Dive into the world of web hosting with our incisive comparison: ‘Cloudways vs BigScoots‘. In this focused analysis, we’ll dissect each provider’s strengths and weaknesses, helping you make an informed choice. From uptime reliability to customer support, expect a comprehensive evaluation. Stay tuned as we unravel the nitty-gritty of these hosting giants.
Overview
Explore our straightforward comparison of Cloudways and BigScoots, two leading web hosting services. We’ll dissect their features, performance, and pricing to help you make an informed decision. Understand the strengths and weaknesses, no jargon, no technicalities – just good, honest review.
Let’s dive in and weigh the strengths and weaknesses of these two web hosting companies.
Cloudways
Price: From $11 per month
Support: 24/7 technical support
Official website: www.cloudways.com
Cloudways' ideal customer is a business or individual seeking simplified, scalable, and reliable cloud-based website hosting solutions.
BigScoots
Price: From $6.95 per month
Support: 24/7 technical support
Official website: www.bigscoots.com
BigScoots' ideal customer is a business owner seeking reliable, fully managed web hosting services for superior site performance and security.
Cloudways' customer support is exceptional! They helped me resolve a complex issue with my website's DNS settings within minutes. Highly recommended! – Ahmed
BigScoots' customer support is top-notch! They helped me transfer my website from another host and walked me through the entire process. Highly recommended! – Nicole
Cloudways' cloud hosting plans offer excellent performance and scalability. Their tech support is always available to assist with any issues. Impressive! – James
BigScoots' shared hosting plans offer great value for the price. Their servers are fast and reliable, and their customer support is always available. Thumbs up! – Chris
I appreciate how user-friendly Cloudways' control panel is. It makes managing my website easy and stress-free. Good job, Cloudways! – Karen
I was hesitant to switch to a new host, but BigScoots made the process easy and painless. Their servers are fast and their customer support is excellent. Recommended! – Rachel
Support Features
This section explores the strengths and weaknesses of the customer support provided by Cloudways and BigScoots.
Winner is:
Both Cloudways and BigScoots offer robust customer and technical support. Cloudways excels with 24/7 support and a comprehensive knowledge base, while BigScoots personalizes support with dedicated account managers. Both offer live chat, email, and ticketing. However, Cloudways edges out with more support channels like phone, forums, and a knowledge base. Despite BigScoots' personal touch, Cloudways' broader channels and round-the-clock support make it the overall winner in terms of customer service.
Cloudways
- 24/7 Live Chat: Cloudways offers 24/7 live chat support. This means that you can get help from a support agent at any time of the day or night.
- Email Support: Cloudways also offers email support. You can submit a support ticket and a support agent will get back to you as soon as possible.
- Phone Support: Cloudways offers phone support for some regions. You can call a support agent and get help with your issue.
- Knowledge Base: Cloudways has a comprehensive knowledge base that covers a wide range of topics. You can find answers to your questions in the knowledge base.
- Tutorials: Cloudways also has a number of tutorials that can help you get started with their platform. These tutorials cover topics such as how to create a server, how to install an application, and how to manage your website.
- Community Forum: Cloudways has a community forum where you can ask questions and get help from other Cloudways users.
BigScoots
- 24/7 Support: BigScoots offers 24/7 support from a team of experts. This means that you can always get help if you need it, no matter what time of day it is.
- Phone Support: BigScoots offers phone support 24/7. You can call their toll-free number and speak to a member of their support staff.
- Email Support: BigScoots also offers email support. You can send an email to their support address and they will get back to you as soon as possible.
- Live Chat Support: BigScoots offers live chat support. You can chat with a member of their support staff in real time.
- Friendly and Knowledgeable Staff: BigScoots's support staff is friendly and knowledgeable. They are always willing to help you and they will do their best to resolve your issue quickly.
- Quick Response Times: BigScoots's support staff has quick response times. You can usually expect a response within minutes, even during off-peak hours.
- Knowledge Base: BigScoots has a comprehensive knowledge base that covers a wide range of topics. This means that you can often find the answer to your question without having to contact support.
Technology Features
This section compares the technology features of Cloudways vs BigScoots in terms of web server infrastructure, SSD, CDN, caching, and more.
Winner is:
Cloudways offers robust server infrastructure with advanced caching mechanisms like Varnish, Memcached, and SSD-based hosting, alongside CDN integration for speed optimization. BigScoots, though, offers similar SSD hosting and CDN integration, but differentiates with personalized server management and proactive monitoring. While both have impressive offerings, BigScoots edges out with its tailored server management approach. However, for applications reliant on dynamic content, Cloudways' advanced caching might make it a more favorable option.
Cloudways
- Cloud Infrastructure: Cloudways offers a wide range of cloud infrastructure providers to choose from, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), DigitalOcean, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Linode, and Vultr. This gives you the flexibility to choose the provider that best meets your needs.
- Managed Hosting: Cloudways takes care of all the technical aspects of hosting your website, so you can focus on your business. This includes tasks such as server provisioning, security, backups, and maintenance.
- Caching: Cloudways offers a variety of caching solutions to improve the performance of your website. These include Memcached, Redis, and Varnish.
- CDN: Cloudways integrates with a number of content delivery networks (CDNs) to deliver your website's content to users around the world quickly and efficiently.
- Security: Cloudways takes security seriously. Your website is protected by a number of security features, including firewalls, intrusion detection, and DDoS protection.
- Monitoring: Cloudways monitors your website 24/7 to ensure that it is always up and running. You can also view real-time performance data to track the health of your website.
- Support: Cloudways provides 24/7 support via live chat, email, and phone.
- Staging Environment: Cloudways makes it easy to create a staging environment for your website. This allows you to test new features and changes before you deploy them to your live website.
- Team Management: Cloudways allows you to create teams and assign users to different roles. This makes it easy to manage access to your website and its resources.
- Pricing: Cloudways offers a variety of pricing plans to fit your needs. Plans start at $10/month for a 1GB droplet on DigitalOcean.
BigScoots
- SSD Storage: All BigScoots plans come with SSD storage, which is much faster than traditional HDD storage. This means that your websites will load faster and perform better.
- LiteSpeed Web Server: BigScoots uses the LiteSpeed web server, which is one of the fastest and most efficient web servers available. This will further improve the performance of your websites.
- PHP 8: BigScoots supports PHP 8, the latest version of the PHP programming language. This means that your websites will be able to take advantage of the latest PHP features and performance improvements.
- Free SSL Certificates: BigScoots includes free Let's Encrypt SSL certificates with all plans. This will secure your websites and protect your visitors' data.
- Free Website Migrations: BigScoots will migrate your website to their servers for free.
- Unlimited Bandwidth: BigScoots plans offer unlimited bandwidth, so you don't have to worry about hitting a limit.
- Unlimited Email Accounts: BigScoots plans offer unlimited email accounts, so you can create as many email addresses as you need.
- Daily Backups: BigScoots automatically backs up your websites daily. This means that you can always restore your websites if something goes wrong.
- 24/7 Support: BigScoots offers 24/7 support from a team of experts. This means that you can always get help if you need it.
- 45-Day Money-Back Guarantee: BigScoots offers a 45-day money-back guarantee, so you can try their services risk-free.
Security Features
This section looks at the security features of Cloudways and BigScoots in terms of firewall, DDoS, malware, and spam protection.
Winner is:
Cloudways and BigScoots both offer robust security features. Cloudways stands out with its dedicated firewalls, IP whitelisting, and built-in protection against DDoS and spam. BigScoots, while still secure, offers less specialized protection, focusing more on general security measures. Both are commendable, but Cloudways, with its more comprehensive and specialized security offerings, takes the edge in this comparison. So, Cloudways is my choice for superior security features.
Cloudways
- Dedicated Firewalls: All Cloudways hosted servers are protected by OS-level firewalls that filter out malicious traffic and keep out the intruders.
- IP Whitelisting: You can whitelist specific IP addresses to allow only those IP addresses to access your website. This helps to prevent unauthorized access to your website.
- Malware Scanning: Cloudways scans your website for malware on a regular basis. If any malware is found, it will be removed automatically.
- SSL Certificates: Cloudways offers free SSL certificates for all websites hosted on their platform. This helps to protect your website's traffic from being intercepted by malicious actors.
- WAF: Cloudways integrates with a number of web application firewalls (WAFs) to protect your website from common web attacks.
- Two-Factor Authentication: You can enable two-factor authentication for your Cloudways account to add an extra layer of security.
- Regular Security Patches: Cloudways regularly patches their servers with the latest security updates. This helps to keep your website secure from known vulnerabilities.
BigScoots
- Enhanced Brute Force Protection: BigScoots uses a custom firewall solution to block brute force attacks. This means that attackers will not be able to repeatedly try to guess your passwords, which can help to prevent unauthorized access to your websites.
- Spam Filtering: BigScoots uses a spam filter to block spam emails from reaching your inbox. This will help to protect your email address from being used for malicious purposes.
- Malware Scanning: BigScoots scans your websites for malware on a regular basis. This will help to protect your websites from being infected with malware, which can damage your websites or steal your visitors' data.
- Network Wide DDoS Protection: BigScoots uses a network-wide DDoS protection system to protect your websites from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. This means that your websites will be protected from attacks that try to overwhelm your servers with traffic.
- Secure Login: BigScoots uses a secure login system to protect your websites from unauthorized access. This means that your passwords will be encrypted and stored securely, so attackers will not be able to steal them.
- Daily Backups: BigScoots automatically backs up your websites daily. This means that you can always restore your websites if something goes wrong.
Performance Features
This section looks at the performance, speed, and uptime features of BigScoots and Cloudways in terms of caching, SSD storage, CDN, and more.
Winner is:
Cloudways excels in speed with its advanced tech stack, making it ideal for those who prioritize site loading times. However, BigScoots shines in performance and reliability, offering robust infrastructure and dependable uptime. While both offer quality services, BigScoots wins the race due to its balanced combination of speed, performance, and reliability, making it a more comprehensive option for a broad range of users.
Cloudways
- Cloud Infrastructure: Cloudways utilizes top-tier cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode, allowing users to choose the most suitable infrastructure for their needs.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN): Cloudways integrates with popular CDNs like CloudFront, Cloudflare, and StackPath to ensure faster content delivery and reduced latency for global visitors.
- Advanced Caching: They employ built-in caching mechanisms, including Redis and Varnish, to optimize website performance and reduce server response time.
- PHP 7 Ready Servers: Cloudways encourages the use of PHP 7 or higher, as it offers significant performance improvements over older versions.
- Managed Servers: Cloudways offers managed cloud servers, which means they handle server setup, configuration, security patches, and updates, allowing users to focus on their websites without dealing with server management.
- Vertical Scaling: Users can easily scale their server resources (RAM, CPU, storage) vertically, ensuring optimal performance during traffic spikes or high resource demand periods.
- HTTP/2 Enabled Servers: Cloudways supports HTTP/2, a more efficient and faster version of the HTTP protocol that improves website loading times.
- PHP-FPM: PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) is utilized for faster and more efficient processing of PHP scripts, resulting in improved PHP performance.
- Server Monitoring: Cloudways provides server monitoring that tracks server performance and ensures that any potential issues are promptly addressed.
- Automated Backups: Regular automated backups are available, giving users the option to restore their websites to a previous state in case of data loss or system failures.
- High Availability (HA): Cloudways offers High Availability through the use of dedicated and redundant resources, reducing the risk of downtime due to hardware failures.
BigScoots
- Speed: BigScoots uses SSD storage and the LiteSpeed web server, which are both very fast. This means that your websites will load quickly.
- SSD Storage: SSD storage is much faster than traditional HDD storage. This means that your websites will load much faster when they are hosted on SSD storage.
- LiteSpeed Web Server: The LiteSpeed web server is one of the fastest and most efficient web servers available. This means that your websites will be able to handle more traffic and perform better when they are hosted on LiteSpeed.
- Uptime: BigScoots guarantees 99.9% uptime. This means that your websites will be up and running 99.9% of the time.
- Performance: BigScoots offers a number of features that can help to improve the performance of your websites, such as caching and compression.
- Caching: Caching is a technique that can be used to store frequently accessed data in memory. This can help to improve the performance of your websites by reducing the amount of time it takes to load them.
- Compression: Compression is a technique that can be used to reduce the size of files. This can help to improve the performance of your websites by reducing the amount of data that needs to be transferred.
Pros & Cons
In this section, we’ll be taking a closer look at Cloudways and BigScoots, two well-known hosting services. We’ll break down the pros and cons of each, giving you a clear overview of what they offer. So, let’s dive in and explore the ups and downs of these two hosting options.
Winner is:
Cloudways offers a flexible, scalable platform with multiple cloud providers, free SSL, and a user-friendly interface. However, it lacks domain registration and email hosting. BigScoots offers personalized management, free site migration, and email hosting, but has limited scalability and fewer cloud providers. While both have their merits, Cloudways edges out with its flexibility and scalability, making it the winner for users requiring more control and growth potential.
Cloudways
Pros:
- Easy cloud management with a user-friendly interface.
- Choice of reputable cloud providers for flexibility.
- Scalability to handle changing resource needs.
- Managed security and regular updates for peace of mind.
- Performance optimization with built-in caching and CDN.
- Free SSL certificates for improved security.
- Staging environment for testing website changes.
- 24/7 customer support for assistance.
- Pay-as-you-go pricing for cost-effectiveness.
- Intuitive control panel suitable for all users.
Cons:
- No domain registration service.
- Limited focus on email hosting.
- Custom control panel instead of cPanel.
- Bandwidth limitations and potential additional charges.
- No root access to servers for advanced users.
- Pricing complexity as websites grow.
- Limited choice of data centers.
- Some third-party integration limitations.
BigScoots
Pros:
- Excellent performance: BigScoots uses SSD storage and the LiteSpeed web server, which are both very fast. This means that your websites will load quickly.
- Great uptime: BigScoots guarantees 99.9% uptime. This means that your websites will be up and running 99.9% of the time.
- Excellent security: BigScoots offers a number of security features, such as enhanced brute force protection, spam filtering, malware scanning, and network-wide DDoS protection.
- Great customer support: BigScoots offers 24/7 support from a team of experts. This means that you can always get help if you need it.
- Affordable pricing: BigScoots's plans are very affordable, especially for managed WordPress hosting.
Cons:
- Limited features: BigScoots's plans do not offer as many features as some of its competitors.
- No monthly plans: BigScoots only offers annual plans for its managed WordPress hosting, which may not be ideal for customers who prefer to pay on a monthly basis.
- Limited storage: BigScoots's managed WordPress hosting plans come with limited storage, which may not be sufficient for larger websites or those with high traffic.
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