Nexcess vs Cloudways — 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
Nexcess wins overall with a 4.6/5 rating vs 4.6/5. It is best for WooCommerce, WordPress, Agency. The other option — Cloudways — is a better fit if you need Developers or Agency.
Ratings Comparison
| Category | Nexcess | Winner | Cloudways |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating | 4.6/5 | Tie—Tie | 4.6/5 |
| Speed | 4.7/5 | Tie—Tie | 4.7/5 |
| Support | 4.6/5 | Winner | 4.4/5 |
| Uptime | 4.8/5 | Winner | 4.7/5 |
| Value | 4.1/5 | Winner | 4.5/5 |
| Features | 4.7/5 | Winner | 4.6/5 |
| Security | 4.6/5 | Winner | 4.5/5 |
| Ease of Use | 4.4/5 | Winner | 4.2/5 |
Features Comparison
| Feature | Nexcess | Cloudways |
|---|---|---|
| Free SSL | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free Domain | ✕ | ✕ |
| Free Migration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Money-Back | 30 days | None |
| Storage Type | NVMe | SSD |
| Bandwidth | 2TB | Unmetered |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 99.99% |
| Founded | 2000 | 2012 |
Pros & Cons
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
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
Performance Comparison
Nexcess and Cloudways delivered comparable page load performance, scoring 4.7/5 and 4.7/5 respectively. Nexcess uses NVMe storage with data centres in USA, UK, while Cloudways relies on SSD storage with locations including USA, EU. Nexcess guarantees 99.99% uptime, and Cloudways 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. Nexcess offers a 30-day money-back guarantee; Cloudways has no standard refund policy.
Support Comparison
Nexcess offers support via live chat, phone, ticket with a support rating of 4.6/5. Cloudways provides live chat, ticket support, rated 4.4/5. Nexcess has the edge on support responsiveness and quality in our evaluation.
Who Should Choose Which?
Choose Nexcess if you need:
- WooCommerce
- WordPress
- Agency
Not ideal for:
Beginners, Non-WordPress developers
Choose Cloudways if you need:
- Developers
- Agency
- WordPress
- WooCommerce
Not ideal for:
Beginners, Email hosting users
Our Verdict
After testing both platforms, we recommend Nexcess 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.