and Cloudways are great hosting options, with each host exceeding in various areas.

Dreamhost is a great option if you’re looking for an affordable website builder with features that make the process smooth and straightforward.

In comparison, Cloudways offers plans tailored to businesses seeking scalability and flexibility but could be costlier than Dreamhost.

You must carefully consider your website’s needs and determine which host can best fit those needs!

Are you a business owner looking for a web hosting provider? Do you have questions about our Cloudways vs. DreamHost review? Let us know in the comments below!

Cloudways vs. DreamHost FAQ