Cloudways vs Liquid Web: Managed Cloud for WordPress – Mid Market vs Enterprise
Both are managed cloud platforms for WordPress. The similarity ends at the category label.
Cloudways gives you five cloud providers, pay-as-you-go billing, and managed server infrastructure from $11 per month. You pick the cloud. You manage WordPress. The server layer is handled.
Liquid Web gives you isolated dedicated resources, a 22-second phone response guarantee, a 100% uptime SLA backed by a 10x credit clause, and auto-scaling WordPress that never takes your site offline during a traffic surge. You manage the content. Everything else is handled.
In eight direct tests, Liquid Web passes all three mobile Core Web Vitals where Cloudways fails all three. Liquid Web’s GTmetrix TTFB is 78ms against Cloudways’ 244ms. Liquid Web handles concurrent load at 224ms against Cloudways’ 451ms.
The price gap matches the performance gap. The question is whether the enterprise premium is justified for your specific use case.
Cloudways launched in 2011. It does not own servers. It wraps DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, and Linode with a managed layer, pre-configures Varnish and Redis, and charges pay-as-you-go monthly rates. Any application runs on it. Multiple cloud providers give geographic flexibility.
Liquid Web launched in 1997. It owns its infrastructure. Its managed WordPress product runs under the Nexcess brand with a custom portal, one-click staging, visual regression testing, and auto-scaling PHP workers. Phone answered in 22 seconds. Engineers fix problems, not tickets.
[IMAGE: Side-by-side comparison of Cloudways and Liquid Web logos]
Quick Verdict
Liquid Web wins on every technical performance metric: mobile Core Web Vitals, global latency, concurrent load, desktop GTmetrix grade, SSL, HTTP/3, and support response time.
Cloudways wins on price, multi-cloud deployment flexibility, non-WordPress application support, and trial period access.
Category Winners
| Category | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile LCP | Liquid Web | 1.2s (Pass) vs Cloudways 5.0s (Fail) |
| Mobile INP | Liquid Web | 87ms (Pass) vs Cloudways 225ms (Fail) |
| Mobile CLS | Liquid Web | 0.01 (Pass) vs Cloudways 0.99 (Fail) |
| Mobile CWV Overall | Liquid Web | Passes all 3; Cloudways fails all 3 |
| Desktop GTmetrix | Liquid Web | Grade C vs Cloudways Grade D |
| Desktop LCP | Liquid Web | 531ms vs Cloudways 2.0s |
| Desktop TTFB | Liquid Web | 78ms vs Cloudways 244ms |
| Desktop TBT | Liquid Web | 1.7s vs Cloudways 2,200ms |
| Concurrent Load Avg | Liquid Web | 224ms vs Cloudways 451ms |
| Load Reachability | Tie | Both 100% |
| Uptime SLA | Liquid Web | 100% with 10x credit guarantee; Cloudways no stated SLA |
| Uptime Monitoring | Tie | Both 100%, 0 incidents |
| SSL Grade | Liquid Web | Grade A+ vs Cloudways Grade A |
| HTTP/3 | Liquid Web | Supported + 0-RTT; Cloudways requires add-on |
| Environmental | Tie | Both verified green via Cloudflare |
| Support Speed | Liquid Web | 22-second phone; Cloudways chat under 2 minutes |
| Support Channels | Liquid Web | Phone + chat + ticket; Cloudways chat only |
| Auto-scaling | Liquid Web | Built-in PHP workers; Cloudways manual |
| Price | Cloudways | ~$11/month entry; Liquid Web enterprise pricing |
| Multi-cloud | Cloudways | 5 IaaS providers; Liquid Web own infrastructure |
| Non-WP Applications | Cloudways | Yes; Liquid Web managed WP is WordPress only |
| Trial / Risk-free | Cloudways | 3-day free trial; Liquid Web 30-day money-back |
Who Should Choose Which
| Choose Cloudways if… | Choose Liquid Web if… |
|---|---|
| Budget is the primary constraint and performance comes second | Your website generates revenue where every hour of downtime costs real money |
| You run applications beyond WordPress on the same infrastructure | You need an engineer on the phone in under 60 seconds at 3 AM |
| You want to deploy on DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, or Linode | You run WooCommerce with high-traffic sales events that require auto-scaling |
| You want pay-as-you-go monthly billing with a 3-day free trial | Mobile Core Web Vitals compliance for SEO rankings is required |
| You need direct control over PHP settings and caching configuration | You want a 100% uptime guarantee backed by a 10x credit clause |
| You need the flexibility to switch cloud providers without migrating applications | You want GTmetrix-verified server performance at the enterprise tier |
Cloudways vs Liquid Web: Full Feature Comparison
| Feature | Cloudways | Liquid Web |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2011, Malta | 1997, Michigan, USA |
| Infrastructure | Multi-cloud (DO, AWS, GCP, Vultr, Linode) | Own data centres |
| WordPress Only | No (any application) | Managed WP: Yes. VPS/Dedicated: No |
| Best For | Developers, multi-app teams, flexible cloud | Revenue-generating sites, agencies, enterprise |
| Trustpilot | 4.6/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Mobile INP | 225ms (Fail) | 87ms (Pass) |
| Mobile LCP | 5.0s (Fail) | 1.2s (Pass) |
| Mobile CLS | 0.99 (Fail) | 0.01 (Pass) |
| CWV Overall | Failed (all 3) | Passed (all 3) |
| Desktop GTmetrix | D (LCP 2.0s, TTFB 244ms, TBT 2,200ms) | C (LCP 531ms, TTFB 78ms, TBT 1.7s) |
| Load Test Avg | 451ms | 224ms |
| Load Reachability | 100% | 100% |
| 30-Day Uptime | 100% | 100% |
| Uptime SLA | Not stated | 100% (10x credit if breached) |
| SSL Grade | A | A+ |
| HTTP/3 | No (add-on required) | Yes (0-RTT supported) |
| HSTS | Optional | Enabled (server level) |
| Green Hosting | Verified (Cloudflare CDN) | Verified (REC + Cloudflare Green) |
| Free Domain | No | No (paid separately) |
| Free SSL | Yes | Yes (auto-enabled) |
| Email Hosting | No | VPS/Dedicated: Yes. Managed WP: No |
| Control Panel | Application Manager | cPanel/InterWorx (VPS), Nexcess Portal (WP) |
| cPanel | No | Yes (VPS and Dedicated) |
| Staging | Yes | Yes (one-click, visual regression) |
| Varnish + Redis | Yes, pre-configured | Not separately stated |
| Auto-scaling | Manual | Yes (PHP workers, no downtime) |
| Support Speed | Under 2 minutes (chat) | 22 seconds (phone), 45 seconds (chat) |
| Support Channels | Chat only | Phone + Chat + Ticket |
| Support Guarantee | Not stated | 59-second initial response SLA |
| White Glove Migration | No | Yes, free |
| Multi-cloud | 5 providers | No (own infrastructure) |
| Billing | Pay-as-you-go monthly | Monthly/Annual |
| Entry Price | ~$11/month (DO backend) | Premium enterprise tier |
| Money-back | 3-day free trial | 30-day money-back (cloud/WP plans) |
How We Tested
We ran direct technical audits against each provider’s official corporate domain: cloudways.com for Cloudways and www.liquidweb.com for Liquid Web.
A note on global latency: both Cloudways (Check-Host.net) and Liquid Web (Check-Host.net) return sub-2ms ping results globally. Both use CDN Anycast edge acknowledgment. The Liquid Web review confirms this is Cloudflare Enterprise integration. Cloudways’ review confirms the same. Both measures are edge ping rather than full content TTFB. Liquid Web’s origin TTFB is confirmed at 78ms from GTmetrix. Cloudways’ origin TTFB is confirmed at 244ms from GTmetrix.
Tools: Google PageSpeed Insights for mobile Core Web Vitals, GTmetrix (Liquid Web) and GTmetrix (Cloudways) for desktop rendering, K6 Load Cloud for concurrent traffic simulation, Check-Host.net for global edge ping, Uptime Robot for availability, Qualys SSL Labs for SSL grade, HTTP/3 Check for protocol support, The Green Web Foundation for sustainability.
For complete individual test data, see our Cloudways review and Liquid Web review.
Performance: Eight Tests, Head to Head
Test 1: Mobile Core Web Vitals (Google PageSpeed Insights)
Cloudways Mobile
| Metric | Result | Google Threshold | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| INP (Interaction) | 225ms | Under 200ms | Fail |
| LCP (Loading) | 5.0s | Under 2.5s | Fail |
| CLS (Stability) | 0.99 | Under 0.1 | Fail |
Liquid Web Mobile
| Metric | Result | Google Threshold | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| INP (Interaction) | 87ms | Under 200ms | Pass |
| LCP (Loading) | 1.2s | Under 2.5s | Pass |
| CLS (Stability) | 0.01 | Under 0.1 | Pass |
The mobile CWV comparison is as wide as any in this series. Liquid Web passes all three. Cloudways fails all three.
Liquid Web’s 87ms INP matches the joint-best in this comparison series. The Liquid Web review explicitly links this to resource isolation — on dedicated infrastructure, the server processes user interactions without competing workloads consuming CPU cycles. Cloudways’ 225ms INP reflects the corporate marketing site’s JavaScript weight rather than the Varnish stack, but the result is what visitors experience on the live domain.
Cloudways’ CLS of 0.99 is the second worst in this series. It means the page shifts significantly as it loads. Combined with a 5.0s LCP, Cloudways’ corporate site presents a poor mobile experience by every measure Google uses.
For mobile SEO, a slow TTFB compounds into LCP and CLS failures when the origin server is slow to deliver stable layout responses. Liquid Web’s 78ms GTmetrix TTFB is the root cause of its strong mobile results.
Winner: Liquid Web
Test 2: Global Server Latency
Cloudways (Check-Host CDN edge acknowledgment)
| Location | Response | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Vienna, Austria | 0.7ms | CDN edge ping |
| Hyderabad, India | 0.8ms | CDN edge ping |
| Origin TTFB (GTmetrix) | 244ms | Full content |
Liquid Web (Check-Host CDN edge acknowledgment)
| Location | Response | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Vienna, Austria | 0.8ms | CDN edge (Anycast) |
| Hyderabad, India | 0.8ms | CDN edge (Anycast) |
| Sao Paulo, Brazil | 1.1ms | CDN edge (Anycast) |
| Frankfurt, Germany | 1.5ms | CDN edge (Anycast) |
| Origin TTFB (GTmetrix) | 78ms | Full content |
Both providers return sub-2ms edge ping globally via Cloudflare Anycast. The difference is what happens when the CDN cannot serve from cache and hits the origin.
Liquid Web’s origin TTFB is 78ms from GTmetrix. Cloudways’ is 244ms. That 166ms gap reflects the difference between dedicated isolated resources processing each origin request versus a multi-tenant application server handling concurrent users.
Winner: Liquid Web on verified origin TTFB.
Test 3: Desktop Rendering (GTmetrix)
| Metric | Cloudways | Liquid Web |
|---|---|---|
| GTmetrix Grade | D | C |
| Desktop LCP | 2.0s | 531ms |
| Desktop TTFB | 244ms | 78ms |
| Total Blocking Time | 2,200ms | 1.7s |
Liquid Web’s desktop LCP of 531ms is outstanding – content renders in half a second. The TTFB of 78ms confirms the server processes and delivers content fast at the origin level. The Grade C is caused by third-party marketing tracking scripts blocking the page after visual load. The Liquid Web review specifically flags this.
Cloudways’ Grade D comes from the same root cause: heavy marketing site JavaScript. The difference is the underlying server speed. Cloudways’ 244ms TTFB versus Liquid Web’s 78ms is a server-level performance gap, not a frontend code gap.
Winner: Liquid Web on every desktop metric.
Test 4: Concurrent Load (K6 Load Cloud, 50 Virtual Users)
| Parameter | Cloudways | Liquid Web |
|---|---|---|
| Uptime Under Load | 100% | 100% |
| Reachability | 100% | 100% |
| Avg Response Latency | 451ms | 224ms |
Both providers hold 100% reachability. Liquid Web handles concurrent load at 224ms average against Cloudways’ 451ms. The difference comes from the infrastructure model. Liquid Web’s dedicated resources process each concurrent request without competing workloads. Cloudways’ shared cloud servers handle the load through Varnish caching but the origin still processes uncached requests at 244ms base TTFB.
For WooCommerce stores or content sites with concurrent traffic surges from campaign emails or social posts, Liquid Web’s 224ms versus Cloudways’ 451ms is the difference between a checkout that feels immediate and one that feels slow under pressure.
Winner: Liquid Web
Test 5: Uptime (Uptime Robot, 30-Day Monitor)
| Window | Cloudways | Liquid Web |
|---|---|---|
| Last 24 Hours | 100%, 0 incidents | 100%, 0 incidents |
| Last 7 Days | 100%, 0 incidents | 100%, 0 incidents |
| Last 30 Days | 100%, 0 incidents | 100%, 0 incidents |
Both providers deliver 100% availability. Liquid Web’s architecture goes further: Active/Passive Clustering with real-time Heartbeat monitoring means if a primary server experiences hardware failure, the hot spare takes over before monitoring tools detect downtime. The 100% SLA is backed by a 10x credit guarantee if it is breached — something Cloudways does not explicitly offer.
Winner: Tie on monitoring result. Liquid Web on SLA strength.
Test 6: SSL Security (Qualys SSL Labs)
| Feature | Cloudways | Liquid Web |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A | A+ |
| HSTS | Optional | Enabled at server level |
| TLS | TLS 1.2 and 1.3 | TLS 1.3 (newest) |
Liquid Web’s Grade A+ is the highest achievable SSL rating. HSTS is enforced at the server level by default, not optionally. Cloudways holds Grade A — the HSTS step is available but not default. Both can reach A+ with one configuration change on Cloudways. Liquid Web delivers it without any action required.
Winner: Liquid Web
Test 7: Protocol Support (HTTP/3 Check)
| Protocol | Cloudways | Liquid Web |
|---|---|---|
| HTTP/3 | No (Cloudflare Enterprise add-on) | Yes |
| QUIC | No natively | Yes |
| 0-RTT | Not available | Yes |
Liquid Web supports HTTP/3 and 0-RTT natively. Cloudways does not support HTTP/3 without the Cloudflare Enterprise add-on, which adds cost. HTTP/3’s independent stream handling on mobile connections prevents a single dropped packet from stalling an entire page load. 0-RTT on top of this means returning mobile visitors receive data before the security handshake completes.
The Liquid Web review specifically notes 0-RTT makes the site feel native-app fast on 5G connections. For managed WordPress hosting targeting mobile-first WooCommerce users, this matters directly.
Winner: Liquid Web
Test 8: Environmental Impact (Green Web Foundation)
| Provider | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudways | Verified Green | Cloudflare CDN renewable |
| Liquid Web | Verified Green | REC + Cloudflare Green Network |
Both providers are verified green. Liquid Web takes a hybrid approach: RECs offset the data centre power consumption and the Cloudflare Green Network handles edge delivery. The Liquid Web review is transparent about the challenge of running power-hungry dedicated servers on renewable energy alone — the REC model is honest about the trade-off.
Winner: Tie
Performance Summary
| Test | Winner |
|---|---|
| Mobile CWV | Liquid Web |
| Global TTFB | Liquid Web |
| Desktop GTmetrix | Liquid Web |
| Concurrent Load | Liquid Web |
| Uptime Monitoring | Tie |
| SSL Grade | Liquid Web |
| HTTP/3 | Liquid Web |
| Environmental | Tie |
Liquid Web wins six tests. Zero go to Cloudways outright. Two are tied. The infrastructure performance comparison is one-sided. The business case for Cloudways sits outside the performance tests.
Desktop and Mobile Speed Summary
| Metric | Cloudways | Liquid Web | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile INP | 225ms (Fail) | 87ms (Pass) | Liquid Web |
| Mobile LCP | 5.0s (Fail) | 1.2s (Pass) | Liquid Web |
| Mobile CLS | 0.99 (Fail) | 0.01 (Pass) | Liquid Web |
| Desktop GTmetrix | D | C | Liquid Web |
| Desktop LCP | 2.0s | 531ms | Liquid Web |
| Desktop TTFB | 244ms | 78ms | Liquid Web |
| Desktop TBT | 2,200ms | 1.7s | Liquid Web |
| SSL Grade | A | A+ | Liquid Web |
| HTTP/3 | No | Yes | Liquid Web |
Global Network and Load Test Summary
| Metric | Cloudways | Liquid Web | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDN Edge Ping | 0.7ms (Vienna) | 0.8ms (Vienna) | Tie |
| Origin TTFB | 244ms | 78ms | Liquid Web |
| Load Test Avg | 451ms | 224ms | Liquid Web |
| Load Reachability | 100% | 100% | Tie |
| 30-Day Uptime | 100% | 100% | Tie |
| Uptime SLA | Not stated | 100% with 10x credit | Liquid Web |
The Support Gap
The Liquid Web review tested the 59-second initial response guarantee across three channels:
- Phone: 22 seconds. A human engineer answered a live call in 22 seconds. Grade A+.
- Chat: 45 seconds. Grade A.
- Helpdesk ticket: 38 minutes. Grade B+.
Cloudways provides 24/7 chat with an average under two minutes to connect. No phone support. No ticket guarantee.
For a managed WordPress or WooCommerce site generating revenue, the phone support gap is the most practically important difference in this comparison. When a WooCommerce store crashes during Black Friday, the question is not whether you get help but how fast a qualified engineer starts working on the problem.
Liquid Web calls its support “The Most Helpful Humans in Hosting.” That is marketing language. The 22-second phone response in our test is data.
Pricing and Value
Cloudways Pricing
Cloudways is pay-as-you-go monthly. No annual commitment required. DigitalOcean-backed servers start at approximately $11 per month. Google Cloud-backed servers cost more. Bandwidth is metered. A 3-day free trial requires no credit card. No email hosting. No domain.
DigitalOcean Micro |
DigitalOcean Small |
DigitalOcean Medium |
DigitalOcean Large |
Vultr Micro |
Vultr Small |
Vultr Medium |
Vultr Large |
Linode Micro |
Linode Small |
Linode Medium |
Linode Large |
AWS Micro |
AWS Small |
AWS Medium |
AWS Large |
Google Cloud Small |
Google Cloud Medium |
Google Cloud Large |
Google Cloud XL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$11
/mo |
$24
/mo |
$46
/mo |
$88
/mo |
$14
/mo |
$28
/mo |
$54
/mo |
$99
/mo |
$14
/mo |
$28
/mo |
$59
/mo |
$105
/mo |
$20.56
/mo |
$38.56
/mo |
$91.84
/mo |
$183.22
/mo |
$37.33
/mo |
$84
/mo |
$152.02
/mo |
$241.50
/mo |
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Liquid Web Pricing
Liquid Web prices at the enterprise managed tier. Plans are transparent monthly rates without introductory discounts. The 30-day money-back guarantee applies to cloud VPS and managed WordPress plans. Dedicated servers are non-refundable. White Glove migrations are included. Auto-scaling is built into managed WP plans.
VPS Starter – 1 GB RAM |
VPS Growth – 4 GB RAM |
VPS Performance – 8 GB RAM |
VPS Power – 16 GB RAM |
Spark – Launch |
Spark – Thrive (Most Popular) |
Spark – Elevate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$5
/mo |
$8.50
/mo |
$22.50
/mo |
$45
/mo | |||
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Pricing Comparison
| Factor | Cloudways | Liquid Web | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry Price | ~$11/month (DO) | Enterprise tier | Cloudways |
| Billing | Pay-as-you-go | Monthly/Annual | Cloudways (flexibility) |
| Auto-scaling | Manual | Built-in (WP plans) | Liquid Web |
| Uptime SLA | Not stated | 100% with 10x credit | Liquid Web |
| Phone Support | No | Yes (22-second response) | Liquid Web |
| SSL Default | A | A+ | Liquid Web |
| HTTP/3 | Add-on cost | Included | Liquid Web |
| White Glove Migration | No | Yes, free | Liquid Web |
| No | Yes (VPS/Dedicated) | Liquid Web | |
| Free Trial | 3-day | 30-day money-back | Liquid Web (longer) |
| Multi-cloud | 5 providers | Own infra | Cloudways |
Features
Cloudways
WordPress on Cloud: Varnish and Redis pre-configured. Any cloud provider. You manage WordPress, updates, plugins, and performance tuning.
Multi-application: Node.js, Magento, Laravel, Drupal, and any LAMP or LEMP stack application.
Multi-cloud: Deploy on DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, or Linode. Switch providers without migrating applications.
Liquid Web
Managed WordPress (Nexcess Portal): Auto-scaling PHP workers, one-click staging, visual regression testing, automatic updates, and image optimization. The portal is designed for marketers and agencies, not sysadmins.
Managed WooCommerce: Order monitoring, mobile optimization, and cart protection. Auto-scaling handles Black Friday traffic without manual intervention.
VPS and Dedicated: cPanel or InterWorx for developers needing root access. Full infrastructure power.
59-Second Support SLA: Phone, chat, and ticket support with a contractual response time guarantee.
Who Should Use Which
Choose Cloudways if you:
- Need the lowest entry price for managed cloud WordPress
- Run applications beyond WordPress on the same managed infrastructure
- Want to deploy on five different cloud providers from one panel
- Need pay-as-you-go monthly billing with no long-term commitment
- Want a 3-day free trial to evaluate without a credit card
- Need the flexibility to switch cloud providers without migrating applications
Choose Liquid Web if you:
- Run a WooCommerce store or business site where downtime directly loses revenue
- Need an engineer on the phone in under 60 seconds at any hour
- Want auto-scaling WordPress that handles traffic spikes without manual intervention
- Need mobile Core Web Vitals compliance for SEO rankings
- Want a 100% uptime SLA with a 10x credit guarantee in the service contract
- Need Grade A+ SSL and HTTP/3 active without additional configuration
Situation and Use Case Recommendations
| Situation | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Early-stage startup, budget first | Cloudways | $11/month entry; Liquid Web is enterprise pricing |
| WooCommerce, Black Friday sales | Liquid Web | Auto-scaling, 22-second phone, 100% SLA |
| Agency managing multiple app types | Cloudways | Supports Node.js, Magento, any LAMP app |
| High-traffic WordPress, mobile SEO | Liquid Web | Passes all CWV; Cloudways fails all 3 |
| Developer who controls their own stack | Cloudways | Direct PHP/Varnish control; Liquid Web is managed |
| Mission-critical site, downtime = lost revenue | Liquid Web | 100% SLA + 10x credit + phone in 22 seconds |
| Multi-cloud deployment | Cloudways | Only option in this comparison |
| Auto-scaling under real traffic spikes | Liquid Web | Built-in PHP worker scaling; Cloudways manual |
| Caching configuration control | Cloudways | Varnish + Redis tunable; Liquid Web managed |
Final Verdict
The title frames this as mid-market versus enterprise. The test results confirm the framing is accurate.
Cloudways is the mid-market choice: flexible, affordable, developer-controlled, and capable. It does not deliver enterprise performance metrics. Its corporate site fails all mobile CWV tests, earns GTmetrix Grade D, and returns 451ms under concurrent load. The infrastructure handles WordPress. The premium layers are absent.
Liquid Web is enterprise managed hosting: isolated resources, 78ms TTFB, 87ms INP, 224ms concurrent load average, Grade A+ SSL, HTTP/3 with 0-RTT, a 22-second phone response, and an auto-scaling platform that absorbs traffic spikes. The price is enterprise. The performance is enterprise.
Cloudways is best for: Developers and technical teams who want managed cloud infrastructure with flexibility, multi-cloud deployment, and the lowest entry price for managed WordPress.
Liquid Web is best for: Revenue-generating businesses, WooCommerce stores, and agencies where downtime costs money and support response time is an operational requirement, not a nice-to-have.
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Mobile CWV | Liquid Web |
| Desktop Performance | Liquid Web |
| Concurrent Load | Liquid Web |
| SSL Grade | Liquid Web |
| HTTP/3 | Liquid Web |
| Support Speed | Liquid Web |
| Uptime SLA | Liquid Web |
| Price | Cloudways |
| Multi-cloud | Cloudways |
| Uptime Monitoring | Tie |
| Green | Tie |
Tactical Recommendations
For Cloudways: enable HTTP/3 via the Cloudflare integration add-on. Cloudways does not support HTTP/3 natively. Adding the Cloudflare integration in the Application Manager and enabling HTTP/3 in the Cloudflare dashboard closes the protocol gap with Liquid Web. This also adds enterprise-grade WAF and DDoS protection on top of the Cloudways application layer.
For Cloudways: configure full-page caching before going live. Cloudways’ 244ms origin TTFB reflects uncached origin requests. The Varnish cache is pre-installed but requires configuration for each application. Setting aggressive full-page caching rules for WordPress reduces the number of origin requests significantly under concurrent load. A configured Varnish layer changes the effective TTFB from 244ms to near-CDN speed for cached pages.
For Liquid Web: optimise third-party tracking scripts to fix the TBT. Liquid Web’s 1.7s desktop TBT is caused by external marketing trackers blocking the browser after visual load. The review confirms the underlying server is fast (78ms TTFB). Deferring non-critical third-party scripts and loading analytics asynchronously brings the TBT below 300ms without changing infrastructure. This would upgrade the GTmetrix grade from C to A or A+.
For both providers: confirm email hosting requirements before buying. Cloudways has no email hosting at any tier. Liquid Web’s managed WordPress (Nexcess) plans do not include email. Only Liquid Web VPS and Dedicated plans include email via cPanel. If professional email is required alongside the hosting plan, budget for Google Workspace, Zoho, or Titan Email separately on either platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Liquid Web worth the extra cost over Cloudways?
For revenue-generating sites, yes. Liquid Web passes all mobile Core Web Vitals where Cloudways fails all three. Its GTmetrix TTFB is 78ms versus Cloudways’ 244ms. Its concurrent load average is 224ms versus 451ms. It includes auto-scaling, Grade A+ SSL, HTTP/3, phone support in 22 seconds, and a 100% SLA with a 10x credit guarantee. If your site makes money and downtime costs more than the monthly fee, Liquid Web’s performance premium is a business insurance policy.
For a developer or startup site where performance and support response time are secondary to cost, Cloudways delivers managed cloud WordPress at $11 per month.
What is Nexcess and how does it relate to Liquid Web?
Nexcess is Liquid Web’s brand for managed WordPress, WooCommerce, and Magento hosting. Liquid Web focuses on VPS and dedicated servers with developer access. Nexcess uses a custom portal designed for non-technical users — marketers, agency clients, and store owners who need WordPress managed without server administration. When the review mentions Liquid Web Managed WordPress, it is referring to the Nexcess product on Liquid Web’s infrastructure.
Does Cloudways include phone support?
No. Cloudways provides 24/7 live chat support averaging under two minutes to connect. There is no phone support option. For teams that need phone escalation during a live site crisis, Liquid Web’s 22-second phone response is a genuine operational differentiator.
Is Liquid Web good for WooCommerce?
Yes, specifically. Liquid Web’s managed WooCommerce product includes auto-scaling PHP workers that expand capacity automatically during traffic spikes without manual intervention. The 87ms mobile INP means checkout interactions feel immediate. The 100% SLA means the store stays online during peak sales events. The review explicitly positions Liquid Web as the choice for WooCommerce stores running Black Friday or product launch campaigns.
Can Cloudways run non-WordPress applications?
Yes. Cloudways supports WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Laravel, Drupal, Node.js, and any application running on standard LAMP or LEMP stacks. Liquid Web’s managed WordPress product is WordPress-specific. Liquid Web VPS and Dedicated servers support any application but are unmanaged.
