Cloudways vs Nexcess — Which is Better in 2026?
Nexcess is significantly more expensive (73% more). Both providers deliver comparable speed performance. We compared pricing, support, uptime, and features so you can choose with confidence.
Last verified: June 2026
Our Quick Verdict
Cloudways wins overall with a 4.6/5 rating vs 4.6/5. It is best for Developers, Agency, WordPress. The other option — Nexcess — is a better fit if you need WooCommerce or WordPress.
Ratings Comparison
| Category | Cloudways | Winner | Nexcess |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating | 4.6/5 | Tie—Tie | 4.6/5 |
| Speed | 4.7/5 | Tie—Tie | 4.7/5 |
| Support | 4.4/5 | Winner | 4.6/5 |
| Uptime | 4.7/5 | Winner | 4.8/5 |
| Value | 4.5/5 | Winner | 4.1/5 |
| Features | 4.6/5 | Winner | 4.7/5 |
| Security | 4.5/5 | Winner | 4.6/5 |
| Ease of Use | 4.2/5 | Winner | 4.4/5 |
Features Comparison
| Feature | Cloudways | Nexcess |
|---|---|---|
| Free SSL | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free Domain | ✕ | ✕ |
| Free Migration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Money-Back | None | 30 days |
| Storage Type | SSD | NVMe |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | 2TB |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 99.99% |
| Founded | 2012 | 2000 |
Pros & Cons
Cloudways
Pros
- ✓Choose your underlying cloud provider
- ✓Pay-as-you-go — no annual lock-in
- ✓Built-in CDN, Redis, and Varnish cache
- ✓Free SSL and automated backups
- ✓One-click staging environments
- ✓PHP-FPM and Nginx Varnish stack
Cons
- ✕No phone support
- ✕No email hosting included
- ✕Pricing scales with cloud server size
- ✕Not ideal for non-technical beginners
Nexcess
Pros
- ✓Auto-scaling for traffic spikes (no manual upgrades)
- ✓Built-in performance plugin monitor
- ✓WooCommerce-specific optimisations
- ✓Visual Regression Testing for safe deployments
- ✓Included CDN via Cloudflare
- ✓30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- ✕More expensive than shared hosting
- ✕WordPress/Magento focused only
- ✕No free domain
Performance Comparison
Cloudways and Nexcess delivered comparable page load performance, scoring 4.7/5 and 4.7/5 respectively. Cloudways uses SSD storage with data centres in USA, EU, while Nexcess relies on NVMe storage with locations including USA, UK. Cloudways guarantees 99.99% uptime, and Nexcess offers 99.99% uptime.
Pricing Breakdown
Cloudways starts at $11.00/month, making it more affordable than Nexcess ($19.00/month) — a 73% price difference. Over 12 months, that's $96 in savings by choosing Cloudways. Cloudways has no standard refund policy; Nexcess offers a 30-day guarantee.
Support Comparison
Cloudways offers support via live chat, ticket with a support rating of 4.4/5. Nexcess provides live chat, phone, ticket support, rated 4.6/5. Nexcess has the edge on support responsiveness and quality in our evaluation.
Who Should Choose Which?
Choose Cloudways if you need:
- Developers
- Agency
- WordPress
- WooCommerce
Not ideal for:
Beginners, Email hosting users
Choose Nexcess if you need:
- WooCommerce
- WordPress
- Agency
Not ideal for:
Beginners, Non-WordPress developers
Our Verdict
After testing both platforms, we recommend Cloudways for most users. The ratings are close (4.6 vs 4.6), so your decision should come down to your specific use case.
Our Testing Methodology
ArdentSupport evaluates hosting providers across eight weighted criteria: overall value, page load speed, customer support quality, uptime reliability, feature depth, security posture, and ease of use. Ratings reflect real-world performance data, industry reputation, public SLAs, and first-hand support interactions. Prices are verified at time of publication. We update this comparison when provider data changes.