LucidLink vs Cloudways
A detailed comparison to help you choose between LucidLink and Cloudways.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
LucidLink
0 reviews
3.9/5
Cloudways
0 reviews
LucidLink is rated higher (4.0 vs 3.9). LucidLink turns S3 object storage into a shared, streaming cloud filesystem for teams working with large files. Managed hosting layer that sits on top of DigitalOcean, AWS, GCP, Vultr, or Linode. You get managed control with one-click staging, Breeze caching, and 24/7 support.
LucidLink Cloud file streaming for teams: a shared filesystem on top of S3 object storage | Cloudways Managed cloud hosting on your choice of provider | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.0 (0 reviews)✓ | 3.9 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | paid | paid |
| Starting price | From $7/mo✓ | From $11/mo |
| Best for | Creative and production teams (video, audio, VFX, design) with large shared files and distributed members who need one live filesystem without syncing or shipping drives. | Agencies, freelancers and SMBs running WordPress/WooCommerce/Magento/Laravel who want managed cloud hosting with provider choice and no ops staff |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | 1 vCPU |
| RAM | — | 1 GB |
| Storage | — | 25 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | 1 TB/mo |
| SLA uptime | — | 99.99% |
| Data-center count | — | — |
| €/vCPU/mo | — | €11.00 |
| €/GB RAM/mo | — | €11.00 |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ✓ | |
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | — | United StatesUnited KingdomGermanyNetherlandsSingaporeAustralia+1 |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | — | managed optionddos protectionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenter |
| Visit Cloudways → | ||
LucidLink
Pros
- + Streams large shared files on demand — no full downloads before work starts
- + Zero-knowledge encryption: the vendor cannot read customer content
- + Transparent published per-member pricing with included storage per seat
- + Built on S3, with bring-your-own-S3 on Enterprise for storage-substrate flexibility
- + 30-day free trial without a credit card; desktop, mobile and web clients
- + TeamCache add-on brings cloud files to on-prem users at LAN speed
Cons
- - Storage overage of $7-8 per 100 GB is roughly $70-80 per TB per month — far above raw S3
- - Starter tier is tightly capped: 10 members, 1 filespace, 1 TB, and no snapshot recovery
- - Specialized for file-streaming workloads; wrong shape for databases or block storage
- - No published region list or public uptime SLA outside Enterprise discussions
- - Client and control-plane dependency on a mid-size specialist vendor
Cloudways
Pros
- + Choose the underlying cloud (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, GCP) and region per server
- + Entry pricing from $11/month on DigitalOcean with hourly billing and no contract
- + Managed stack with free migration, staging/cloning, automated backups, caching and 24/7 human support
- + Unlimited sites and visits per server on Flexible plans
- + Autonomous line adds real autoscaling, Cloudflare Enterprise CDN and a no-credit-card 3-day trial
Cons
- - Management markup of roughly $5-$35/month over buying the same server direct
- - No formal uptime SLA on the Flexible line
- - AWS/GCP plans include only 1-2 GB transfer; overage at $0.12/GB (AWS) adds up fast
- - Root-level control is limited — no custom kernels, bare metal, GPUs or own object storage
- - Owned by DigitalOcean since 2022 while reselling competing clouds — a roadmap consideration
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