ScalaHosting vs SiteGround
ScalaHosting and SiteGround compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. ScalaHosting scores higher overall.
By Jennifer T. · Updated
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Verdict
ScalaHostingWins overall
Dallas and Sofia host with its own SPanel, an anytime prorated refund and a credit table that reaches 100 percent
Managed-feel shared hosting on Google Cloud with daily backups and staging; the renewals are the price
ScalaHosting wins 1 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (8.1 vs 8.0).
How do the scores compare?
ScalaHosting leads on 1 sub-scores, SiteGround on 2. Higher is better.
| ScalaHosting | SiteGround | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Uptime | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| Support | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| Features | 8.0 | 8.5 (better) |
| Value | 7.5 (better) | 6.5 |
| Ease of use | 7.5 | 8.0 (better) |
Which one is faster and more reliable?
| ScalaHosting | SiteGround | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 8.1 (better) | 8.0 |
| Uptime (published)Kripesh Adwani 365 d vs HostingStep 243 d; methods differ | 99.99% (better) | 99.97% |
| Response time (published)WPBeginner vs HostingStep; methods differ | 526 ms (better) | 745 ms |
Which one costs less?
On renewal, ScalaHosting is cheaper ($11.95/mo vs $17.99/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.
| ScalaHosting | SiteGround | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Mini | StartUp |
| Intro price | $2.95/mo (better) | $2.99/mo |
| Renewal price | $11.95/mo (better) | $17.99/mo |
| Required term | 36 months | 12 months (better) |
| Websites | 1 | 1 |
| Storage | 10 GB | 10 GB |
| Money back | 30 days, then prorated at any time (better) | 30 days |
What does each include?
| ScalaHosting | SiteGround | |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | Start, Advanced and Entry Cloud; not on Mini | First year only; regular renewal fee after that |
| Free SSL | Yes | Yes |
| Automated backups | Daily, 7 restore points kept for the last 7 days | Not stated |
| Free migration | Website and email migration | Automatic WordPress migrator on every plan; expert transfer by staff |
| Control panel | SPanel (free, with SShield security and spam protection) or cPanel | Not stated |
| CDN | CDN integration | SiteGround CDN on Google Cloud, 170+ edge locations |
| WP-CLI and SSH | Yes | Yes |
| Malware protection | Real-time, on every plan | Not stated |
| Staging | Not listed on the plan cards | GrowBig and GoGeek; GoGeek adds Git |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9%; credits from 10% at 99.8% up to 100% below 99%, claimed through billing | 99.9% per month; 5% of that month's fee as a service-extension credit |
| Money-back guarantee | Full refund within 30 days; prorated refund of unused time at any time after that; new clients only; web, reseller and VPS hosting | Not stated |
| Choice of data center | Dallas, New York, Seattle or Sofia on ScalaHosting's own infrastructure; partner cloud and AWS regions for cloud plans | 11 locations on Google Cloud, chosen at signup |
| Phone support | Yes | No |
| Windows hosting | No | No |
| Daily backups | Not stated | Kept for 30 days; on-demand backups on GrowBig and GoGeek |
| Email hosting | Not stated | Unlimited accounts with webmail and spam protection |
| Caching | Not stated | Multilevel caching with the Speed Optimizer plugin |
| Fair-use limits | Not stated | CPU seconds per hour 1,000 / 2,000 / 4,000; inodes 200k / 400k / 600k; 768 MB RAM per process; databases up to 1 GB |
Company facts
| ScalaHosting | SiteGround | |
|---|---|---|
| Control panel | SPanel (ScalaHosting's own) or cPanel | Site Tools (SiteGround's own panel) |
| Data centers | 5 | 11 (better) |
| Support channels | chat, ticket, phone, knowledge-base | chat, ticket, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 2007 | 2004 |