Liquid Web vs UpCloud: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Liquid Web and UpCloud to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Liquid Web
6.2/10
Liquid Web is a US managed hosting provider. It sells VPS, cloud VPS, dedicated servers and managed WordPress hosting to businesses that need hands-on server management.
UpCloud
7/10
A Finnish cloud infrastructure provider offering cloud servers, managed Kubernetes, managed databases, object storage, and networking to developers and businesses.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.2/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Cost | 4/10 | 6/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Reliability | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Scalability | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $11/mo Cloud VPS Compute 2 GB | €3/mo Starter |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $11/mo Cloud VPS Compute 2 GB | €3/mo Starter |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Automatic Backups | ||
| Cloud Compute | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Uptime SLA | ||
| VPS Hosting | ||
| Content Delivery Network | Not listed | |
| DDoS Protection | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
| Free SSL Certificates | Not listed | |
| Managed Databases | Not listed | |
| Managed Kubernetes | Not listed | |
| Managed WordPress | Not listed | |
| Object Storage | Not listed | |
Liquid Web vs UpCloud cost by team size
| Team size | Liquid Web | UpCloud |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $11/moCloud VPS Compute 2 GB | €3/moStarter |
| 5 users | $11/moCloud VPS Compute 2 GB | €3/moStarter |
| 10 users | $11/moCloud VPS Compute 2 GB | €3/moStarter |
| 25 users | $11/moCloud VPS Compute 2 GB | €3/moStarter |
| 50 users | $11/moCloud VPS Compute 2 GB | €3/moStarter |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Liquid Web
Our data shows no clear advantage over UpCloud.
Why choose UpCloud
- Higher Integration score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Cost score (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for developers (9/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
Liquid Web
Pros
- Fully managed VPS and dedicated plans cover monitoring, updates and ServerSecure hardening.
- The SLA promises 99.99 percent uptime, and the dedicated page adds a 30-minute hardware replacement guarantee.
- Cloud VPS comes in compute, memory and CPU-optimized sizes, with hourly billing.
- Managed dedicated plans include 500 GB of Acronis backups and DDoS protection.
- Data centers are in the US, Europe and Australia and are assessed for HIPAA and PCI-DSS.
Cons
- Reviewers repeatedly call it more expensive than budget hosts such as Hostinger and InterServer.
- There is no built-in CDN, and it offers no managed Kubernetes or serverless products.
- The InterWorx and SiteWorx control panels can confuse beginners.
- Some recent user reviews say support has slowed since the ownership change.
- Windows servers and cPanel or Plesk licences cost extra.
UpCloud
Pros
- Independent benchmarks recorded very low p99 disk latency on its MaxIOPS storage
- Advertises a 100% uptime SLA with 50x credits for downtime
- Fixed plan prices include data transfer, which keeps bills predictable
- Official Terraform provider, REST API, and CLI support infrastructure as code
- Broad managed portfolio covering Kubernetes, four database engines, object storage, and a CDN
- EU headquarters, ISO 27001 certification, and GDPR focus suit European buyers
Cons
- Reviewers find it several times more expensive than Hetzner for similar specs
- Fewer locations than larger providers, concentrated in Europe
- Smaller community and fewer third-party reviews than DigitalOcean or Vultr
- One user reports outbound port 25 is blocked by default, which hinders mail servers
- Pricing is changing in November 2026, so older published prices may be out of date
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
UpCloud scores higher on our Hosting & Infrastructure criteria: 7/10 against 6.2/10 for Liquid Web. The largest gap is in Cost: 4/10 for Liquid Web and 6/10 for UpCloud.
No, neither Liquid Web nor UpCloud lists a free plan.
UpCloud is the better fit for developers: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 6/10 for Liquid Web.
