Cloud Hosting: What Is It and How Does It Work?

Cloud hosting is a highly reliable, fast and secure kind of web hosting that’s ideal for high-traffic business websites or blogs and hobby sites that have a large international audience. However, it’s more expensive than other options like shared hosting or WordPress hosting, so it’s important to consider how the benefits will affect your site before signing up.

Let’s look at how cloud hosting works and the benefits you can gain from it.

What is cloud hosting and how does it work?

Cloud hosting is a type of web hosting that stores a website on several web servers -- specialized computers built for making websites accessible to the internet -- rather than just a single server like you’ll find with traditional shared, VPS or even dedicated hosting. Cloud hosting often uses virtual servers, which are created by partitioning a physical server’s resources (like processing power and storage) and dedicating a set amount of those resources to each user. This is different from regular web hosting, which stores your website on a single physical server.

Cloud hosting offers several benefits over regular web hosting:

• Redundancy: If your site is only on one server, it will go down when the server does. If one of the interconnected servers of a cloud network goes down, sites can redirect traffic to another server, ensuring continuous uptime. This allows many cloud hosting companies to offer a 99.99% or even 100% uptime guarantee rather than the industry-standard 99.9% uptime guarantee.
• Scalability: Where shared hosting has limitations that force you to switch to a more complex type of hosting as your site grows, cloud hosting is highly scalable. Some cloud hosting services even let you increase specific resources -- like storage -- individually rather than buying an entirely new plan when your site grows.
• Server customization: Many cloud hosting plans let you customize aspects of your server, like the operating system it runs on or the exact resources/specifications it has access to.
• Dedicated IP address: Some cloud hosting plans come with a dedicated IP address. By comparison, most shared hosting gives you a shared IP address with other websites on the same server. A shared IP address may improve security and help you avoid blocklists. 
• Faster international service: Cloud hosting can let visitors’ devices pull your website from the data center closest to their geographical location rather than forcing everyone to pull from a single data center that might be on the other side of the world. This may lead to faster loading times for international users.

The one drawback of cloud hosting is its price. Where a shared hosting or WordPress hosting plan might start at $2 to $5 a month, basic cloud hosting plans often cost $30 to $100 a month. This makes cloud hosting inaccessible for users trying to create a hobby site. However, cloud hosting can be a great choice for creating a business website, especially if your business has a large international audience.

Cloud hosting vs. VPS hosting

Cloud hosting and virtual private server -- VPS -- hosting have many similarities. Both involve dividing physical servers into smaller virtual servers with dedicated resources to ensure fast, reliable performance. Both typically provide more storage than shared hosting and some level of server customization. They’re also more secure than shared hosting, as the virtual servers are fully partitioned from other users’ virtual servers.

The main difference lies in the number of servers. VPS hosting relies on a singular virtual server, whereas cloud hosting places data on several interconnected virtual servers. This means that VPS hosting doesn’t offer many of the benefits provided by cloud hosting, such as redundancy and faster international service.

Another difference is the scalability of cloud hosting, which is enabled by the ability to pull resources from more servers as needed. To scale VPS hosting, you need to upgrade the server itself.

Cloud-based hosting isn’t true cloud hosting

You may run into the term cloud-based hosting during your search. This isn’t actually cloud hosting. Instead, it’s regular shared, WordPress or VPS hosting that uses a single secure virtual server. Because this virtual server isn’t connected to other servers, it doesn’t provide the redundancy or improved international speeds you’ll get with proper cloud hosting.

Many hosts use the term “cloud hosting” to refer to cloud-based hosting plans. For example, HostArmada lists Cloud Shared Hosting and Cloud WordPress Hosting on its site. You can often tell the difference by looking at the price: Cloud-based hosting will be closer to regular shared hosting in price. If you’re uncertain, ask customer service if a company's cloud hosting uses one server or a series of interconnected servers.

Types of cloud hosting

Standard cloud hosting

Traditional web hosts like Hostinger offer standard cloud hosting plans. They use a similar pricing structure to shared or VPS hosting plans, providing a predetermined amount of resources -- like storage and processing power -- for a set price. This pricing model can be much easier for first-time website owners to navigate than modular cloud hosting.

These plans offer most of the benefits of cloud hosting: faster international service, redundancy and (usually) server customization. However, you can’t buy individual resources to scale your site as your traffic or storage needs increase. Instead, you’ll be forced to switch to an entirely new plan if your site needs more of a single resource. This can be frustrating if, for example, you’ve outgrown your storage limit but you don’t need more bandwidth.

Modular cloud hosting

Modular cloud hosting comes from companies like Google Cloud or Amazon Web Services. You pay for the exact resources you need, nothing more, often starting at $5 a month. You can then buy small -- or large -- amounts of additional resources when needed, making it easy to scale specific aspects of your site, like storage, as needed. This pricing model can be more convenient and cost-effective if you fully understand all of the technical terms involved. However, modular cloud hosting can be tricky to navigate if you’re new to web hosting.

Some companies, like SiteGround, offer modular pricing on top of standard cloud pricing. This lets you customize your plan to meet your exact needs. You may also be able to buy specific resources, like storage, in modular amounts as your site grows. However, you can’t create a plan with fewer resources (or a lower cost) than the basic plan. In SiteGround’s case, this means you’ll be paying at least $100 a month.

Factors to consider when choosing a cloud hosting service

Website builder vs. CMS

You’ll probably use either a website builder or a content management system to make your website. Both of these tools let you create a website without needing to use code, but there are some key differences.

Website builders are visual tools that typically use front-end editing systems so you can see how your changes will appear to visitors in real time. They typically don’t require you to install anything or update software, as these maintenance tasks are generally performed by the web hosting company that owns the website builder. However, most website builders have somewhat limited options for design and functionality. The proprietary nature of most website builders can also make it difficult for you to transfer your site to a new host later on.

Content management systems are tools for creating, organizing and maintaining blog posts and other website content. These systems don’t require code, but they do give you more flexibility to modify your site with code than most website builders. They also typically have more templates and extensions/plugins than website builders, giving you more control over how your site looks and functions. The most popular CMS is WordPress, powering 43.4% of all websites.

Most cloud hosting plans aren’t connected to a proprietary website builder, so you’ll need to either use a CMS or choose one of the few open-source website builders. However, some companies like Hostinger do let you use a proprietary website builder on their plans. Similarly, most cloud hosting plans aren’t specifically optimized for WordPress, but you can find cloud hosting plans that offer managed WordPress features through companies like SiteGround.

Ease of use

Your web host’s account dashboard should be easy to navigate, with all the tools you need to manage your account and billing information, create your website and manage your server. Some cloud web hosting companies use a mix of a proprietary account dashboard and the industry-standard cPanel to achieve this. 

Other web hosting services, like Hostinger, use a proprietary server management tool instead of cPanel. These proprietary tools might even be easier to use than cPanel, but they can complicate things if you want to transfer your site to a new host later on, as most support teams are only trained to move cPanel from one host to another.

Storage

Storage dictates the number of pages, images and other files you can store on your website. The amount of storage you’ll need varies based on the types of pages you want to publish -- e-commerce pages with numerous high-resolution images are often larger than blog posts that consist mostly of text. You can generally assume each gigabyte will let you store 10 large pages or 100 smaller pages on your site. Some estimates even suggest that you can host 1,000 small pages per gigabyte.

Most cloud web hosting services use solid state drive, or SSD, storage to ensure fast and reliable performance. Some use nonvolatile memory express, or NVMe, an enhanced version of SSD storage that provides faster and more reliable performance. The difference isn’t massive -- you shouldn’t choose a web host based purely on the type of storage used -- but it can be noticeable.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth determines how much data your site can send to users in one second, typically expressed as Gbps. However, most web hosting services use the term “bandwidth” to describe the number of monthly visitors your site can have and/or the amount of data your server can send on a monthly basis. Some hosts list a specific number of monthly visitors, so it’s easy for you to choose an appropriate plan.

Things get trickier when a company lists bandwidth as a number of gigabytes or terabytes, as the amount of data each visitor uses varies based on the size of your web pages and the number of pages they visit. If your site has 100 visitors each day and they all view five pages with an average size of 5MB, you’ll need 7.5GB of bandwidth. If the same 100 people view 10 pages, you’ll need 15GB of bandwidth.

The good news is that most cloud hosting plans offer enough bandwidth to accommodate millions of monthly visitors -- 1TB or more -- so you won’t need to worry about this math unless you’re migrating a huge site to a cloud hosting server. 

Security

There are two essential security features every cloud web hosting plan should offer:

• Secure socket layer -- SSL -- certification: An encryption protocol that protects data sent to and from your website, like email addresses submitted through a contact form. Some browsers and VPNs won’t let visitors open sites without SSL. Google also penalizes sites without it, making SSL certification an absolute necessity if you want your site to be successful.
• Firewall: Filtration software that scans data attempting to enter your site and blocks suspicious traffic, data and malware. Think of it like the website equivalent of wearing a mask during COVID or flu season: The good stuff gets in, but the things that make you -- or, in this case, your website -- sick don’t. Like a mask, firewall protection won’t stop 100% of threats from getting through, but it can stop a large percentage of them.

These tools should come bundled into your plan and, on most plans, automatically be set up for you when you create your website. However, some unmanaged cloud hosting plans may require you to set them up yourself.

Other security protocols worth looking for include:

• Distributed denial of service -- DDoS -- protection: A DDoS attack sends a flood of malicious traffic to your site with the intention of shutting it down. Many web hosts use automated monitoring tools to detect and block these attacks.
• Malware scanning: Manual or automated tools for finding malware that makes it through the firewall. Some hosts will repair corrupted files and remove malware for you. Others notify you of its existence and require you to perform repairs yourself.
• Automated backups: Automated tools for creating a copy of your website, usually on another server or in the cloud, that can be used to restore your site if something goes wrong.

You can learn more about how to secure a website for a better understanding of how web hosting companies protect your site -- and how you can protect it, too.

Uptime

Uptime is the percentage of time your site spends online. Uptime matters because users who can’t access your site will often go elsewhere, resulting in lost traffic and, if you’re running a business website, lost revenue. 

Most web hosting companies offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, promising that your site won’t go down for more than 10 minutes per week due to server issues. Cloud hosting companies often go beyond this with a 99.99% uptime guarantee, promising a maximum server-related downtime of one minute and 26 seconds a week or even a 100% uptime guarantee that promises continuous service.

Site speed

Site speed is the number of seconds your site takes to load. According to Think With Google, bounce rate -- the percentage of people who leave your site after only viewing one page -- decreases by 32% when loading times go from 3 seconds to 1 second, so I recommend aiming for a site speed of under 3 seconds.

Site speed is primarily determined by choices you make, like the theme you’re using and the number of plugins you have installed, but server speed is also an essential factor. Look at hands-on reviews with speed tests to ensure that any host you’re considering can provide a site speed of less than three seconds.

Managed vs. unmanaged hosting

In managed hosting, your web hosting company takes care of software management for you. This includes configuring, securing and updating your server’s operating system and other software. The web host may also manage updates to your website builder or CMS.

In unmanaged hosting, your web hosting company provides the physical server and may configure and maintain your server’s operating system. Everything else is up to you, like installing security software.

Managed hosting is often more expensive than unmanaged hosting, but this cost is often worthwhile when weighed against the resources required to operate a server yourself. I only recommend unmanaged hosting if you have the time and knowledge to manage your own server or a system administrator prepared to do it for you.

Customer service

Your web hosting company should offer 24/7 customer support via live chat, email and phone so you can deal with any issues in a timely manner, regardless of when they happen. Customer service reps should also be quick to respond and trained to deal with various hosting-related problems.

This is one area where it’s important to consider reviews, as many web hosting companies’ customer service is less than spectacular. You can find comprehensive details about our experience with customer service in all of our hands-on reviews and check out sites like Trustpilot to learn about how other customers have experienced specific hosts.

Pricing

There are two pricing models for cloud web hosting:

• Standard pricing: An annual, biennial or triennial plan with a single, upfront payment for a package including predetermined storage, bandwidth and security tools. This is the same pricing model used for other types of web hosting, but you may not be able to access the introductory discounts you can get for shared or WordPress hosting. These plans also tend to be expensive, often $30 or more per month.
• Modular pricing: A payment model where you only buy the specific storage, bandwidth and processing power you need. As your site grows, you can buy more storage, bandwidth and processing power in small chunks. Modular pricing starts at low cost -- sometimes as low as $5 a month -- and additional purchases often only add $5 to $10 a month to your bill.

If you’re new to web hosting, standard pricing is often easier to navigate. If you understand server specifications like random access memory -- RAM -- and central processing units -- CPUs -- you may be able to save a considerable amount of money by choosing a host with modular pricing.

There are some additional factors to consider as well:

• Introductory pricing: Plans using the standard pricing model may have introductory discounts, sometimes 50% or more. You’ll be switched to the regular price when your contract renews. Make sure to factor the increased price into your long-term budgeting.
• Contract length: Many web hosting companies list monthly prices but require you to sign up for an annual, biennial or even triennial contract to get the introductory discount.
• Domains and add-ons: You may get a free domain for your first year, but you’ll have to pay for the domain renewal every year after that. This typically costs $20 to $30 a year, with some registrars offering discounts if you buy a multi-year domain registration. You may also need to purchase add-ons for things like security tools.

Our cloud hosting recommendations

SiteGround

When you buy cloud hosting through SiteGround, you’ll get everything this well-loved WordPress hosting company is known for: managed WordPress, top-notch security and award-winning customer service. You’ll also get tools for managing multiple sites, including agency-focused tools for creating client accounts and hosting packages.

All SiteGround sites are secured with SSL certification, firewall protection and DDoS protection. SiteGround also uses a proprietary anti-bot system to block malicious traffic and other threats. If something goes wrong with your site, you can restore it using one of the automated daily backups.

Four SiteGround managed cloud hosting plans use the standard pricing model. Jump Start is the most affordable at $100 a month for enough resources to store at least 400 pages and accommodate five million monthly viewers. The most expensive option is Super Power at $400 a month, with enough storage for at least 1,600 pages and enough bandwidth to accommodate 5 million monthly viewers.

You can also use modular pricing to create a cloud hosting package, adjusting your storage and processing power as necessary. However, you can’t make a smaller (or more affordable) plan than Jump Start. You also can’t get more than 5TB (enough for 5 million monthly visitors) of bandwidth.

Hostinger

Hostinger is a rapidly growing web host that received top marks in our hands-on Hostinger review, with excellent uptime and a variety of caching tools to increase site speed. The only downside is that customer support is primarily conducted via an AI-based live chat and reaching a human customer service agent can be difficult.

Every Hostinger site receives SSL certification, firewall protection, enhanced DDoS protection and a malware scanner. Hostinger also performs automated daily backups so you can quickly restore your site if something goes wrong.

There are three Hostinger managed cloud hosting plans, starting at $8 a month (based on a four-year contract) for enough storage to host at least 2,000 pages and unlimited bandwidth. The most expensive plan starts at $30 a month (based on a four-year contract) and offers enough storage for at least 3,000 pages, plus unlimited bandwidth. These are introductory prices, with the basic plan rising to $20 a month on renewal and the most expensive plan rising to $65 a month on renewal.

ScalaHosting

ScalaHosting uses SPanel, a proprietary alternative to cPanel, to provide some of the best security in the web hosting industry. Notable features include SSL certification, real-time malware protection, brute force protection and blacklist monitoring/removal. Choosing sPanel also gives you access to SShield, a security protocol that claims to block 99.998% of attacks, plus a specialized WordPress management tool.

You can use cPanel on ScalaHosting, but you’ll lose most of the benefits outlined above. You’ll also pay an extra $30 a month for a cPanel license, so if you’re interested in ScalaHosting, I recommend using sPanel.

There are four ScalaHosting managed cloud hosting plans. The most affordable option, Build No. 1, starts at $30 a month (based on a three-year contract) for enough storage to host at least 500 pages. The most expensive plan, Build No. 4, starts at $95 a month (based on a three-year contract) for enough storage to host at least 2,000 pages. All ScalaHosting cloud hosting plans include unmetered bandwidth, allowing your site to easily handle hundreds of thousands of visitors a month and handle traffic spikes.

What about Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services?

Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services are modular-only cloud hosting services, meaning you’ll have to put a plan together yourself. Figuring out the exact resources you’ll need is difficult if you’re unfamiliar with things like RAM and CPUs, so I only recommend using these services if you’re a developer or an enterprise business with developers on hand to help you build an appropriate plan.

Cloud hosting: A great option for business websites

Cloud hosting offers excellent benefits, including better uptime, international site speed and security than other types of web hosting. This makes cloud hosting a fantastic option for business websites, especially for businesses with large international audiences.

You can also use cloud hosting for a blog or hobby site, but the high cost -- often three or more times the cost of a shared hosting plan -- makes cloud hosting impractical if you can’t expect to at least make your money back. You can theoretically save some of this money by choosing a modular plan, but you’ll need a deep understanding of server resources to create your plan.

If you’re a business owner looking to get started with cloud hosting, check out our guide to the best cloud web hosting services. If you want to start a for-fun hobby site or blog, check out our guides to the best web hosting and the best WordPress hosting instead.