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Best WordPress Cloud Hosting 2018

I had been contemplating about switching to a cloud hosting for quiet some time.

This is because I had been reading a lot of positive reviews about them.

I would highly recommend that you go with one of the best cloud hosting I will mention below.

That is if you want your website to have quick response time at all times.

I finally did it yesterday and I got to say that I am very happy with the results.

Why did I upgrade to cloud hosting?

Before I upgraded I was on a shared hosting with NameCheap. They are not bad at all.

I am really good in optimizing a website so I am able to attain a 100/100 score in Google PageSpeed Insight. And a solid A scores in Pingdom Tools and GTMetrix.

Even with only using their shared hosting.

However, the issue is with the consistency of their server response.

Basically, there are times that I won’t get a 100/100 score because it will tell me that my response time is around 0.56s which is really high.

Another is there are times that my website would just get stuck at loading.

This finally got me thinking that if this is happening to me then it is most likely that it is also happening to my visitors.

Thus the hunt for the best cloud hosting begins.

Here are the best WordPress cloud hosting in 2018.

1. DigitalOcean

This is where I am hosting Good Tech Guru now.

The best thing I like about DigitalOcean is how easy it is to use! I signed up and in under 5 minutes I already created a droplet and with a WordPress installed.

Droplet is basically what they call the instance of their virtual machine where the application of your choice will get installed.

The best thing about DigitalOcean is their one-click apps feature.

Basically what it does is let you select an app to install, choose which droplet size to install it to and choose which data center you want it to be install. That’s it!

Just like that your WordPress is installed. Very straightforward and I think that’s why many people just love DigitalOcean.

You also have an option to enable backups however it would cost you an extra. The backup price depends on your droplet price.

Currently they have 12 data centers worldwide so you can position your website close to your target audience.

If you are a developer wondering what distributions they have. They offer Ubuntu, FreeBSD, Fedora, Debian and CentOS.

Their one-click apps feature works on Discourse, Django, Docker, Dokku, Ghost, GitLab, LAMP, LEMP, MongoDB, MySQL, NodeJS, PhpMyAdmin, Ruby-on-Rails and WordPress.

Lastly, before you signup don’t forget to look for a coupon code. When I signed up I got a coupon code for $100 which is valid for 2 months.

Pricing starts at $5/month which includes 1 vCPU, 1GB memory, 25GB SSD storage and 1TB transfer.

2. Vultr

Vultr is also another affordable cloud hosting similar to DigitalOcean.

They are actually more affordable to DigitalOcean as their starting price is half of that in DigitalOcean.

I highly considered signing to Vultr before I ultimately decided to DigitalOcean.

Similar to DigitalOcean they also support operating systems like CentOS, CoreOS, Debian, Fedora, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Ubuntu.

What makes Vultr special though is that they offer support to Windows operating system right out of the box.

If you want to use a custom operating system then they also allow you to upload your own.

As for applications they support cPanel, Docker, Drupal, GitLab, Joomla, LAMP, LEMP, Magento, Mediawiki, Minecraft, Nextcloud, OpenVPN, ownCloud, Plesk Onyx, Prestashop, Webmin and WordPress.

Vultr currently have 15 data centers world wide so strategically placing your server close to your target audience should be a breeze.

Pricing starts at $2.50/month which includes 1 CPU, 512MB memory, 20GB SSD storage and 0.50TB bandwidth.

Lastly, do not forget to look for a coupon code. Currently they offer a $25 coupon.

And also there is another $100 coupon which you could get if you will deposit a $100.

3. Linode

Linode is a highly regarded cloud hosting specially for Linux loving developers.

Everything about Linode just screams performance and speed.

If you signup with them you will have access to special features like Backups, NodeBalancer, Longview and Linode Managed which will keep your system running smoothly.

I also love the fact that they are working on making their system more user friendly as time goes by.

Basically they now offer StackScripts which makes deploying distributions and applications way easier than it used to.

It is still not as easy as in DigitalOcean or Vultr but it is a step ahead nonetheless.

You still need to fill some form fields but that’s it. After that you just need to confirm and wait for the deployment to finish.

Linode supports distributions like Arch, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, OpenSUSE, Slackware and Ubuntu.

As for applications, you can install web applications like Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart, Ghost, WordPress, Odoo, Webmin and Drupal.

Just look for a guide on how to do this using StackScripts if you are a new developer as it is easier.

They currently have 9 data centers scattered though Asia, North America and Europe.

Pricing starts at $5/month which includes 1 CPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB SSD storage and 1TB transfer.

4. Google Cloud Platform

The Google Cloud Platform cloud hosting is actually my first choice to host Good Tech Guru.

The only reason I didn’t go with them is because the same specifications in DigitalOcean is 5 times the price in Google Cloud Platform.

I just can’t justify it.

And I am the type of person that do not want to pay more than I need to.

I even look for coupon codes first every time I want to purchase something online.

Google Cloud Platform is actually way more than just a cloud hosting for WordPress.

It is mainly targeted for large scale enterprise and corporations who is in need of cloud solutions that can handle their big data.

Nevertheless, I am very happy that they decided to support numerous blogs and CMS applications.

The Google Cloud Platform supports operating systems from both Linux and Windows and a whole lot of others.

As for web applications you can install WordPress, Magento, Joomla, Alfresco, AbanteCart, Akeneo, Composr, DokuWiki, Drupal, Ghost, OpenCart and a many more.

Installing WordPress in the Google Cloud Platform is also pretty straightforward. All you have to do is go to the Marketplace and search WordPress.

There will be multiple versions of WordPress for you to choose from.

After you choose the version you like you will be redirected in the deployment page where you will configure your virtual machine.

Just click deploy when you are done and you just need to wait for the deployment to finish.

That’s it, very straightforward.

This is also another reason why many people are loving the Google Cloud Platform. Almost everything can be done from the graphical user interface.

Pricing for WordPress starts from $4.28/month which includes 1 shared vCPU, 0.6GB memory and 10GB storage.

This pricing if for the WordPress Certified by Bitnami virtual machine.

One last thing, Google Cloud Platform offers a $300 signup credit which you can use for 12 months.

5. AWS

AWS or Amazon Web Services is another cloud hosting solution targeted to customers needing to handle large data.

It also supports blog or CMS platform installations so you can host WordPress on it if you want to.

The thing is, in AWS, it requires a few more steps to install WordPress.

AWS is known for their top security so it is no surprise that in order to install WordPress it requires you to generate a private key.

The password for the WordPress dashboard is also hidden to the user by default after the installation.

This is the only negative thing that I hear a lot about AWS. Their graphical user interface would require some time to get used to.

However, what makes AWS great is the number of the availability zones.

Currently they have 55 availability zones and building more as we speak.

As for the data centers related to where you can install WordPress. There are 16 data centers for you to choose from.

Pricing for WordPress starts at $14.64/month which includes 1 vCPU, 0.6GB and EBS storage.

AWS currently offers a AWS Free Tier program which basically means a 12 month free trial for new customers.

6. Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is another cloud hosting solution mainly focused on enterprise customers.

Nevertheless, you can also use it to host your WordPress website if you want to.

Installing WordPress is also pretty straightforward in Microsoft Azure.

Their graphical user interface is actually pretty close to the Google Cloud Platform if not better.

I actually think it is a bit better because the left sidebar is always there and the installation process is done with so little page refresh.

Microsoft Azure also support web applications like WordPress, Umbraco, Joomla, Orchard, Virto Commerce, nopCommerce, phpBB and others.

Pricing for a WordPress virtual machine starts at $13.14/month which includes 1 CPU, 0.75GB RAM and 20GB storage.

Microsoft Azure currently offer a $200 signup credit valid for 30 days and 12 months access to free services.

7. UpCloud

UpCloud is a cloud hosting solution which offers speed faster than your normal VPS grade SSDs.

They attain this by utilizing their proprietary MaxIOPS storage technology.

Basically what it does is make their read and write speed 2 times faster than that of its competitions.

They even showed the benchmarks in their website where they completely destroyed Vultr, DigitalOcean, Linode, Azure and AWS.

Their proprietary MaxIOPS storage technology also allows them to deploy cloud servers in less than 45 seconds.

The only downside is that you will need to access SSH once when you are deploying your server.

That is it. After that you will be able to install WordPress through their graphical user interface.

UpCloud also supports both Linux and Windows distributions so you can freely install whichever you prefer. They also allow you to install an operating from your own ISO.

Pricing starts at $5/month which includes 1 CPU, 1GB memory, 25GB storage and 1TB transfer.

If you are interested in testing UpCloud. This is the right time as they are currently offering a free trial.

8. Alibaba Cloud

Alibaba Cloud is another cloud hosting solution which offers both solutions to enterprise level and startup customers.

For startups like us wanting to install WordPress, they offer an ECS virtual cloud servers.

This is similar to AWS ECS which is also where WordPress is installed in AWS.

The best thing about Alibaba Cloud is once you have setup your ECS then installing WordPress is almost as easy as it is in DigitalOcean.

Just choose the region you prefer, choose WordPress in the application list, choose a domain and proceed to purchase.

Currently you can deploy your server to 18 regions world wide.

Pricing starts at $4.50/month which includes 1 CPU, 1GB memory, 40GB SSD storage and 1TB transfer.

Alibaba Cloud also currently offers a free trial so you can test them out if you are interested.

Special Mention

I was actually contemplating whether to put Cloudways and Rackspace in this list.

The thing is I wanted to focus on cloud hosting that offer 100% cloud solutions. Cloudways and Rackspace meet this category as well but for some reason I really think they are in different league.

Basically Cloudways and Rackspace is like a center point or agency of cloud solutions.

So if you signup to Cloudways you will have access to DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS and Google Cloud Platform from within it.

If you signup to RackSpace you will have access to AWS, Alibaba Cloud, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure and others.

The advantage of this is you will have access to more data centers for you to choose from.

You can basically put your server almost anywhere you want because of this.

Conclusion

If you are a startup like me I would highly recommend DigitalOcean.

They have been around for a while now and I am really happy with my sites performance.

If you want to go for something cheaper then Vultr is the best choice for you.

If you think that a cloud hosting is a bit out of your expertise. You might want to try a managed WordPress hosting.

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