Getting Started
Alban T.
Directeur General
A really easy and powerful way to manage PHP-based servers. I've been using ServerAvatar since 2 years, managing 10 servers and many sites on them.
ServerAvatar vs Cloudways
This is a well-researched comparison between ServerAvatar and Cloudways.
Fundamentals
At fundamentals, Both the platforms are here to make your cloud hosting experience easier. However, There are major differences between both. In this section, we will go through fundamental differences between two panels.
Control Panel / Management Panel
- ServerAvatar is a generic system that supports all VPS/VM/Server providers. You can connect any Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 server with ServerAvatar.
- With ServerAvatar, You keep the super-user or root access of the server and you can customise/install packages as you see fit.
- ServerAvatar does not provide servers and is not a fully managed hosting service, You can integrate your Digitalocean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Hetzner accounts, or connect servers directly.
Managed Hosting Provider
- Cloudways is limited to Digitalocean, AWS and Google Cloud only.
- Cloudways does not provide root access to the server.
- Cloudways provides servers as well as management panel for above given cloud platforms.
Pricing
The cost to host your sites matter a lot when you start growing. The pricing of both the services vary a lot due to different fundamental nature of both the systems. Select the one that fits your requirements the best.
Flat Pricing
ServerAvatar offers two pricing plans: “Newbie” at $9/month for managing up to 3 servers and unlimited sites, and “Pro” at $29/month for unlimited servers and team management.
- The size of your server does not matter to ServerAvatar. It does not change your pricing.
Pay-as-you-grow
Cloudways charges 2x (+100%) the cost of each instance. If the cost of the instance is $24/month in Digitalocean, You will get it at $48/month in Cloudways. It is safe to say that you are paying $24 for instance, and $24 to manage your server on Cloudways.
- A change in size of your server can change the monthly billing amount.
Supported Servers
Due to fundamental differences in how both the systems operate, Cloudways has major limitations in comparison with ServerAvatar in this case.
Custom Servers: Custom servers are servers from other cloud/server providers like Hostinger, Bluehost, Racknerd, SSDNodes, and all other vendors who provide Ubuntu VMs/VPSes/Dedicated Servers.
- Digitalocean
- Vultr
- Linode
- AWS Lightsail
- Hetzner
- Custom Servers
- Digitalocean
- AWS
- Google Cloud
- Custom Servers
Technology Stacks
When you first create a server at cloud platform or VPS provider. It only comes with the OS installed. To host any site on the server, You have to configure it with a specific tech stack.
- Optimised LAMP (Apache)
- Optimised LEMP (Nginx)
- OLS (OpenLiteSpeed)
- Nginx + Apache Stack
- Nginx + Apache Stack
- LAMP (only Apache)
- LEMP (only Nginx)
- OpenLiteSpeed
Supported Apps
In case of supported applications, ServerAvatar and Cloudways both are exactly the same. Both the systems support all types of PHP applications.
- WordPress
- Codecanyon Scripts
- Open-source Applications
- All other PHP apps
- WordPress
- Codecanyon Scripts
- Open-source Applications
- All other PHP apps
App Auto-installers
Auto-installers allow you to quickly deploy new applications on your servers without going through the manual installation process.
- WordPress
- Mautic
- Moodle
- Prestashop
- Joomla
- All Custom PHP Apps
- WordPress
- Plain Laravel
- WordPress + WooCommerce
- Magento
- All Custom PHP Apps
Git Deployments
Git deployments allow you to deploy custom or open-source applications directly using the repository link and deployment scripts.
- Github
- Gitlab
- BitBucket
- ServerAvatar Provides Push-to-Deploy Capabilities.
- Custom (Using URL)
- Cloudways does not provide push-to-deploy capabilities.
Server Management
Cloud Platform integrations allow you to bypass the server creation and connection process. Just like any other managed cloud platforms, You can create servers directly from the control panels.
- Application Management
- Database Management
- Application User Management
- Cronjob Management
- Advanced Log Viewer
- Service Management
- Service Monitoring
- One-Click Fix Server Configuration
- PHP-CLI Version Management
- IonCube Support
- NPM & Node.js Installation
- Change SSH Port
- Enable/Disable Root Login
- Enable/Disable Password Login
- Automatic Disk Cleaner
- One-Click Site Migration
- Setup Notification Channels
- Application Management
- Database Management
- Advanced Log Viewer
- Service Management
- Server Monitoring
- Automatic Disk Cleaner
- SMTP Configuration
- Cronjob Management
- Application User Management
- One-Click Fix Server Configuration
- PHP-CLI Version Management
- IonCube Support
- NPM & Node.js Installation
- Change SSH Port
- Enable/Disable Root Login
- Enable/Disable Password Login
- Setup Notification Channels
Application Management
Application management includes the controls you have to manage your application on your server. In this section, we will list all the application management features both the control panel provides.
- Multiple Domains
- Temporary Domains (Staging/Demo)
- Custom Webroot
- Full Fledged File Manager
- Dedicated Staging Area
- Custom/Automatic SSL Certificates
- Application Level PHP Versions
- Application Level PHP Settings
- Supervisor Process Management
- Access/Error Log Management
- Automatic Site/Database Cloning
- One-Click Fix File Permissions
- One-Click Maintenance Mode
- Cloudflare Integration
- SFTP/SSH Access
- Web Based Code Editor
- Multiple Domains
- Temporary Domains (Staging/Demo)
- Custom/Automatic SSL Certificates
- SFTP/SSH Access
- Access/Error Log Management
- Cloudflare Integration
- Application Level PHP Settings
- Custom Webroot
- One-Click Fix File Permissions
- Dedicated Staging Area
- Supervisor Process Management
- Automatic Site Cloning
- File Manager
- One-Click Maintenance Mode
- Web Based Code Editor
- Application Level PHP Versions
Database Management
Database management allows you to manage databases on your servers along with the access management. Both the control panel provides databases management.
- Manage Databases
- Manage Databases Users
- Remote Database Access
- PHPMyAdmin
- Database management is almost non-existent Cloudways. You get one database for each one of your application along with the credentials.
Security
Security of your servers and sites is crucial. It is important to make sure you have closed as many doors as possible for a bad guy to access the backend of your sites.
- Fail2Ban Management
- One-Click Firewall Toggle
- Firewall Rules Management
- Isolated Environments
- Two Factor Authentication
- Enable/Disable SSH/SFTP Access
- Automatic Security Updates
- IP Whitelisting
- Authentication via SSH Keys
- Fail2Ban Management
- One-Click Firewall Toggle
- Isolated Environments
- Two Factor Authentication
- Automatic Security Updates
- IP Whitelisting
- Authentication via SSH Keys
- Enable/Disable SSH/SFTP Access
- Firewall Rules Management
Team Management
When you are managing multiple projects, You need a team. Both the control panels provide almost the same team management features.
- Multiple Teams
- Role Management
- Detailed Permission Management
- Single Server Sharing
- Multiple Teams
- Basic Permission Management
- Single Server Sharing
- Role Management
- Detailed Permission Management
Backups & Restore
Backups are crucial. When something goes wrong at server or application level, You need backups to restore your sites to latest stable version and resolve the disaster.
- Full Application Backups
- Files-Only or Database-Only Backups
- Instant Backups
- Scheduled Backups (App Level)
- Cloud Storage Integrations
- Full Application Backups
- Instant Backups
- Scheduled Backups (Server Level Only)
- Files-Only or Database-only Backups
- Cloud Storage Integrations
Save Big + Get Back control of your hosting with ServerAvatar.
Explore ServerAvatar Pricing & Plans
Monthly
Annual
Get 2 Months Free!
Newbie
$
9
/ month
Perfect for freelancers
- All Features
- Manage Upto 3 Servers
- Unlimited Applications
- Team Collaboration
No credit card required
Popular
Pro
$
29
/ month
Perfect for businesses
- All Features
- Manage Unlimited Servers
- Unlimited Applications
- Team Collaboration
No credit card required
Newbie
$
90
/ year
Perfect for freelancers
- All Features
- Manage Upto 3 Servers
- Unlimited Applications
- Team Collaboration
No credit card required
Popular
Pro
$
290
/ year
Perfect for businesses
- All Features
- Manage Unlimited Servers
- Unlimited Applications
- Team Collaboration
No credit card required
Trusted by 1,000+ Users Worldwide
★★★★★ 4.8/5
On our official Facebook Page, 94 of our customers rated ServerAvatar 4.8/5.0.
★★★★★ 4.7/5
High Performer Fall 2023
Rated 4.7/5.0 by 22 customers.
★★★★★ 4.6/5
On our official TrustPilot page, ServerAvatar has been rated 4.6/5.0 by 24 customers.
Nitin Yawalkar
Founder
The simple UI and UX for connecting different servers is the most valuable thing I like the best in ServerAvatar. I used it to connect AWS server and it just work out of the box.
EI Mostapha M.
Co-founder
Simplicity, stability, security, ease of use, awesome support, active and responsive founder, and best pricing in the industry for the value it gives.
Jyll Stuard
CTO at Mailchimp
ServerAvatar helps me achieve my goals in providing isolated servers for my clients that I can custom tweak and support.
