Cloudways vs Nexcess (March 2025) – “Better for WordPress!”

This comparison of Cloudways vs Nexcess matches up two outstanding web hosts that are both great choices for WordPress and WooCommerce hosting. Cloudways offers Managed Cloud Hosting, while Nexcess (part of Liquid Web) continues to be a premier Managed Hosting Provider for WordPress and WooCommerce websites.

Let’s see what each host has to offer, how they perform, and ultimately which host is the better fit for your situation.

Cloudways vs Nexcess: Details


Choice of 5 Different Cloud Providers	Optimized Web Servers
Easy Server and Application Setup	Automatic WordPress Installation
Optimized Web and Database Servers	Premium Image Compression
Cloudflare CDN	Custom Nexcess CDN
Free Site Migration	Free Site Migration
Website Staging with All Plans	Website Staging with All Plans
Automatic and On-Demand Data Backups	Automatic and On-Demand Data Backups
99% Uptime	100% Uptime Guarantee
Responsive and Helpful Support	Responsive Customer Support

Cloudways vs Nexcess: Differences

Cloudways is now part of Digital Ocean, while Nexcess is part of Liquid Web. But both of these web hosts operate on their own for the most part. Cloudways specializes in Managed Cloud Hosting, offering 5 different cloud providers—including Digital Ocean. Nexcess features both Managed WordPress and Managed WooCommerce Hosting.

Advantages of Choosing Cloudways over Nexcess:

Choose from 5 Different Cloud Providers
Cloud Hosting Redundancy and Latency Benefits
Three Levels of Expert Customer Support
Enterprise-Grade Security
Host Unlimited Websites
Full Control of Cloud Server
Free 3 Day Trial (No Credit Card Needed)

Advantages of Choosing Nexcess over Cloudways:

Managed WordPress Hosting Specialist
Superior WooCommerce Hosting
Premium WooCommerce Hosting Features
Includes Premium Image Compression
Includes iThemes Security
Free Email Hosting
Includes Plugin Performance Monitor
30 Day Money Back Guarantee

Cloudways vs Nexcess: Features

The hosting plans of both Cloudways and Nexcess are loaded with impressive features. Where Cloudways shines is with the added server controls that cloud hosting provides. However, when it comes to managed WordPress hosting features, Nexcess comes out on top and is the winner in the category. With Nexcess, you get servers optimized for WordPress and WooCommerce, automatic image compression, iThemes Security Pro, and their 100% uptime SLA.

Cloudways vs Nexcess: Speed and Performance

In our testing and my personal experience using both Cloudways and Nexcess, they are two of the fastest performing hosts for WordPress websites. Cloudways features optimized web and database servers on three different cloud platforms. Nexcess providers optimized servers along with premium image compression and their integrated CDN.

Here, it is very close. However, based on our test results and my personal experience, Nexcess is the winner here. See some of our sample speed test results below:

Cloudways vs Nexcess: Website Staging

Cloudways and Nexcess both include website staging with their hosting plans. Both staging platforms are easy to use and perform very well. While creating a staging environment and pushing changes to production are equally effective with both Cloudways and Nexcess, we found the process to be a bit more streamlined with Nexcess. So, they are the winner here.

Cloudways vs Nexcess: Data Backup

Cloudways and Nexcess both allow you to create on-demand data backups in addition to the automatic backups that are generated daily. In this category, Cloudways does get an edge because they offer more flexibility when it comes to data backup and restore. With Cloudways, you can actually adjust the frequency of your automated backups, so they can run more frequently. And, you can also set the length of your data retention for restoring.

Based on the above customization options, Cloudways has the advantage here.

Cloudways vs Nexcess: Customer Support

Cloudways and Nexcess both offer 24/7 expert support, both support teams provide responsive, courteous, and helpful assistance when needed. Here again, this is another area where both hosts succeed and we have to call it a tie.

Cloudways

Started Business: 2012
BBB Rating: N/A
Data Center Location: US, CAN, EUR, ASIA, AUS, South America

Price: $12 mo. – $274.33 mo.
Unlimited Bandwidth: No
Unlimited Storage: No
Unlimited Email: No
Host Multiple Domains: Yes

Hosting Interface: Cloudways Dashboard
Server Uptime: 99%
Full Refund Period: Pay as You Go
Dedicated Hosting Available: (Dedicated Environment)

Advantages of Choosing Cloudways:

Choose from 3 Cloud Providers
Managed Offsite Backups
One-Click Scaling
Cloudflare Enterprise CDN
Breeze Cache Plugin for WordPress
Dedicated Environment
One-Click Server Cloning
Auto Healing Services
Team Management

Click Here to See More Details on Cloudways

Nexcess

Started Business: 1999
BBB Rating: A+
Data Centers: Lansing, Michigan; Phoenix, AZ; Amsterdam, EUR

Price: $14 mo. – $109 mo.
Unlimited Bandwidth: No
Unlimited Storage: No
Unlimited Email: Yes
Host Multiple Domains: Yes (Except Spark Plan)

Hosting Interface: Custom
Server Uptime: 100%
Full Refund Period: 30 Days
Dedicated Hosting Available: Yes (Liquid Web)

Advantages of Choosing Nexcess:

Specialize in Upscale Managed Hosting
Automatic Plugin Updates
100% Uptime Guarantee
Auto Image Compression
Manage Multiple Sites with iThemes Sync
iThemes Security Pro
No Pageview Limits
Automatic Daily Backups Stored Offsite for 30 Days
Superior WooCommerce Hosting

Click Here to See More Details on Nexcess

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Recommendation

Both Cloudways and Nexcess provide excellent hosting for WordPress websites. For most WordPress hosting, we would recommend Nexcess. The premium WordPress hosting features included together with their expert support put them ahead here. Also, when it comes to WooCommerce, Nexcess is our recommendation. The additional online store features together with iThemes Security and other WooCommerce optimizations make them the better choice for online stores.

The one area where Cloudways would be the better fit is if you require more control over your server.

Overall, while it’s a close call here, in this comparison Nexcess is the winner. See our Nexcess Review Ratings below:

Winner

9.8