Aim higher than a third-party cloud
Double the risk, double the delays, and double the price. Discover why Cloudways AWS hosting can’t match the cost-efficiency, performance, and expertise of Nexcess Magento hosting.
Why users don’t stay with Cloudways Magento hosting
Expensive support
DIY optimization
Harsh billing
Delayed response time
Limited privacy
Cloudways Magento hosting vs Nexcess
Compare Magento hosting features and capabilities
Key features
Nexcess
Free premium support
Free multiple migrations
Scalable bandwidth
Free offsite backups
Magento optimized servers
Money-back guarantee
Dedicated hosting solutions
Free CDN
Free email accounts
Data privacy
Unlimited support chat
Content freedom
Free SSLs
Nonpayment cure period
Enterprise-grade stack
PHP workers
15 years of Magento expertise
Cloudways
Free premium support
Free multiple migrations
Scalable bandwidth
Free offsite backups
Magento optimized servers
Money-back guarantee
Dedicated hosting solutions
Free CDN
Free email accounts
Data privacy
Unlimited support chat
Content freedom
Free SSLs
Nonpayment cure period
Enterprise-grade stack
PHP workers
15 years of Magento expertise
Expert support at a high price
At Cloudways, standard support is free. But, it does not include the expertise that saves you time and money. You have to pay at least 300% or 1,400% more per month for proactive server fixes, done-for-you troubleshooting, and similar services.
You can’t even get Cloudways on the phone until you pay $500 per month (a six month contract is required).
At Nexcess, premium 24/7/365 support is free. Our depth of technical and Magento expertise allows us to assist every customer by phone, email, and chat.
Magento performance is DIY
Cloudways tells you to choose your RAM, bandwidth, and storage. They don’t tell you that you have to optimize it yourself.
At Nexcess, we know that expert Magento optimization and fine-tuning are mission-critical to your revenue stream. That’s why we do it for you.
In addition to generous RAM, bandwidth, and storage, Nexcess routinely enhances your Magento servers. We take care of time-consuming maintenance and performance requirements, so you can focus on your revenue strategies.
Pay as you go, until you don’t pay
If you miss a payment with Cloudways, your servers are suspended within 48 hours. If you can’t make a payment within seven days, you lose your site — all of it — forever.
Nexcess knows that there’s usually a reason for a late payment. Clients don’t always pay on time. Banking systems glitch. Something as simple as a holiday can delay payroll. That doesn’t mean you deserve to lose everything.
Unlike Cloudways, we keep your website online for two weeks despite nonpayment. We safeguard your data for 30 days. We also make exemptions in unique situations, such as natural disasters.
Expect delays from Cloudways
If something goes wrong, Cloudways calls AWS and describes the issue. When AWS gets to it, they call Cloudways back. Cloudways tells you it’s being worked on. Then, AWS troubleshoots the issue based on availability.
It’s a game of telephone and critical information can get lost along the way. A simple error can take hours or days to resolve. Meanwhile, your site still isn’t working the way it needs to.
Nexcess is a premium hosting provider with fast-acting support. Our experts immediately step in and resolve your concerns directly. No game of telephone.
Magento security is more complicated
AWS security standards do not extend to Cloudways Magento hosting. If you use their managed services, their support team can access your code. It’s a reseller loophole.
Not to mention, Magento security guidance and configuration support doesn’t come standard. You’ll likely pay $500 per month for that level of service.
There are no loopholes at Nexcess. Our security compliance is identical to AWS; we will never access your code. Our unrivaled Magento knowledge allows us to share detailed security guidance for free — you won’t find that at Cloudways.
Why Cloudways customers are migrating away
Worst and slowest support
Worst and slowest support; which was something we were wishing for. Especially considering there isn't live chat available or phone. Only emails, which is probably running behind on support tickets. So don't expect results quickly..
- Ulysses
Horrible experience as a 2 year customer
Due to my bank messing up my credit card info, my card didn't work for 3 days. Cloudways put my servers down, making all my sites offline because the payment did not get processed for 3 days!
- Preet
Worst Hosting Speed!
I don't even want to give a one start. I've been focused on improving the speed of my Application! Every time I keep getting the error 'Reduce Initial Server Response' Whenever I get to customer support! They just say, we'll let senior developers note about the issue!
- dÃⁿ ïsH mÃÏik
Cloudways Magento hosting vs Nexcess
Cloudways hosting is not owned by Amazon. Cloudways is owned by cloud infrastructure provider Digital Ocean, who acquired Cloudways for $350 million in 2022.
Cloudways has an official partnership with AWS, which allows them to resell AWS services at a premium. They are a broker between you and AWS infrastructure.
No, all Cloudways hosting is outsourced to large, unmanaged cloud infrastructure providers.
Cloudways did not advertise Magento hosting until 2020. Nexcess has offered optimized, high-speed Magento hosting since Magento’s initial launch in 2008.
Nexcess and Cloudways hosting have similar base-level application stacks. The difference is that Nexcess has fine-tuned each instance to maximize performance potential for Magento customers. Another key difference is that Nexcess allows the user to bring their own stack and use any deployment method. Both providers include Nginx, Apache servers, PHP, Redis, MariaDB, HTTP/2, Elasticsearch, and compatibility with Git, Composer, and New Relic. However, Nexcess tunes these instances for higher-quality Magento performance and usability.
Cloudways includes RabbitMQ and Varnish within their core stack offering, but they require you set it up and configure it — that includes cookie and URL exclusions. Nexcess tunes Varnish and RabbitMQ out of the box and containerizes it, so you don’t have to manage usage and configuration yourself. Containerization also prevents unnecessary price increases. As containers, Varnish and RabbitMQ operate as isolated, external instances that do not take resources from your Magento solution. They cost a small monthly fee, but they are more scalable and less expensive than using your core cloud resources to deploy.
Cloudways AWS hosting is a managed service in which Cloudways procures AWS server resources on your behalf and manages some, but not all, digital server needs for you. Your Cloudways hosting is located in AWS data centers, but Cloudways does not physically monitor or manage your hardware. Unlike Nexcess, servers are not uniquely optimized for Magento needs — it is up to the user to optimize effectively.
Cloudways charges for DNS, additional migrations, email hosting, expert support, application upgrades, and CDN access. Additional resources like bandwidth and backups are charged on a usage basis.
AWS is a monolith of 200+ IT services that apply to hosting. While Cloudways does utilize AWS services, they do not disclose the EC2 instances that power their platform and customer websites.