Bluehost vs Cloudways 2026: Which Web Host Actually Wins?
- 30 Day Money Back Guarantee
- Fast NVMe SSD storage with built-in CDN, Weekly backups
- Support available 24/7 via Live Chat, Phone, Email
- Fast SSD storage with built-in CDN, Add-On backups
- Support available 24/7 via Live Chat, Knowledge Base
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
Bluehost vs Cloudways: Quick Summary
Bluehost is the better choice. It won 5 of 7 categories, including prices and plans, customer support, hosting features. With an overall editorial score of 8.6/10 and plans starting at $4/mo, it delivers the most complete package for most website owners.
Cloudways wins on website performance and server locations. It scores 8.6/10 overall, with pricing from $11/mo, and every customer gets live chat, knowledge base support.
1. Prices and Plans Comparison
Bluehost wins on entry-level value; Cloudways is worth a look if you need a broader plan lineup.
Bluehost Winner
Bluehost's entry plan, Starter, starts at $4/mo and renews at $10/mo. It covers 10 websites, 10 GB NVME storage.
Bluehost lists 5 plans across Wordpress, Cloud hosting, so there is room to scale without switching providers.
Key inclusions:
- Promotional price requires a 36-month commitment
- Free domain for the first year on selected plans
- Free SSL across all plans
- Weekly backups included
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cloudways
Cloudways's entry plan, Micro, starts at $11/mo and renews at $11/mo. It covers unlimited websites, 25 GB SSD storage, 1TB Transfer Bandwidth bandwidth.
Cloudways lists 11 plans across Cloud hosting, so there is room to scale without switching providers.
Key inclusions:
- Free domain for the first year on selected plans
- Free SSL across all plans
- Add-On backups included
Winner Snapshot: Bluehost wins prices and plans.
- Lowest entry price at $4/mo
- 30-day refund window keeps the first purchase low-risk
- Free domain offsets first-year cost
2. Customer Support Comparison
Bluehost wins on support availability and channel depth.
Bluehost Winner
Bluehost offers support through Live Chat, Phone, Email, Ticket.
Our editorial support score for Bluehost is 8.0/10 (Great).
What we observed:
- 24/7 live chat available directly from the dashboard
- Phone support for urgent issues
- 99.99% uptime SLA backed by support credits
Cloudways
Cloudways offers support through Live Chat, Knowledge Base.
Our editorial support score for Cloudways is 8.0/10 (Great).
What we observed:
- 24/7 live chat available directly from the dashboard
- No phone support; chat and tickets only
- Extensive knowledge base and tutorials
- 99.99% uptime SLA backed by support credits
Winner Snapshot: Bluehost wins customer support.
- Support score 8.0/10
- 4 support channels: Live Chat, Phone, Email, Ticket
3. Hosting Features Comparison
Bluehost's feature set is broader and more polished across its plans.
Bluehost Winner
Bluehost scores 9.0/10 on features, with 11 of 11 core features available across its lineup.
NVMe storage is used on 5 plans, which helps database-heavy sites.
What stood out most:
- CDN included
- Automated backups
- Staging environment
- SSH access
- Git integration
- WP-CLI
- WooCommerce-ready
- WordPress-optimized stack
- Free site migration
- Free domain
- Free SSL
Cloudways
Cloudways scores 9.0/10 on features, with 10 of 11 core features available across its lineup.
What stood out most:
- CDN included
- Automated backups
- Staging environment
- SSH access
- WP-CLI
- WooCommerce-ready
- WordPress-optimized stack
- Free site migration
- Free domain
- Free SSL
What costs extra or isn't available:
- Git integration
Winner Snapshot: Bluehost wins hosting features.
- Features score 9.0/10
- CDN included, Automated backups, Staging environment, SSH access included
4. Website Performance Comparison
Cloudways leads on speed and uptime across our editorial benchmarks.
Bluehost
Bluehost averages a performance score of 95/100 across its plans, with an uptime score of 9.0/10.
Performance highlights:
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Built-in CDN for faster global delivery
- NVMe SSD storage on selected plans
- WordPress-optimized caching stack
- Scalability score 94/100
Cloudways Winner
Cloudways averages a performance score of 97/100 across its plans, with an uptime score of 9.0/10.
Performance highlights:
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Built-in CDN for faster global delivery
- Standard SSD storage
- WordPress-optimized caching stack
- Scalability score 97/100
Winner Snapshot: Cloudways wins website performance.
- Performance 97/100, uptime 9.0/10
- 99.99% uptime SLA
- CDN included for faster global load times
5. Ease of Use Comparison
Bluehost is the smoother experience for beginners and day-to-day management.
Bluehost Winner
Bluehost scores 9.0/10 on ease of use, with a beginner-friendliness rating of 91/100.
Day-to-day management:
- One-click WordPress setup with an optimized stack
- Free migration takes the pain out of switching
- Staging lets you test changes safely
- Developer tools (SSH/WP-CLI) available for advanced users
Cloudways
Cloudways scores 9.0/10 on ease of use, with a beginner-friendliness rating of 80/100.
Day-to-day management:
- One-click WordPress setup with an optimized stack
- Free migration takes the pain out of switching
- Staging lets you test changes safely
- Developer tools (SSH/WP-CLI) available for advanced users
Winner Snapshot: Bluehost wins ease of use.
- Ease of use 9.0/10
- Beginner score 91/100
6. Privacy and Security Comparison
Security baselines are equivalent; both include the essentials.
Bluehost Winner
Bluehost covers the security fundamentals with free SSL on every plan and Weekly backups.
Security inclusions:
- Free SSL certificates included
- Weekly backups
- CDN-level DDoS protection
- Staging reduces the risk of breaking a live site
Cloudways
Cloudways covers the security fundamentals with free SSL on every plan and Add-On backups.
Security inclusions:
- Free SSL certificates included
- Add-On backups
- CDN-level DDoS protection
- Staging reduces the risk of breaking a live site
Winner Snapshot: Bluehost wins privacy and security.
- Free SSL on all plans
- Weekly backups included
7. Server Locations Comparison
Cloudways's 29 locations give it the broader global reach.
Bluehost
Bluehost operates 11 data center locations across United States, India, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and more.
United States
India
United Kingdom
Germany
France
Spain
Canada
Brazil
Singapore
Hong Kong
Australia Cloudways Winner
Cloudways operates 29 data center locations across United States, India, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, France and more.
United StatesIndiaUnited KingdomGermany
NetherlandsFrance
Sweden
Finland
PolandSpain
Ireland
SwitzerlandCanadaBrazil
MexicoSingapore
Japan
South KoreaHong KongAustralia
UAE
Israel
South Africa
Indonesia
Malaysia
Thailand
Taiwan
Chile
BelgiumWinner Snapshot: Cloudways wins server locations.
- 29 data center locations
Pros and Cons
Bluehost
- Easy for beginners to use
- Strong WordPress integration
- Wide selection of hosting options
- Free SSL
- Free CDN
- Website migration tools
- Managed WordPress updates
- AI website-building tools
- Malware scanning and security features
- Backup functionality
- Staging on applicable plans
- 24/7 support
- 99.99% uptime SLA on qualifying plans
- Good upgrade path
- WooCommerce and eCommerce solutions
- Cloud hosting for larger websites
- Renewal prices are higher than introductory prices
- Feature availability varies significantly by plan
- Some advanced features require higher-tier packages
- Entry-level hosting isn't designed for very high-traffic websites
- Advanced users may want more server-level control
- Serious businesses should consider independent backups
- Phone support isn't included with every entry-level option
Cloudways
- Excellent performance and uptime
- Highly scalable cloud hosting
- Easy-to-use management platform
- Strong security and backup features
- Great for WordPress and WooCommerce
- Useful for agencies and developers
- Reliable customer support
- More expensive than shared hosting
- Slight learning curve for beginners
- Not ideal for very small websites
- Advanced features may require technical knowledge
The Bottom Line
Bluehost wins this comparison. It delivered the stronger results in 5 of 7 categories (prices and plans, customer support, hosting features, ease of use, privacy and security), while remaining competitively priced throughout its lineup.
Cloudways's edge in website performance and server locations gives it a clear audience. But when all 7 categories are considered together, Bluehost is the platform we would point most readers toward.