Cloudways DigitalOcean Vs Vultr Vs Linode: 12 Months Performance Data

In this post, I’m comparing the performance of Cloudways DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode based on not one but four crucial tests.

I do methodology based web hosting benchmarks and as a part of it, I bought the Cloudways starter plan from all their popular cloud providers like DigitalOcean Premium/standard, Linode, and Vultr Standard/HF. I deployed identical sites on all the providers and started monitoring the performance 24/7, 365 days a year.

Now, using our proprietary data tracked from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, I’m listing out the pros and cons of each cloud provider by comparing its performance.

The test sites come with the following setup:

• Twenty Twenty-Four WordPress Theme
• Contact form 7
• Rank Math SEO
• Breeze caching plugin.
• Akismet

The tests are put into four different testing benchmarks. They are:

1. Server Response Time (TTFB): The test site is measured every 60 seconds once from 22 USA locations through the Pingdom synthetic monitoring tool to calculate the average server response time (TTFB).
2. Uptime: We use the same Pingdom data above to measure the uptime.
3. Load Testing: A 500 constant client load is sent to test the load handling.
4. Global TTFB: The global TTFB is calculated from 10 different locations.

Cloudways DigitalOcean Vs Vultr Vs Linode: Performance tests

Test 1 – Server Response Time (TTFB)

The server response time(TTFB) is the crucial test for evaluating any hosting provider. To calculate the average TTFB, all our test sites are pinged 60 seconds once from 22 North American regions.

Based on 12 months of performance data (January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024), the average TTFB is very similar to each other. While both Cloudways DigitalOcean Premium and Standard clocked 405ms, Linode got 400ms, the Vultr HF got 376ms and the regular Vultr with 382ms.

Quick Summary: TTFB Results

DigitalOcean Premium

DigitalOcean Standard

Vultr HF

Vultr

Linode

The identical scores are due to the Cloudways speed-optimized WordPress installations. So, it doesn’t matter which cloud provider you choose; you will get a similar speed experience.

Let’s move to the next uptime test to see if any difference prevails.

Test 2 – Uptime

Like the TTFB test, the uptime is measured by pinging the test sites every 60 seconds once from 22 North American regions. The 12-month average uptime of all the sites is 99.99% (Refer to the TTFB Pingdom screenshot for uptime data.)

In simple numbers, it looks like all the cloud providers offer the same uptime percentage. But if you look at the absolute numbers, it differs to some extent.

It’s hard to believe sites hosted on different data centers of different cloud providers offer a similar uptime score.

Let’s move to the next load testing benchmarks.

Test 3 – Load Testing

Load testing is another critical test to see how well the servers can handle bulk traffic.

In this test, I’ll distribute 100 constant client loads to the site for a minute to measure the average response time. The lower response time means the server is faster.

Quick Summary: Load Test Results

The load test clearly shows DigitalOcean Premium and Vultr HF significantly outperform other options.

DO Premium Load Test

DO Standard Load Test

Vultr HF Load Test

Vultr Load Test

Linode Load Test

The results are clear now. Cloudways DigitalOcean Premium and Vultr HF are equally fastest at handling load with 82ms and 93ms, respectively. While the lower versions somewhat have similar scores of 128ms and 131ms, Linode has become the slowest among all, with 295ms.

So, if you choose a plan specifically to handle traffic spikes, Cloudways DigitalOcean Premium and Vultr HF are recommended.

Test 4 – Global TTFB

Our test 1 TTFB is measured only from 22 North American regions, and this global test is conducted from different global locations. If your site gets global traffic, these results are useful for assessing which server is best for you.

The Overall global TTFB of each host is Digital Ocean Standard (369.81 ms), Premium (365.07 ms), Vultr (359.45 ms), Vultr HF (364.49 ms), and Linode (368.54 ms). There is just a 10 ms difference between each host.

Quick Summary: Global TTFB Results

All providers performed within 10ms of each other for global response times.

Detailed Global TTFB by Location

DO Standard Global TTFB

DO Premium Global TTFB

Vultr Global TTFB

Vultr HF Global TTFB

Linode Global TTFB

Which is the best Cloud Provider at Cloudways?

Based on the data, I recommend both DigitalOcean Premium and Vultr HF as the best options to get started. Since DigitalOcean owns Cloudways, their plans are much more affordable compared to Vultr’s Plans. So, if you like Vultr personally, go for it.

If you don’t have any particular preferences, then Cloudways DigitalOcean Premium is the best and most valuable choice for getting started. Check Cloudways Coupon Code for 30% off for up to 3 months. Sometimes up to 4 months, across all Cloudways providers.