The best cloud hosting services provide reliable and scalable hosting solutions that adapt to the changing demands of websites. This article shortlists the top 11 cloud hosts that offer strong performance, features, and value for money.
Cloud hosting is essential for dynamic websites and applications that need flexibility. It helps them to handle traffic surges and adjust resources accordingly. This article also explains what cloud hosting is, its benefits, and its cost structure. Hostinger emerged as the #1 best cloud hosting service.
Top 11 Cloud Hosting Providers
1. Hostinger
https://www.hostinger.com/Hostinger was established in 2004 and is best known for their affordable and quality hosting solutions. Their cloud startup plan is priced at RM40.50 per month. This comes with 2 vCPU cores, 3 GB RAM, 200GB NVMe SSD storage, and provides unmetered bandwidth. Their servers are also powered by CloudLinux with LVE (Lightweight Virtual Environment) containers for optimal performance. Check our Hostinger review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of Hostinger’s cloud hosting?
There are 7 pros of using Hostinger’s cloud hosting:
- Affordable price of RM40.50/month
- Comes with 200 GB NVMe SSD
- Daily free backups included
- Free domain included
- Unlimited free SSL
- 9 data centers around the world
- Offers a 30-day money back guarantee
There are 4 cons of using Hostinger’s cloud hosting:
- You need to purchase a 4 year plan to get their lowest prices
- No root access given
- No Node.js support
- Only offers managed cloud hosting
2. TMDHosting
https://www.tmdhosting.comTMDHosting offers managed cloud hosting solutions tailored for businesses of all sizes. Their Starter plan is priced at an affordable RM13.50 per month. It features 1 website, 50 GB SSD storage, 1 CPU and 1 GB RAM. TMDHosting operates six global data centers to ensure quick site loading times worldwide, and uses CloudLinux servers for reliable performance and N+1 redundancy. Users also benefit from their advanced speed-enhancing technologies such as Varnish and LiteSpeed Cache. Check our TMDHosting review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of TMDHosting’s cloud hosting?
There are 4 pros of using TMDHosting’s cloud hosting:
- Free domain
- Free SSL certificate
- Unlimited email accounts
- 30 day money back guarantee
There are 2 cons of using TMDHosting’s cloud hosting:
- No backups in Starter plan
- No root access provided (dedicated plans only)
3. GreenGeeks
https://www.greengeeks.com/GreenGeeks has been committed to eco-friendly cloud hosting since its establishment in 2008. The company plants a tree and pledges a 300% green energy match for each plan purchased. Their VPS cloud hosting MVM-2GB plan is priced at RM180 per month. It comes with 4 vCPU cores, 2GB RAM, 50GB SSD storage, and a substantial 10TB bandwidth. Check our GreenGeeks review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of GreenGeeks’s cloud hosting?
There are 3 pros of using GreenGeeks’s cloud hosting:
- Node.js supported
- Free backups included
- Offers a 30-day money back guarantee
There are 4 cons of using GreenGeeks’s cloud hosting:
- Most basic plan starts at RM180/month
- No free domain provided
- Only offers managed cloud hosting
- Only supports AlmaLinux OS
4. SiteGround
https://www.siteground.com/SiteGround ensures fast and stable connectivity by using Google Cloud’s advanced infrastructure. They offer 11 data center locations worldwide. Their cloud hosting Jump Start plan costs RM405 per month. It provides 4 vCPU cores, 8GB RAM, 40GB SSD storage, and 5TB bandwidth. Customers also have the option to enable dynamic scaling. This allows additional CPU and RAM to be automatically added to the server in times of traffic surges. Customers are billed only for the extra resources used. Check our SiteGround review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of SiteGround’s cloud hosting?
There are 4 pros of using SiteGround’s cloud hosting:
- Daily free backups provided
- Free wildcard SSL included
- Unlimited free email accounts
- Offers a 14-day money back guarantee
There are 6 cons of using SiteGround’s cloud hosting:
- Most basic plan starts at RM405/month
- No root access given
- No Node.js support
- No free domain provided
- Only offers managed cloud hosting
- Only supports Linux OS
5. ScalaHosting
https://www.scalahosting.com/ScalaHosting promises scalability, high speed and security 24/7/365. Their cloud hosting Build #1 plan is priced at RM135 per month. It offers 2 vCPU cores, 4GB RAM, 50GB NVMe SSD storage, and unmetered bandwidth. They also provide the SPanel control panel by default. Users can opt for cPanel for an additional RM90. Check our ScalaHosting review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of ScalaHosting’s cloud hosting?
There are 7 pros of using ScalaHosting’s cloud hosting:
- Comes with 50 GB NVMe SSD
- Node.js supported
- Daily free backups (offsite)
- Unlimited free email accounts
- Offers managed and unmanaged cloud hosting
- Supports Linux and Windows OS
- Anytime money-back guarantee
There are 4 cons of using ScalaHosting’s cloud hosting:
- You need to purchase a 3 year plan to get their lowest prices
- Most basic plan starts at RM135/month
- No free domain provided
- Takes up to 10 minutes to deploy server
6. Cloudways
https://www.cloudways.com/Cloudways offers versatile managed cloud hosting solutions that is easy for anyone to use. They partner with 3 leading cloud providers so users simply choose the best fit for their needs. Their DO1GB plan starts from RM49.50 per month. It provides 1 vCPU core, 1GB RAM, 25GB SSD storage, and 1TB bandwidth. Cloudways guarantees fast performance with an impressive network of over 65 data centers across Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. They also offer a 3-day free trial without needing a credit card. Check our Cloudways review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of Cloudways’s cloud hosting?
There are 4 pros of using Cloudways’s cloud hosting:
- Hourly or monthly billing options
- Node.js supported
- Free automatic backups
- You can choose from Digital Ocean, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform
There are 4 cons of using Cloudways’s cloud hosting:
- No free domain provided
- Only offers managed cloud hosting
- Only supports Linux Debian
- No money back guarantee
7. DreamHost
https://www.dreamhost.com/DreamHost started in 1996 and is widely recognized for its reliable hosting services. Their cloud hosting 2 GB RAM server plan is priced at RM54 per month. This package includes 1 vCPU core, 2GB RAM, 80GB SSD storage, and unmetered bandwidth. DreamHost also uses the open-source OpenStack cloud computing platform to provide a standard API that’s compatible with many tools. Check our DreamHost review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of DreamHost’s cloud hosting?
There are 6 pros of using DreamHost’s cloud hosting:
- Pay-As-You-Go model (by-the-hour billing)
- Root access provided
- Supports Node.js
- Can install own OS of choice
- Takes less than 30 seconds to deploy server
- 100% uptime guarantee
There are 4 cons of using DreamHost’s cloud hosting:
- No automatic backups
- No free domain provided
- Only 1 data center
- No money back guarantee
8. IONOS
https://www.ionos.com/IONOS is one of the largest hosting companies and has 5 data centers in North America and Europe. Their cloud server XS plan starts from RM18 per month. It offers 1 vCPU core, 512MB RAM, 30GB SSD storage, and unmetered bandwidth. Customers also benefit from a pay-as-you-go billing model where they are charged by the minute. Find out more in our IONOS review.
What are the pros and cons of IONOS’s cloud hosting?
There are 5 pros of using IONOS’s cloud hosting:
- Root access given
- Node.js supported
- Free wildcard SSL included
- Supports Linux and Windows OS
- Takes less than 1 minute to deploy server
There are 4 cons of using IONOS’s cloud hosting:
- No free backups
- No free domain provided
- Only offers managed cloud hosting
- No money back guarantee
9. Kamatera
https://www.kamatera.com/Kamatera is known for its powerful cloud infrastructure services and global presence. They currently have 14 data center locations that span North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Their most basic plan costs just RM18 per month. It comes with 1 vCPU core, 1GB RAM, 20GB NVMe SSD storage, and 5TB bandwidth.
What are the pros and cons of Kamatera’s cloud hosting?
There are 7 pros of using Kamatera’s cloud hosting:
- Hourly or monthly billing options
- Comes with 20 GB NVMe SSD
- Root access given
- Node.js supported
- Offers managed (add RM225) and unmanaged cloud hosting
- Option to install own OS
- 30-day free trial for plans worth up to RM450 (credit card required)
There are 3 cons of using Kamatera’s cloud hosting:
- No free backups
- No free domain provided
- No money back guarantee
10. Hostwinds
https://www.hostwinds.com/Hostwinds has a reputation for high quality cloud hosting and customer support. Their most basic cloud hosting plan is priced at RM22.50 per month. It comes with 1 vCPU core, 1GB RAM, 30GB SSD storage, and 1TB bandwidth. Hostwinds also has a 99.9999% uptime guarantee to ensure minimal disruptions for hosted sites. See our Hostwinds review to find out more.
What are the pros and cons of Hostwinds’s cloud hosting?
There are 6 pros of using Hostwinds’s cloud hosting:
- Pay-As-You-Go model (by-the-hour billing)
- Root access given
- Node.js supported
- Nightly free backups
- Offers managed and unmanaged cloud hosting
- Supports Linux and Windows OS
There are 4 cons of using Hostwinds’s cloud hosting:
- No free domain provided
- No free SSL included
- No free CDN included
- No money back guarantee
11. HostGator
https://www.hostgator.com/HostGator is one of the industry’s leading cloud web hosting providers. Their Hatchling cloud hosting plan is priced at RM22.50 per month. It includes 2 vCPU cores, 2GB RAM, and offers both unmetered storage and bandwidth. Customers also benefit from free backups, a complimentary domain, free SSL certificates, and complimentary email accounts. Check our HostGator review for more details.
What are the pros and cons of HostGator’s cloud hosting?
There are 4 pros of using HostGator’s cloud hosting:
- Affordable price of RM22.50/month
- 2 data centers in the US
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Offers a 30-day money back guarantee
There are 6 cons of using HostGator’s cloud hosting:
- You need to purchase a 3 year plan to get their lowest prices
- No root access given
- No Node.js support
- No dedicated IP provided (only available in their highest-tier plan)
- Only offers managed cloud hosting
- Only supports Linux OS
What Is cloud hosting?
Cloud hosting is a type of web hosting that uses a network of interconnected virtual servers with assigned resources. Such resources include CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth. These hosting resources are drawn from a cluster of multiple physical servers which collectively form what is commonly known as the “cloud.”
This is in contrast to other types of web hosting that rely on a single physical server, like Shared Hosting. Cloud hosting comes in both managed and unmanaged forms.
What is managed cloud hosting?
Managed cloud hosting is a cloud hosting service where the provider handles server management tasks for the user. Common tasks include setup, monitoring, security, and maintenance. Users receive round-the-clock support with this type of managed hosting. This means they can concentrate on building their websites or applications without worrying about the technicalities of server management.
How does cloud hosting work?
Cloud hosting works by using virtualization software like hypervisors to divide physical servers into multiple virtual servers. Each virtual server behaves as a distinct machine and is equipped with its own operating system and adjustable resources (CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth). The activities on one virtual server do not impact other virtual servers.
What to expect from the best cloud hosting?
The best cloud hosting offers 4 benefits to expect. Firstly, it provides high availability (uptime). Cloud hosting keeps websites running by pulling resources from other servers when one server fails. Secondly, it allows high scalability. You adjust resources like CPU, RAM, and storage on-demand without stopping or shutting down the server. Thirdly, most providers have flexible pricing. You only pay for what you use with the “pay-as-you-go” model. Lastly, it’s beginner-friendly. In managed cloud hosting, users easily manage their servers using GUI (graphic user interface) tools like cPanel or a custom control panel.
How much does cloud hosting cost?
Cloud hosting costs range from as low as RM18 per month to RM405 per month for entry-level plans. These plans include features such as NVMe SSD, unmetered bandwidth, root access, a firewall, and free daily backups. Plans on the cheaper end of the spectrum come with certain restrictions. The billing frequency of your subscription also affects how much cloud hosting costs.
What are the limitations of cheap cloud hosting?
Cheap cloud hosting refers to plans priced below RM22.50 per month. The limitations of cheap cloud hosting are that they offer a restricted amount of CPU (below 2 cores), RAM (below 1 GB), and limited storage capacity (20-30 GB). Such limits hinder the performance of a website or app. These plans also do not include backup services.
What are Pay-As-You-Go cloud hosting plans?
Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) cloud hosting plans are cloud hosting services where users are billed solely for the resources consumed by their cloud servers. These plans charge users by the minute or hour instead of a fixed monthly fee. This means they only pay for the actual server usage.
What is the difference between PaaS And IaaS cloud hosting?
The main difference between platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) cloud hosting lies in how much of the cloud server the user is responsible for.
PaaS cloud hosting users only manage their website and data. The provider handles both the software and hardware of the cloud server. Examples of PaaS providers are Cloudways, Hostinger, and SiteGround.
IaaS cloud hosting users take care of more than just their website and data. They also manage the runtime, OS, and middleware of the cloud server. This gives them full control. Popular IaaS providers include DigitalOcean, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure Cloud.
What makes the best cloud hosting for businesses?
The best cloud hosting for businesses have key features such as a pay-as-you-go plan so that businesses only need to pay for what they use. They have flexible resource allocation which allows them to easily add or remove resources on demand. This is great for eCommerce stores expecting different amounts of visitors or fluctuating traffic.
The best cloud hosts for businesses also give free backups every day, and have an uptime guarantee that provides compensation for any downtime. Lastly, they offer managed hosting for businesses. This is ideal for businesses that don’t have IT experts or developers on their team.
Is cloud hosting secure?
Yes, cloud hosting is secure for 3 reasons. Firstly, they are less vulnerable to hacking because of isolation. Each site or app operates in its separate space and this prevents one compromised site from affecting others. Secondly, cloud hosting is less susceptible to DDoS attacks thanks to load balancers. Load balancers are responsible for distributing incoming traffic evenly so it doesn’t overwhelm a single server. Lastly, virtualization creates a protective layer between the server and potential threats. This ensures that your website or app is shielded from malicious third parties.
Can I choose the data center location for cloud hosting?
Yes, you can choose the data center location for cloud hosting during the sign-up process. You can also move your active cloud server to a different data center location using the cloud host’s control panel or by contacting technical support if you want to change it later.
What is root access in cloud hosting?
Root access is the permission that gives a user the highest level of control over their cloud server. With root access, users can change their server’s settings, including the operating system, automation, scripting, firewall, and access control.
What is Linux cloud hosting?
Linux cloud hosting is a service where servers are installed with a Linux-based operating system, such as Debian, Ubuntu, or CentOS. This type of cloud hosting supports the use of cPanel, the LAMP stack, and the Exim mail server.
What is Windows cloud hosting?
Windows cloud hosting is a service where servers come with a Windows-based operating system, such as Windows Server Standard, Windows Server Datacenter, or Windows Server Essentials. This cloud hosting type supports tools such as Plesk, the IIS web server, and the MailEnable mail server. Users are required to pay an extra fee for a Windows license.
Is cloud hosting faster than shared hosting?
Yes, cloud hosting is faster than shared hosting. Shared hosting shares resources across all hosted websites while cloud hosting allocates dedicated resources (CPU, RAM, bandwidth) to each website. This results in quicker performance and faster load times for sites hosted on cloud servers. See our best shared hosting writeup to learn more.
What is the difference between cloud and VPS hosting?
The key difference between cloud hosting and VPS hosting is resource scalability in terms of CPU, RAM, storage and bandwidth.
Cloud hosting draws resources from multiple physical servers. This allows for on-demand allocation. The limit to this allocation is determined by the number of physical servers the provider owns.
Meanwhile, VPS hosting confines resources to a single physical server which is partitioned into multiple virtual servers. A user will need to transition to a larger VPS or change hosting providers to gain additional resources once that physical server exhausts its resources.
See our best VPS hosting article to learn more.
Which is the best cloud hosting provider?
The best cloud hosting providers give great performance and have lots of features like CPU, storage, and bandwidth. They also offer good service at a fair price.
Here’s a quick recap of the top 11 cloud hosting providers:
Specifications | Hostinger | TMDHosting | GreenGeeks | SiteGround | ScalaHosting | Cloudways | DreamHost | IONOS | Kamatera | Hostwinds | HostGator |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plan | Cloud Startup | Starter | MVM-2GB | Jump Start | Build #1 | DO1GB | 2GB RAM | Cloud Server XS | 1GB | 1GB | Hatchling |
CPU cores | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
RAM | 3 GB | 1 GB | 2 GB | 8 GB | 4 GB | 1 GB | 2 GB | 512 MB | 1 GB | 1 GB | 2 GB |
Storage | 200GB NVMe SSD | 50GB SSD | 50GB SSD | 40GB SSD | 50GB NVMe SSD | 25GB SSD | 80GB SSD | 30GB SSD | 20GB NVMe SSD | 30GB SSD | Unmetered |
Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | 10 TB | 5 TB | Unmetered | 1 TB | Unmetered | Unmetered | 25 TB | 1 TB | Unmetered |
Resource scaling | Manual | Manual | Manual | Auto | Manual | Manual | Manual | Manual | Manual | Manual | Manual |
Run Node.js | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Root access | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Operating system | Linux | Linux | Linux | Linux | Linux & Windows | Linux | Linux & Windows | Linux & Windows | Linux & Windows | Linux & Windows | Linux |
Server management | Managed only | Managed only | Managed only | Managed only | Managed, unmanaged | Managed only | Unmanaged only | Managed only | Managed, unmanaged | Managed, unmanaged | Managed only |
Starting price /mo | RM40.50 | RM13.50 | RM180 | RM405 | RM135 | RM49.50 | RM54 | RM18 | RM18 | RM22.50 | RM22.50 |
Cost per CPU core | RM20.30 | RM13.50 | RM45 | RM101.25 | RM67.50 | RM49.50 | RM54 | RM18 | RM18 | RM22.50 | RM11.30 |
See all features |
Hostinger is our #1 pick for cloud hosting based on these points.