What is cloud hosting?
Cloud hosting runs your website on a network of connected servers rather than a single machine. When one server has problems, another instantly takes over. Your site's resources can also scale up or down automatically based on how much traffic you receive.
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Overview
Traditional hosting keeps your website on one server. If that server has an outage, your site goes offline. Cloud hosting solves this by spreading your data across multiple servers in multiple locations. It is more like a utility: you draw from a shared pool of computing power, and you typically pay for only what you use.
Cloud hosting is particularly well suited for websites that experience unpredictable traffic patterns, rapidly growing businesses, and applications that need high availability. E-commerce sites, news sites around breaking events, and SaaS platforms frequently choose cloud hosting for these reasons.
Major cloud providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. Many hosting companies also offer cloud hosting plans that use this infrastructure behind the scenes while presenting a simpler interface to customers who do not want to manage raw cloud services.
The cost model for cloud hosting is often consumption-based: you pay for the resources you actually use. This makes it highly cost-efficient when traffic is variable, though costs can spike if you get an unexpected surge in visitors without automatic scaling caps in place.
What is managed cloud hosting?
Managed cloud hosting provides cloud infrastructure (compute, storage, and network resources from major cloud platforms) with server management services layered on top. The provider handles server configuration, updates, security, and monitoring, while you benefit from cloud-grade performance and scalability without managing the server yourself.
Raw cloud hosting from AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure requires significant technical knowledge to set up and maintain. Managed cloud hosting platforms like Cloudways act as a management layer on top of these providers. You choose the underlying cloud provider and server size; the platform handles everything else including server configuration, security, and support.
Cloudways is one of the most widely used managed cloud hosting platforms. It lets you deploy servers on DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS, or Google Cloud and provides a management panel, automatic backups, SSL management, and server-level support. This gives users cloud infrastructure performance with managed hosting simplicity.
Other managed cloud options include Kinsta (on Google Cloud), WP Engine (on Google Cloud and AWS), and SiteGround's cloud plans. These are specifically optimized for WordPress but are also managed cloud hosting in the broader sense.
Managed cloud hosting sits between traditional managed VPS hosting and raw cloud infrastructure in terms of complexity and cost. It is a good fit for agencies and developers who want cloud performance and scalability but do not want to become server administrators. It is more expensive than a standard VPS but cheaper than managed dedicated servers.
How do you choose the best cloud server?
The best cloud server is the one that fits your workload, region, operating skills and full monthly budget.
Compare compute, memory, storage, outbound data, snapshots and support at equivalent usage. A low hourly CPU price can be outweighed by network traffic or managed-service charges.
For a first website, managed hosting can be simpler than raw cloud infrastructure. For an application, test the real workload, set spending alerts and document how to restore data before increasing capacity.
Common questions
Is cloud hosting better than VPS?
Cloud hosting offers better redundancy and easier scaling. VPS hosting is often simpler to understand and price. For most websites, a quality VPS is sufficient; cloud hosting suits sites with unpredictable or rapidly growing traffic.
What is the best cloud hosting provider?
AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure are the largest providers. For businesses that want a simpler experience, managed cloud hosting from companies like Cloudways, Kinsta, or WP Engine (for WordPress) is popular.
Is cloud hosting more expensive?
Cloud hosting can be very cost-effective because you pay for what you use. However, costs can be hard to predict without setting budget alerts. Traditional monthly plans are more predictable for small sites.
What is the difference between cloud hosting and managed cloud hosting?
Cloud hosting is infrastructure you provision and manage yourself (AWS EC2, Google Cloud Compute Engine). Managed cloud hosting provides cloud infrastructure with server administration handled by the provider or a platform layer.
Is Cloudways managed cloud hosting?
Yes. Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that lets you use DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, or Google Cloud infrastructure with their management layer handling server administration, security, and support.
Is managed cloud hosting worth the extra cost?
For businesses without server administration skills or time, yes. Managed cloud hosting costs more than raw VPS plans but saves significant setup and maintenance time while delivering cloud-grade performance.
How do you choose the best cloud server?
The best cloud server is the one that fits your workload, region, operating skills and full monthly budget.