Too Close to Call
VS
Score Comparison
Criteria
DigitalOcean
Cloudways
Overall Score
8.6
8.6
Performance
8.5
9.5
Features
8.4
8.5
Ease of Use
9.2
7.8
Pricing/Value
8.5
8.2
Support
8.2
8.5
Pricing & Features
Specification
DigitalOcean
Cloudways
Starting Price
$4/mo
$14/mo
Pricing Model
Subscription
Usage-based
Making Your Decision
When to Choose DigitalOcean
Developers and small teams who value simplicity and great documentation
DigitalOcean has earned its reputation as the developer-friendly cloud. Outstanding documentation, fair pricing, and a clean interface make it the go-to for startups and developers.
Strengths
- Industry-leading documentation and tutorials
- Clean, intuitive control panel
- Strong developer community
- $4/month entry point is very competitive
Limitations
- No phone support on basic plans
- Fewer managed services than AWS/GCP
- Bandwidth overage charges can add up
When to Choose Cloudways
Growing businesses and developers who need cloud performance without server management
Cloudways bridges the gap between shared hosting simplicity and cloud performance, offering managed infrastructure on top-tier cloud providers for users who've outgrown traditional hosting.
Strengths
- Managed cloud hosting with major providers (AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean)
- Excellent performance with built-in caching and CDN
- Pay-as-you-go pricing with no long-term contracts
- Free staging environments and easy cloning
Limitations
- Higher starting price than shared hosting
- Email hosting not included (requires third-party)
- Steeper learning curve for beginners
