If you’re considering signing up for Cloudways and are uncertain about choosing between the Premium and Standard plans, you’ve landed on the right page.
We bought a hosting account and set up a test website on both Standard and Premium servers using a similar setup. We extensively tested the website on both servers to find the best choice.
This article will provide a comprehensive analysis of Cloudways DigitalOcean’s Premium in contrast to the standard plans. You will know the differences in uptime, speed, hardware performance like processor.
Key Takeaway:
- Both Cloudways Premium and Standard offer similar TTFB and uptime performance (Based on 365 days of data).
- Cloudways Premium handles load better than standard in our 2024 test.
- Cloudways Premium has a powerful processor and NVMe storage, thus offering faster backend performance than Standard.
- If you’re just getting started, then Cloudways standard is cost-efficient. If you have a resource-hungry site, then choose Cloudways Premium droplets.
- Whatever plan you choose, don’t forget to use our Cloudways coupon to get $30 free credits added to your new Cloudways account.
Contents
Cloudways Premium Vs. Standard: Performance
I deployed an identical test site on both plans to evaluate the performance of Cloudways Premium and Standard Digital Ocean plans.
I collected performance data for 365 days from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023.
Our finding reveals both plans offer similar performance, with the Standard site registering a TTFB of 332ms and the Premium site recording 339ms. The difference is just about 7ms, so not a big thing to bother.
During our earlier test (2022), the standard site faced some downtime, but in last year (2023), both sites recorded 99.99% uptime.
Furthermore, I conducted a load test on both sites by sending 500 concurrent visitors to the site.
While the Cloudways Premium recorded an 245 ms average response time, the standard got an 275 ms response time. The fact that the “lower the response time, faster is your server” means the premium droplets handle the load better.
Summary: Cloudways Premium offers improved load handling compared to standard droplets. Uptime and TTFB remain the same.
Thus, I recommend Premium over Standard as it handles the load better. If your site doesn’t get a constant visitor load, then Standard is value for money, and you can go for it.
Cloudways Premium Vs. Standard: Processors & Memory
The processor is a crucial component that determines the speed at which a computer executes instructions.
Cloudways DigitalOcean Premium utilizes robust Intel Xeon Second Generation Scalable Processors with built-in AI acceleration and Intel mesh architecture.
Compared to the Standard series, Cloudways DigitalOcean Premium has more powerful processors with a base frequency of 2.50 GHz and a max turbo frequency of 3.90 GHz. This provides a significant performance boost over the Standard series.
Furthermore, Cloudways Premium offers accelerated memory and NVMe storage, while the Standard series uses SSD storage.
It is important to note that NVMe drives have faster read/write speeds than traditional SATA SSDs, and Cloudways Premium also has enhanced memory performance with a frequency of 2933 GHz.
To validate the fact that Cloudways Premium offers faster backend performance, we use the WPBenchmark Plugin to measure performance.
The results indicated that the Premium site achieved a server score of 7.7, while the Standard site scored 6.6. The Premium site excelled with faster CPU & Memory operations and database operations.
Based on our findings, Cloudways Premium is an ideal choice for those seeking improved server-side cache workloads, database management, and disk performance, thanks to its powerful processor and NVMe storage. This translates to significant improvements in backend performance, making it an excellent option for resource-intensive sites.
However, if your site is not particularly resource-intensive, the Standard droplet may be more than sufficient for your needs. Ultimately, the choice between Cloudways Premium and Standard should be based on your specific needs and budget.
Cloudways Premium Vs. Standard: Pricing
Let’s take a closer look at the pricing for Cloudways Premium and Standard.
Cloudways Premium offers five different plans, with the lowest tier plan starting at $14 per month and the highest tier plan costing $160 per month for maximum resources.
It’s important to note that we have an exclusive partnership that offers $25 free hosting credits to new customers who apply the Cloudways Coupon Code 2024.
On the other hand, Cloudways Standard plans start at $10 per month, making it a more affordable option. Customers can choose from various plans based on their resource requirements, with the highest tier plan costing $80 per month.
Here are the details of the Cloudways Premium plans:
- DO1GB: 1 GB RAM, 1 Core Processor, 25 GB Storage, $14 per month
- DO2GB: 2 GB RAM, 1 Core Processor, 50 GB Storage, $28 per month
- DO4GB: 4 GB RAM, 2 Core Processor, 80 GB Storage, $54 per month
- DO8GB: 8 GB RAM, 4 Core Processor, 160 GB Storage, $99 per month
- DO16GB: 16 GB RAM, 8 Core Processor, 320 GB Storage, $170 per month
DO4GB happens to be the most popular plan amongst the five Cloudways Premium plans.
Cloudways Standard offers customers as many as eleven different plans to choose from.
The lowest tier starts at $10 per month. Here are the plan details:
- DO1GB: 1 GB RAM, 1 Core Processor, 25 GB Storage, $11 per month
- DO2GB: 2 GB RAM, 1 Core Processor, 50 GB Storage, $24 per month
- DO4GB: 4 GB RAM, 2 Core Processor, 80 GB Storage, $46 per month
- DO8GB: 8 GB RAM, 4 Core Processor, 160 GB Storage, $88 per month
- DO16GB: 16 GB RAM, 6 Core Processor, 320 GB Storage, $149 per month
As you can see, Cloudways Standard plans are slightly cheaper than Cloudways Premium. We also covered detailed Cloudways Pricing here.
Cloudways Standard vs Premium – Which is Best?
After carefully considering the data and analysis presented in this post, it is evident that Cloudways Premium and Standard have unique advantages.
While Cloudways Premium offers better backend performance due to its powerful processor and NVMe storage, the TTFB and load handling performance between the two plans are similar.
If you’re on a budget or just starting with your online journey, Cloudways Standard is a suitable option.
However, if you have a resource-intensive site or are seeking improved backend performance, Cloudways Premium may be the better choice.
Changelog:
April 10, 2023: Replaced August 30, 2022, to March 31, 2023 data with the latest January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023 data.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cloudways Premium?
Cloudways Premium or Cloudways DigitalOcean Premium Droplets offer better and faster performance than Cloudways Standard. It is achieved through Robust Intel Xeon Processors (built-in AI acceleration), Accelerated Memory, and NVMe Storage.
Can I upgrade from a Standard Server to a Premium Droplet?
The vertical scaling feature allows you to upgrade from a Standard Server to a Premium Droplet. Here are the steps you need to follow to do it:
- Login to your Cloudways account and open Servers from the top menu bar
- Next up, choose the desired server that you want to scale up
- After that, select Vertical Scaling from under Server Management
- Next, get to the server size to select a server size and click on “Scale Now.”
What are the differences between Cloudways Premium and Cloudways Standard?
Cloudways Premium offers a comparatively more powerful performance than Cloudways Standard through a faster processor and NVMe Storage combined with enhanced memory.
What is the Cloudways Performance Difference between 2GB Standard and 2GB Premium?
The performance differences between a 2GB standard and a 2GB Premium Cloudways server regarding TTFB and load handling are almost similar.
Which Cloudways hosting plan we should buy, $11 or $14 premium?
The choice between the $11 plan and the $14 Premium plan on Cloudways depends on your website’s hosting requirements and performance needs. Based on our test, I recommend the $11 plan is enough for most sites.
