A2 Hosting vs Cloudways
- ✦ Shared Hosting
- ✦ WordPress Hosting
- ✦ VPS
- ✦ Managed Hosting
- ✦ Staging Environment
- ✦ CDN
A2 Hosting and Cloudways are both Cloud Hosting tools. A2 Hosting starts at $10.99/mo, Cloudways at $11/mo. Compare features, pricing, and ratings below to find the best fit for your team.
When to Choose A2 Hosting vs Cloudways
The question that matters: “In what situation will I regret choosing A over B after 3 months?”
WordPress Hosting pre-configured out of the box. Free Migration moves existing sites without downtime. From start to live client URL: under 5 minutes.
Cloudways' 1-Click Install provisions WordPress with Free SSL pre-enabled and a Staging Environment ready for review - all in under 2 minutes.
Activate Turbo Servers when load spikes hit: kernel-level caching and native PHP acceleration keep pages under 2 seconds during sudden 5-10x traffic increases.
SSD Storage delivers 4-6x faster I/O than spinning disk, cutting query time by 60-70% on WordPress sites with large product catalogs or membership databases.
Cloudways' Automated Backups run daily, letting hosting resellers roll back corrupted updates in under 5 minutes with a single restore action.
Pricing Comparison & PlansHigh· Verified Jun 2, 2026
A2 Hosting Plans
Paid plans only
Startup
$11/moBest for: 1 website, 100GB SSD
- ✓1 Website
- ✓100 GB SSD Storage
- ✓Free SSL Certificate
- ✓Free Site Migration
- ✓24/7/365 Guru Support
Drive
$13/moBest for: Unlimited sites, Unlimited SSD
- ✓Unlimited Websites
- ✓Unlimited SSD Storage
- ✓Free SSL Certificate
- ✓Free Site Migration
- ✓24/7/365 Guru Support
Turbo Boost
$21/moBest for: Turbo server, Unlimited sites
- ✓Unlimited Websites
- ✓Unlimited NVMe SSD Storage
- ✓Turbo (Up to 20X Faster) Servers
- ✓LiteSpeed Web Server
- ✓A2 Optimized Caching
Turbo Max
$26/moBest for: Turbo server, 5x resources
- ✓Unlimited Websites
- ✓Unlimited NVMe SSD Storage
- ✓Turbo (Up to 20X Faster) Servers
- ✓5X More Resources
- ✓LiteSpeed Web Server
Cloudways Plans
Paid plans only
DigitalOcean Standard 1GB
$11/moBest for: This entry-level plan is ideal for small websites or testing environments, offering a cost-effective start on DigitalOcean.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
Vultr Standard 1GB
$14/moBest for: An affordable Vultr option for basic hosting needs, offering a balance of performance and cost for smaller projects.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
Linode 1GB
$14/moBest for: A solid choice for those preferring Linode, providing reliable hosting for small to medium-sized websites at a competitive price.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
Vultr High-Frequency 1GB
$16/moBest for: Recommended for users prioritizing CPU performance, this Vultr plan offers better speed for slightly higher cost than standard.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
AWS Small
$21/moBest for: This plan offers entry into AWS managed hosting, suitable for users who need the AWS ecosystem for their smaller applications.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Enterprise-grade infrastructure
- ✓Higher reliability and uptime
- ✓Advanced security features
- ✓Amazon's global infrastructure network
DigitalOcean Premium 2GB
$22/moBest for: A good mid-range option for growing websites needing more resources and improved performance compared to the standard tier.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
Google Cloud Small
$37/moBest for: Ideal for users seeking Google Cloud's robust infrastructure and global network for their applications, even at a smaller scale.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Enterprise-grade infrastructure
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
DigitalOcean Premium 4GB
$50/moBest for: Suitable for demanding applications or high-traffic sites, providing substantial resources for robust performance on DigitalOcean.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
Capability Breakdown
8 differences found across 18 standardized features
- •Shared Hosting
- •WordPress Hosting
- •VPS
- •Dedicated Servers
- •Turbo Servers
- •Free SSL
- •Free Migration
- •SSD Storage
- •cPanel
- •1-Click Install
- •Email Hosting
- •99.9% Uptime
- •24/7 Support
- •Staging
- •Git Integration
- •Managed Hosting
- •1-Click Install
- •Free SSL
- •Free Migration
- •Staging Environment
- •CDN
- •Automated Backups
- •Server Monitoring
- •PHP Apps Support
- •WordPress Optimization
- •Team Collaboration
- •SFTP/SSH Access
- •24/7 Support
- •Git Deployment
- •CloudwaysBot
Strengths & Limitations
Evaluative strengths and weaknesses: not feature lists
- +Up to 20X faster Turbo Servers with NVMe storage
- +Free automatic backups & server rewind on most plans
- +A2 Optimized software for WordPress, Drupal, & Magento
- +Anytime Money-Back Guarantee offers prorated refunds
- +Choice of data center locations on three continents
- −Turbo features are only available on higher-tier plans
- −High renewal rates after the initial promotional period
- −cPanel is not included on the cheapest 'Startup' plan
- −Phone support is not available 24/7, unlike chat/ticket
- −Site migrations are limited or paid on lower-tier plans
- +Choice of 3 top IaaS providers (DO, AWS, GCE)
- +Pay-as-you-go pricing with no long-term contracts
- +Built-in advanced caching (Varnish, Memcached, Redis)
- +Free SSL, migrations, and staging for all applications
- +Vertical scaling allows resizing servers with one click
- −No root access, limiting advanced server configurations
- −Email hosting is not included; requires a separate add-on
- −No domain registration service; must use a third-party registrar
- −Support can be slow unless you purchase a premium support plan
- −No cPanel; uses a proprietary, less familiar control panel
At a Glance
Recent Price History
A2 Hosting raised "Turbo Max" from $14.99/mo to $25.99/mo (+73%)
Price change · Jun 2, 2026
A2 Hosting raised "Turbo Boost" from $6.99/mo to $20.99/mo (+200%)
Price change · Jun 2, 2026
A2 Hosting raised "Drive" from $4.99/mo to $12.99/mo (+160%)
Price change · Jun 2, 2026
A2 Hosting raised "Startup" from $1.99/mo to $10.99/mo (+452%)
Price change · Jun 2, 2026
Cloudways added a new "DigitalOcean Premium 4GB" plan at $50/mo
Plan added · May 30, 2026
Cloudways lowered "Google Cloud Small" from $37.45/mo to $37.33/mo (0%)
Price change · May 30, 2026
Cloudways lowered "AWS Small" from $38.56/mo to $20.56/mo (-47%)
Price change · May 30, 2026
Cloudways removed the "DigitalOcean 4GB" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Cloudways removed the "DigitalOcean 1GB" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
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