Cloudways Vs. GreenGeeks (2023)

Cloudways and GreenGeeks are two excellent web host providers, but which one should you choose for your next website?

Understanding the key differences between each web host is crucial because choosing the wrong one can lead to unnecessary expenses and frustration.

I’ve worked with both Cloudways and GreenGeeks extensively and know where each host excels and falls short.

So, if you’re in the process of creating a new website but haven’t selected a host yet, this 2023 review is for you! 

Let’s take a closer look at Cloudways and GreenGeeks so you can choose the best web host for your website!

How Did We Test Cloudways and GreenGeeks Hosting?

The TYB team and I don’t test web hosting providers like other sites. 

Instead of using our objective point of view, we rely on lab testing and data.

Also, we utilize the most advanced software to test Cloudways and GreenGeeks.

Before testing, we designed two staging sites hosted on Cloudways versus GreenGeeks and kept track of results in the following areas:

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

Cloudways Vs. GreenGeeks Hosting Winner:

Cloudways versus GreenGeeks; which host is the best?

Cloudways is the better choice if you need managed hosting solutions backed by the most powerful servers in the web hosting industry.

Although Cloudways’ pricing is more expensive than other hosts, the performance, speed, and security measures make it worth it.

Here’s our Cloudways review if you want more information.

In comparison, GreenGeeks is the ideal choice if you need an eco-friendly web host with multiple hosting solutions.

GreenGeeks’ shared and WordPress hosting plans start at $2.95 per month and include numerous features that ensure your site is secure and will operate well!

If you want to read more about GreenGeeks, check out our GreenGeeks review!

What is Cloudways Web Hosting?

Cloudways is a web host that specializes in managed cloud hosting.

Because its services are entirely managed, Cloudways offers customers an easy-to-use platform. 

Therefore, small businesses, agencies, etc., can focus on their business more and less on technical aspects related to their website!

Who Uses Cloudways?

Cloudways is ideal for individuals of all kinds!

As previously mentioned, Cloudways has managed web hosting, making its services ideal for busy business owners and beginners with little technical knowledge. 

But Cloudways is also great for developers, agencies, and large websites because the web host provides fast speeds and reliable performance.

What are the Benefits of Cloudways?

There are several benefits of choosing Cloudways.

For instance, the web host provides managed hosting backed by powerful servers.

Also, Cloudways allows customers to only pay for the data, storage, and web traffic they experience in the month, ensuring customers aren’t paying for services they aren’t using.

Ultimately, the list of benefits that comes with using Cloudways is extensive!

Where Cloudways Falls Short

There are a couple of areas where Cloudways can improve.

One area is providing advanced security. Unlike other hosts, Cloudways only provides customers with basic security features.

Also, Cloudways doesn’t offer many hosting options like other hosts do.

What is GreenGeeks?

GreenGeeks is a web hosting provider specializing in shared, reseller, VPS, and WordPress hosting. 

Further, GreenGeeks focuses on green power technology, meaning it is an eco-friendly web host.

Not only that, but GreenGeeks provides low monthly rates and excellent performance for its customers.

Who Uses GreenGeeks?

GreenGeeks is designed for individuals, small businesses, and agencies.

For instance, low monthly rates for shared hosting plans make GreenGeeks appealing to those building a website on a budget.

However, GreenGeeks’ reseller and VPS plans make the web host ideal for larger businesses and agencies!

What are the Benefits of GreenGeeks?

GreenGeeks comes with several benefits, including a robust security package.

Also, GreenGeeks is eco-friendly, meaning you can manage a website without worrying about its toll on the environment.

GreenGeeks has an intuitive control panel, making it perfect for newbies in the web hosting game!

Where GreenGeeks Falls Short

Some downsides of using GreenGeeks include customer support and SSL certificate activation.

Unlike most web hosts, GreenGeeks doesn’t automatically activate your SSL certificate.

Also, customer support often comes with long wait times and unhelpful responses.

Cloudways Vs. GreenGeeks Hosting: The Details 

Cloudways and GreenGeeks are two excellent web hosts, so let’s see what distinguishes one provider from the other.

What Types of Hosting Does Cloudways Have?

Cloudways only provides its customers with managed web hosting.

However, customers can choose which data center their website will utilize.

Cloudways offers the following providers:

• DigitalOcean
• Vultr
• Linode
• AWS
• Google Cloud

What Types of Hosting Does GreenGeeks Have?

GreenGeeks offers various hosting plans, including those for the following types of hosting:

• Shared
• WordPress
• WooCommerce
• VPS
• Reseller

Winner: GreenGeeks! 

Regarding hosting plan flexibility, GreenGeeks has more choices, including options Cloudways doesn’t offer!

Does Cloudways Have Uptime Issues?

Unlike some web host providers, Cloudways doesn’t struggle with uptime and consistently provides customers with excellent performance.

Our staging site on Cloudways only endured a few minutes of downtime throughout the course of a month (it is impossible to have 100% uptime).

Cloudways’ powerful servers provide a reliable uptime performance!

Does GreenGeeks Have Uptime Issues?

GreenGeeks provides customers with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and lives up to that promise!

Our staging site only observed a few short outages during testing, meaning there was little downtime. 

Also, the server response time was fast and reliable!

Winner: It’s a tie! 

Cloudways and GreenGeeks both have excellent uptime performances. While Cloudways doesn’t provide an uptime guarantee as GreenGeeks does, the web host still performed better than most web hosts!

How Fast Is Cloudways Hosting?

Cloudways hosting is much faster than you’d expect.

Given the numerous data centers from reputable companies like Google and Amazon, Cloudways can provide unmatched loading speeds.

Further, visitors won’t be stuck waiting for pages to load when you use Cloudways to host your website!

How Fast Is GreenGeeks Hosting?

GreenGeeks’ hosting is considerably fast.

Our staging site saw excellent Largest Contentful Paint and fully loaded times below the industry average of 2.5 seconds. 

Also, since GreenGeeks gives you three server locations to choose from, you can select the one closest to your audience to ensure the fastest speeds!

Winner: Cloudways! 

Although it was a close race, Cloudways is slightly faster than GreenGeeks. That’s not to say GreenGeeks is slow (the host provides excellent loading times); Cloudways’ speeds are simply hard to top!

Cloudways Hosting Stress Test

Website stress occurs when floods of people visit your site simultaneously.

When this happens, some web hosts’ performance dips, and speeds get slower.

However, Cloudways can handle significant stress, meaning you don’t have to worry about your website’s performance being affected because more people view your pages!

GreenGeeks Hosting Stress Test

Even GreenGeeks’ shared hosting plans can handle significant website stress!

We sent tens of thousands of bots to visit our staging site, and the performance and load times were unaffected.

Winner: It’s a tie! 

Cloudways and GreenGeeks can both handle significant website stress! Each host’s performance and speed were not impacted by unexcepted surges of website traffic.

How Easy is Cloudways to Use?

As previously mentioned, Cloudways provides managed web hosting, ensuring customers have an easy user experience.

Professionals at Cloudways take care of the technical side of managing a website, giving you more time to focus on your business!

How Easy is GreenGeeks to Use?

GreenGeeks is very easy to use, regardless of your technical skills.

The web host includes a modern dashboard with a straightforward appearance, allowing you to find what you’re looking for easily.

And GreenGeeks provides a cPanel for more advanced users who want to customize more aspects of their website!

Winner: Cloudways! 

Cloudways wins this round by a small margin simply because its services are managed, meaning users don’t have to do much work. Still, GreenGeeks is easy to use, even if you’re a beginner!

Cloudways Pricing & Value

Compared to other hosts, Cloudways is a more expensive web host provider.

However, the value you receive at Cloudways is incredible, making the slightly higher prices worth it!

For instance, you receive access to powerful servers, reliable performance, and excellent speeds!

GreenGeeks Pricing & Value 

GreenGeeks’ most affordable plans are its shared hosting solutions, starting at $2.95 per month for the Lite package. 

For less than $5 monthly, customers receive a feature-rich hosting plan, including features like:

• Free SSL certificate
• Free domain name
• Free nightly backups
• Free CDN
• Built-in caching
• And much more!

Winner: GreenGeeks! 

Cloudways can provide customers with tremendous value, but GreenGeeks’ pricing and features make it the clear winner of this round. GreenGeeks includes advanced security features, reliable performance, and fast speeds for less than $5 monthly!

How Secure is Cloudways?

Website security is essential.

Therefore, Cloudways provides the necessary security tools to ensure your website performs its best and is safe from hackers.

Some of the security features Cloudways includes with each plan include the following:

• Automatic website backups
• SSL certificates
• Firewalls
• Bot protection

How Secure is GreenGeeks?

GreenGeeks is one of the most secure web hosts in the industry.

Some security features in every hosting plan include SSL certificates, automatic backups, and server monitoring. 

Unlike other hosts, GreenGeeks doesn’t make you pay for advanced security measures!

Winner: GreenGeeks! 

Cloudways is a secure host, but GreenGeeks’ security measures are second-to-none. The web host provides customers free SSL certificates and advanced features for no extra cost!

Can We Trust Cloudways?

Cloudways is a trustworthy web host. 

Cloudways works with numerous reputable companies, provides essential security features, and is currently trusted by thousands of sites!

Can We Trust GreenGeeks?

We can trust GreenGeeks because the web host has been in business for several years.

GreenGeeks currently hosts over 50,000 websites, indicating it is a trustworthy hosting solution!

Winner: It’s a tie! 

GreenGeeks and Cloudways are two trustworthy hosting solutions for all kinds of customers! Both web hosts provide excellent services to thousands of websites.

Is Cloudways Customer Support Good?

Cloudways has several customer support outlets, including the following:

• 24/7 live chat
• Online ticketing
• Phone support

Premium support is available for an additional fee and comes with helpful customer support options like a 24/7 Slack channel with a Cloudways professional!

Is GreenGeeks Customer Support Good?

GreenGeeks has customer support outlets available via 24/7 live chat, email, and phone support.

Phone support is limited to specific hours, and email inquiries usually take around 15 minutes to get a response. 

Still, the agents at GreenGeeks are knowledgeable regarding hosting solutions and related inquiries.

Winner: Cloudways! 

Cloudways’ customer support is better than GreenGeeks in this category. Cloudways offers 24/7 live chat and phone support available at all hours. Plus, premium customers can access the helpful online Slack channel for convenience!

Does Cloudways Offer WordPress Hosting?

Cloudways offers industry-leading managed WordPress hosting and features to optimize WordPress websites.

For instance, Cloudways includes a WP Page Builder plugin, making it easier to create your website!

WordPress hosting with Cloudways is excellent because the site runs on the most powerful servers in the industry!

Does GreenGeeks Offer WordPress Hosting?

GreenGeeks offers WordPress and WooCommerce hosting solutions starting at $2.95 per month!

The WordPress hosting solutions include numerous helpful features, including free migrations, automatic WordPress installation, and automatic WordPress updates.

These features, paired with the low monthly price, make WordPress and WooCommerce plans enticing at GreenGeeks!

Winner: GreenGeeks! 

Cloudways is excellent for WordPress hosting, but GreenGeeks offers features Cloudways doesn’t have and implements at a lower price. From free migrations to automatic updates, GreenGeeks’ WordPress solutions are excellent!

Will Cloudways Help With Website Migration?

Cloudways will help migrate your existing website to its platform free of charge.

Take note that customers can only migrate one site per account.

But, Cloudways does all the work for you and guarantees no bugs or problems during the migration.

Will GreenGeeks Help With Website Migration?

GreenGeeks will help migrate your website onto its platform. 

Customers must request a website migration by accessing their control panel, clicking “Support,” and then “Site Migration Request.”

GreenGeeks’ agents handle all the hard work and send you an email when the migration is finished!

Winner: It’s a tie! 

Cloudways and GreenGeeks offer great website migration services. Cloudways migrates one website per account for free, and GreenGeeks provides a quick way to request a site migration. 

Does Cloudways Offer Email Hosting?

Cloudways has email hosting available through Rackspace, an all-in-one email management software that easily organizes business emails.

Rackspace is an add-on feature, so it will cost you a monthly fee in addition to your hosting plan.

Does GreenGeeks Offer Email Hosting?

GreenGeeks has advanced email hosting solutions available for $2.95 per month!

Some of the features include:

• Custom email handle
• Unlimited email accounts
• Email spam protection
• 24/7 support
• Daily backup service

Winner: GreenGeeks! 

Regarding email hosting, GreenGeeks is more affordable than Cloudways, securing the host a win in this category. For $2.95 monthly, customers receive advanced email solutions with security to go with it!

Does Cloudways Have a Website Builder?

Cloudways offers the WP Page Builder, a plugin for WordPress sites.

This plugin allows users to easily and quickly make a professional-looking WordPress site, regardless of their technical skills.

Unlike other hosts, Cloudways doesn’t offer company-exclusive website builder software.

Does GreenGeeks Have a Website Builder?

GreenGeeks has an excellent website builder for its customers!

This tool comes with the following features:

• Hundreds of templates
• Google search optimization
• Drag and drop functionality
• eCommerce ready
• Mobile friendly templates
• 24/7 support

Winner: GreenGeeks! 

Cloudways’ WP Page Builder is a great tool for customizing WordPress sites. However, GreenGeeks offers an easier-to-use website builder with more features, making it the winner in this category!

Cloudways Alternatives 

Some of the alternatives to Cloudways include:

• A2 Hosting
• DreamHost

A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is an ideal alternative to Cloudways because it offers fast speeds and reliable performance for a lower monthly rate.

Further, A2 Hosting has Turbo Boost, a feature designed to make loading times 20 times faster than traditional shared hosting plans.

Some customers note A2 Hosting can be difficult to learn, but others attest the software is intuitive.

DreamHost

DreamHost is an excellent alternative to Cloudways if you need low monthly prices for incredible hosting.

With select DreamHost plans starting at less than $5 monthly, you don’t have to worry about his web host breaking the bank.

Also, DreamHost offers more hosting options than Cloudways, including shared, cloud, and WordPress hosting!

GreenGeeks Alternatives 

Some other options to GreenGeeks include the following:

• Liquid Web
• HostGator

Liquid Web

Liquid Web is an excellent alternative to GreenGeeks if you need fully managed hosting solutions.

Also, Liquid Web offers a variety of hosting options, including eCommerce, VPS, dedicated server, and cloud hosting.

Liquid Web’s prices are competitive, with managed WordPress plans starting at $19 monthly!

HostGator

HostGator is another excellent alternative; this host provides some of the lowest monthly rates in the web hosting industry. 

And HostGator’s performance and loading speeds are incredible too!

The area where HostGator falls short is security, as the web host only provides the most basic security features.

Now You Decide

As you can see, Cloudways and GreenGeeks are two high-performing web host providers!

Cloudways is perfect for customers needing fully managed web hosting. However, remember that Cloudways’ prices are steeper than GreenGeeks because of the powerful servers and other services.

On the other hand, GreenGeeks has more hosting plans, such as WooCommerce and shared hosting.

Also, GreenGeeks’ prices are lower than Cloudways, making it the ideal choice for small businesses and individuals on a budget who want reliable web hosting.

Ultimately, choosing between Cloudways and GreenGeeks is a decision only you can make!

Carefully review what services and features your website demands, and then note which host better meets those criteria!

GreenGeeks Vs. Cloudways FAQ