Why WordPress is Slow on Shared Hosting (The Problem)
Shared hosting slows WordPress down for one simple reason: you’re sharing CPU, RAM, and disk I/O with strangers. When another site spikes, your Time To First Byte (TTFB) tanks.
This “neighbors effect” means:
- PHP responds slower
- MySQL queries pile up
- Requests queue
- Core Web Vitals drop
Cloudways solves this by placing your WordPress installation on isolated cloud servers with guaranteed resources — no noise, no unpredictability, no shared bottlenecks.
STOP Using Slow WordPress Hosting
STOP Using Slow WordPress Hosting
Key Feature: TTFB under 200ms guaranteed. Switch to the Cloudways ThunderStack today.
The Cloudways Thunder-Stack: Speed Components Explained
Cloudways’ performance comes from its optimized stack — a balanced blend of caching layers, a modern PHP engine, and HTTP acceleration. It’s built for one job: get WordPress pages to load fast.
Varnish, Memcached, and Redis: The Caching Trio
Varnish
Caches full HTML pages. This eliminates the need to regenerate pages through PHP for returning visitors.
Memcached
Stores small WordPress objects in RAM. Lightweight, fast, and ideal for quick lookups.
Redis
A more advanced in-memory database used for object caching and persistent caching. Perfect for large WooCommerce sites or query-heavy pages.
Breeze Plugin
Cloudways’ own caching plugin that connects directly with Varnish and Redis, enabling:
- Automatic cache purging
- Minification
- Gzip/Brotli compression
- WebP compatibility
Together, these layers significantly reduce server processing time.
PHP 8.x and HTTP/3: The Performance Foundation
PHP 8.x brings immediate speed benefits: faster execution, better memory handling, and a more optimized OPcache.
HTTP/3 further reduces latency with:
- Faster TLS handshakes
- Improved connection reliability
- Better mobile performance
Cloudways lets you switch PHP versions anytime — a huge win for long-term WordPress performance.
Step-by-Step Setup: Launching Your Fast WordPress Server
Cloudways makes deployment simple. You get control without technical chaos.
Step 1: Choose Your Cloud Provider
You can pick from:
- DigitalOcean (best entry-level)
- Vultr
- Linode
- AWS
- Google Cloud
Most newcomers start with DigitalOcean because it balances performance and price.
Step 2: Launch the 1-Click WordPress App
One click and Cloudways automatically:
- Creates the server
- Installs optimized WordPress
- Configures ThunderStack
- Applies security/firewall rules
No SSH work required.
Step 3: Use the Staging Environment
You can clone your site with one click, test updates, then push changes live safely.
This saves:
- Time
- Risk
- Downtime
- Broken plugins/themes
Every performance-focused website should use staging.
Advanced Tuning: How to Get a 95+ Core Web Vitals Score
Cloudways gives you the foundation, but you still need to fine-tune your build.
Use Breeze Plugin Features
- Minify CSS/JS
- Enable Gzip/Brotli
- Optimize HTML
- Use WebP
- Enable lazy-loading
Optimize Image Delivery
Use Cloudflare or another CDN to deliver static assets efficiently.
Enable Redis Object Cache
This accelerates dynamic pages, especially WooCommerce and membership sites.
Database Optimization
From the Cloudways console, schedule:
- Cleanup
- Auto-repair
- Table optimization
Measure Every Change
Use Lighthouse, GTmetrix, or WebPageTest. Replace this placeholder with your real test value:
[Under 200 milliseconds]
Cloudways vs. WP Engine & Kinsta (The Feature Battle)
Let’s be direct:
Speed
Cloudways’ ThunderStack is often equal to or faster than WP Engine and Kinsta, especially when Redis + Varnish are fully enabled.
Flexibility
Other managed hosts force you into one infrastructure.
Cloudways lets you choose:
- DO
- Vultr
- Linode
- AWS
- Google Cloud
You control the cost and performance curve.
Pricing
With Cloudways, you pay cloud provider rates — not premium “managed hosting tiers.”
This gives more power per dollar.
Support
WP Engine and Kinsta are more restrictive.
Cloudways gives you more control over caching, PHP versions, and optimization tools.
Ready to Scale? Get 3 Days of Free, Blazing Speed
You’ve seen the stack. You know the performance gains.
Now test it with your real WordPress site.
Start with this:
Run Lighthouse or WebPageTest on your current site.
Then deploy a Cloudways server.
Run the same test.
Watch the difference.
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