Cloudways vs Rocket.net vs WP Engine 2026

I ran this test while choosing hosting for my Core Web Vitals clients, and I keep the prices and verdict current.

Live deal✓ Price checked 27 Oct 2026

Cloudways: 40% OFF for 4 Months

Cloudways has its own promo code live, and it is the best offer I have seen from them this year. Micro drops to $8.40 a month for four months and there is no renewal increase afterwards, so this is a real saving rather than a teaser rate.

Micro, 1 GB RAM	~~$14~~ $8.40/mo
Small, 2 GB RAM	~~$28~~ $16.80/mo
Medium, 4 GB RAM	~~$54~~ $32.40/mo
Large, 8 GB RAM	~~$99~~ $59.40/mo

Copy codeTREAT26 Get 40% OFF

Cloudways has not published an end date for this code. I check it every week and update this card the moment it changes.

If you are stuck choosing the best cloud hosting provider for your website, this post should settle it. I have tested and monitored almost every popular host, including WP Engine, Cloudways, Kinsta, Liquid Web, Rocket.net (the least known of the lot) and Hostinger Cloud (powered by Google Cloud and LiteSpeed), SiteGround and more. This post is my conclusion, unbiased, with every result tested and shown in the open.

2026 Update: Current Prices and My Verdict Today

I ran the speed test below in December 2021, and the results are still the most detailed head to head I have published on these three hosts. Prices and plans have changed since, so here is where each one stands on 22 October 2026, checked on each host's own pricing page.

	Cloudways	Rocket.net	WP Engine
Entry plan	Micro, $14/mo	Starter, $30/mo	Essential, from $28/mo
How you pay	Hourly, no contract	Monthly, or yearly with 2 months free	Billed annually, $336 up front
Current offer	40% off for 4 months with TREAT26	$1 for the first month	None advertised
Renewal increase	None	None, by policy	Not stated on the plans page
Sites on entry plan	Unlimited	1	Visits based, from 25,000 a month
CDN	Cloudflare Enterprise as a paid add-on	Cloudflare Enterprise included	Global CDN included

Prices checked on cloudways.com, rocket.net and wpengine.com on 22 October 2026.

My verdict now is the same as in 2021, with one addition. Rocket.net is still the one I would pick for a live site that just needs to be fast everywhere without tuning anything. Cloudways is the better value if you run several sites and do not mind adding a CDN yourself, and right now it is 40% off for four months. WP Engine remains the hardest to recommend at its price.

The addition: Hosting.com now sells managed WordPress that it says it built through its partnership with Rocket.net, from $4.49 a month for the first year. If Rocket.net's $30 starting price is the obstacle, read my Hosting.com review before deciding.

One caveat: the CDN and infrastructure details in the host introductions below describe each setup at the time of the test. All three have changed their stacks since, so treat the speed numbers as a well documented snapshot rather than a promise for today.

Try Rocket.net for $1 Get 40% Off Cloudways

Video Version of This Post

WP Engine vs Rocket.net vs Cloudways Comparison, Review & Speed Test | 😕 Best Cloud Hosting of 2022

Why I was testing these hosts

Recently, I launched Core Web Vital Optimization Service and once clients started coming in, almost 90% of their websites showed the same error: “Slow Server Response Time“, in other words a high TTFB (time to first byte). The server was not always to blame, but in 9 out of 10 cases the problem was the server CPU, the CDN integration, or both.

Surprisingly, this was not limited to shared hosting. Some of our clients were on Kinsta and WP Engine and had the same issue. Their support teams told me the problem was in the website itself, but I did not buy it, because I could see the same site performing better on other hosts.

So we gave this hosting comparison a proper, focused test, so we could finally recommend what is best for us and our clients. Some of the results amazed me, and some made me sad.

Core Web Vitals After Switching to Rocket from Multiple Host

⚠️Note: These results come from more than the hosting change. They include a complete backend and frontend optimisation. Hosting only decides how fast your content is delivered, not how it renders for real visitors, so for real visitors you need frontend optimisation too. You can discuss it with me here.

✅ No More Traffic Loss Due to Core Web Vitals

I have completed 120+ Core Web Vitals Optimization with
100%, 5 Star Client Satisfaction Rating on Fiverr.

Rahul Singh, the author of Blogger Tutor

Full Detailed Report with Solution
Monitoring until all Web Vitals are Fixed
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Hosting Comparison Environment

We took every step we could to make this comparison fair and detailed before drawing a conclusion.

Note:- To keep it fair, we bought plans with a similar server configuration at a similar price on each host.

Next, every host needed the same WordPress environment, so we migrated our Fixwebvitals.com website to all of the servers using my favourite backup and migration plugin, WPvivid. After migration, we completed every task each host recommended and then started testing.

Why I Prefer Block Editor Instead of Pagebuilder

Tools Used: GTmetrix, and Fastorslow by Wordfence, which runs speed tests from 18 different locations.

Introducing WP Engine, Rocket.net and Cloudways

Before the results, a quick introduction to each host.

WP Engine

WP Engine uses Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform to host its websites and uses MaxCDN to deliver them around the globe. (MaxCDN has since been acquired by StackPath.)

Rocket.net

Rocket.net uses Performive.com to host its websites and Cloudflare Enterprise CDN to deliver them around the globe.

Cloudways

Cloudways is the most flexible, because it lets you choose cloud servers from Vultr, Linode, Google Cloud, Amazon AWS and DigitalOcean. Its CDN is powered by StackPath (MaxCDN).

That covers the servers and CDNs. Now for the GTmetrix results.

Gtmetrix Side by Side Comparison

This is the GTmetrix performance summary, and in our test Rocket.net won. The table has the full stats.

GTmetrix compare report putting WP Engine at grade A with 96 percent performance and a 1.0 second largest contentful paint, Cloudways at 100 percent and 380 milliseconds, and Rocket.net at 100 percent and 282 milliseconds — Cloudways vs Rocket.net vs WP Engine Comparison on GTMatrix

Metrics	WP Engine	Cloudways	Rocket.net
GtMetrix Grade	A	A	A
GtMetrix Score	96	100	100
Structure Score	99	98	99
LCP	1000ms	380-666ms	282-765ms
TBT	0	0	0
CLS	0	0	0
TTI	1000ms	298ms	282ms
First Paint	1000ms	298ms	282ms
On Load Time	1500ms	279ms	269ms
Fully loaded Time	1900ms	381ms	333ms
Overall Conclusion	Slower	Faster	*Fastest

Cloudways vs Rocket.net vs WP Engine comparison table

On GTmetrix scores and grades, Rocket.net is the fastest, Cloudways is almost level with it, and WP Engine trails both by a clear margin.

The detailed GTmetrix results for each host

Rocket.net
Cloudways
WP Engine

GTmetrix report for the Rocket.net test site at grade A with 100 percent performance, a 282 millisecond largest contentful paint and a 53 millisecond time to first byte — Rocket.net Hosting Test

GTmetrix report for the Cloudways test site at grade A with 100 percent performance, a 380 millisecond largest contentful paint and a 57 millisecond time to first byte — Cloudways Hosting Test

GTmetrix report for the WP Engine test site at grade A with 96 percent performance, a 1.0 second largest contentful paint and a 441 millisecond time to first byte — WP Engine Speed Test

Fastorslow, Test from 18 Locations

One test location can flatter any host, so we also used Fastorslow, a performance tool by Wordfence, to test from 18 different locations.

WP Engine Performance Test Summary

The Fastorslow performance summary for WP Engine.

Fast or Slow overview for the WP Engine test site showing a 395.80 millisecond largest contentful paint and a 678.05 millisecond first byte — WP Engine Performance Test Summary

Cloudways Performance Test Summary

The performance summary for Cloudways.

Fast or Slow overview for the Cloudways test site showing a 457.12 millisecond largest contentful paint and a 619.00 millisecond first byte — Cloudways Performance Test Summary

Rocket.net Performance Test Summary

And the performance summary for Rocket.net.

Fast or Slow overview for the Rocket.net test site showing a 348.32 millisecond largest contentful paint and a 94.60 millisecond first byte — Performance test summary for Rocket.net

Metrics	WP Engine	Cloudways	Rocket.net
Largest Contentful Paint	~396ms	~457ms	~349ms
Cumulative Layout Shift	0	~0.017ms	0.0002ms
First Byte	~678ms	~619ms	~95ms
Round Trip Time	~7.5ms	~149ms	~7.5ms
Transfer Size	936KB	638KB	961KB
Request	46	44	41
Overall Result	Faster	Not Bad	Fastest*

Note: do not decide on these averages alone. Look at the detailed results from 18 different locations first.

Rocket.net
WP Engine
Cloudways

Full Fast or Slow report for the Rocket.net test site with every test location scored green

Full Fast or Slow report for the WP Engine test site with every test location scored green

Full Fast or Slow report for the Cloudways test site with several test locations scored amber rather than green

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0ms	0ms	0ms	None
LCP	393ms	359ms	288ms	WP Engine
First Byte	74ms	56ms	391ms	Cloudways
Round Trip	10ms	8.5ms	28ms	Cloudways
Overall Winner	Slower	Fastest	Great	Cloudways

US Oregon Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0ms	0.0257ms	0ms	None
LCP	298ms	565ms	283ms	WP Engine
First Byte	103ms	317ms	152ms	Rocket
Round Trip	13ms	68ms	13ms	Rocket
Overall Winner	Fastest	Slower	Great	Rocket

US Ohio Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0	0	0	None
LCP	298	394	378	Rocket
First Byte	54	356	134	Rocket
Round Trip	2	83	2	None
Overall Winner	Fastest	Slower	Great	Rocket

US Virginia Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0	0	0	None
LCP	415	403	358	WP Engine
First Byte	88	583	504	Rocket
Round Trip	1.5	141	1.7	Rocket
Overall Winner	Fastest	Slower	Great	Rocket

EU Germany Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0	0	0	None
LCP	296	501	290	WP Engine
First Byte	35	840	888	Rocket
Round Trip	794	205	2	WP Engine
Overall Winner	Faster	Slower	Fastest	WP Engine

AP Australia Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0	0	0	None
LCP	690	486	272	WP Engine
First Byte	322	855	1000	Rocket
Round Trip	1.3	207	1.7	Rocket
Overall Winner	Fastest	Slower	Faster	Rocket

AP Singapore Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0	0	0	None
LCP	300	453	298	WP Engine
First Byte	78	641	899	Rocket
Round Trip	3.4	155	3.4	None
Overall Winner	Fastest	Slower	Great	None

AP Hongkong Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0	0	0	None
LCP	283	343	298	Rocket
First Byte	79	347	221	Rocket
Round Trip	9	83	7.6	WP engine
Overall Winner	Fastest	Slower	Great	Rocket

CA Quebec Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0	0	0	None
LCP	271	472	302	Rocket
First Byte	54	832	641	Rocket
Round Trip	6	203	5	WP Engine
Overall Winner	Fastest	Slower	Great	Rocket

SA Brazil Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0	0	0	None
LCP	350	372	1100	Rocket
First Byte	54	404	763	Rocket
Round Trip	4	97	2.56	WP Engine
Overall Winner	Fastest	Faster	Slower	Rocket

AP Japan Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0	0	0	None
LCP	284	525	298	Rocket
First Byte	338	859	1100	Rocket
Round Trip	67	210	36	WP Engine
Overall Winner	Fastest	Faster	Slower	Rocket

Bahrain Result Comparison Table

Metrics	Rocket	Cloudways	WP Engine	*Winner
CLS	0	0	0	None
LCP	296	455	286	WP Engine
First Byte	75	569	*~~1460~~*	Rocket
Round Trip	3	137	2	WP Engine
Overall Winner	Fastest	Slower	Great	*Rocket

South Korea Result Comparison Table

Rocket.net scored 9/12, which is an excellent result.

I have used WP Engine, and it is not only slow in the test tools, it is slow in real use too. Choose WP Engine only if your choice is between Kinsta and WP Engine, because I found Kinsta worse. Otherwise, I prefer Rocket.net or Cloudways.

Cloudways is the better choice if you have the skill and budget to pair it with a good CDN like Cloudflare or StackPath. If you would rather not touch any of that and want fully managed cloud hosting with the CDN built in, go with Rocket.net. I do not think you will regret it.

I still use Cloudways for development work but for my live blogs, I prefer a more stable and faster solution like Rocket.

Current Pricing Pages

Rocket.net managed WordPress hosting plans from $30 a month

Cloudways Flexible plans on DigitalOcean Premium, Micro $14 a month

WP Engine plans, Essential from $28 a month billed annually

If you have a question about your own setup, ask in the comments and I will answer it.

Cloudways vs Rocket.net vs WP Engine FAQ

Which is faster, Cloudways or Rocket.net?

In my 18 location test Rocket.net won 9 of 12 locations, mainly on time to first byte, because its Cloudflare Enterprise CDN serves pages close to visitors. Cloudways was close in some regions and can match it if you add a good CDN.

Is Rocket.net worth $30 a month?

For a site where speed and support matter, yes. There is no renewal increase and the first month is $1, so it is cheap to test. If $30 is too much for one site, Hosting.com sells managed WordPress built with Rocket.net from $4.49 for the first year.

Is Cloudways cheaper than WP Engine?

Yes. Cloudways starts at $14 a month billed hourly with unlimited sites, and $8.40 for the first four months with the TREAT26 promo code. WP Engine Essential starts at $28 a month billed annually.