Cloud plans at a glance
SiteGround says all Cloud plans include the same features and differ only in server resources. The included list covers dedicated resources, automated scaling, unlimited websites, staging and Git, on-demand backups, Memcached, white-label access and 24/7 priority support.
| Plan | Price | CPU cores | Memory | SSD | Data transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoGeek (shared, for reference) | $7.99/mo first year, then $44.99/mo | Shared, fair use | Shared, 768MB per process (2021 KB) | 100GB | Unmetered |
| Cloud Jump Start | $100/mo, pay monthly | 4 | 8GB | 40GB | 5TB |
| Cloud Business | $200/mo | 8 | 12GB | 80GB | 5TB |
| Cloud Business Plus | $300/mo | 12 | 16GB | 120GB | 5TB |
| Cloud Super Power | $400/mo | 16 | 20GB | 160GB | 5TB |
Signals that justify the move
- Your CPU Seconds graph approaches GoGeek's red-flag values (4,000 per hour or 40,000 per day in SiteGround's 2021 fair-use article) on normal days, not just during an attack or a bug.
- SiteGround has contacted you about resource usage after you have already fixed caching exclusions, cron overlap and heavy plugins.
- Legitimate jobs such as course imports, certificate batches or reports hit PHP maximum execution time. SiteGround says shared accounts should optimize the script or consider Cloud, and that Cloud customers can ask support to raise the limit.
- Launch days are predictable and large, and you want autoscaling to add CPU or RAM automatically during a spike.
Cheaper fixes to try first
The price gap is large. Moving from GoGeek at $44.99 to Jump Start at $100 adds $55.01 a month, about $660 a year; moving from a first-year GoGeek at $7.99 adds $92.01 a month. SiteGround's fair-use article lists the first things to check, and most cost nothing.
- Find slow PHP scripts in your account statistics and fix or replace the plugin behind them.
- Space cron jobs at least 30 minutes apart, as SiteGround recommends, and check that WordPress scheduled tasks are not overlapping.
- Remove unused themes and plugins; SiteGround notes that old and inactive software still consumes resources.
- Exclude only the pages that must be dynamic (login, account, checkout, payment notifications) from cache, so public pages stay cached.
- Test Memcached on staging; SiteGround says it reduces database queries, though MemberPress recommends disabling it for MemberPress sites.
- Move course video to a video host so the server does not serve large files.
What changes in billing and protection
Two terms deserve attention. SiteGround's Terms of Service say that scaling down Cloud RAM requires a reboot and causes downtime, so scale down outside class hours. And when you upgrade from shared to Cloud you choose a new term, with any prepaid shared amount prorated and applied as an extension.
| Term | Shared (StartUp/GrowBig/GoGeek) | Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Billing | Intro price on first 12-month prepaid term, then regular | Pay monthly at the listed price |
| Auto-renew charge | 15 days before expiry on 12-month terms | 5 days before expiry (monthly renewal) |
| Money-back window | 30 days | 14 days |
| Automatic backups kept | Up to 30 daily copies | Up to 7 daily copies |
| Extra resources | Upgrade plan | Add CPU, RAM or storage; autoscale events bill one month of resources |
Worked example: GoGeek to Jump Start
A course business with 600 active students runs on GoGeek at $44.99 a month. After two months of clean-up, its busiest days still use 35,000 CPU seconds, close to GoGeek's 40,000-a-day red-flag value, and the monthly cohort start pushes past 4,000 an hour. Jump Start at $100 a month replaces fair-use thresholds with 4 dedicated cores and 8GB memory. The extra $660 a year makes sense if a restricted launch would cost more than that in refunds or lost sales. If the busiest day sits at 15,000 CPU seconds, it does not, and the money is better spent on development time to fix the slowest plugin. The student and CPU numbers here are illustrative, not SiteGround figures.
Questions before you decide
Is SiteGround Cloud billed monthly?
The Cloud plan cards say pay monthly, at $100, $200, $300 and $400 a month for the four standard plans on the date checked.
Does Cloud keep as many backups as shared?
No. SiteGround's backup article lists up to 30 daily copies on standard shared plans and up to 7 on standard Cloud; its Premium Backup add-on raises those to 37 and 14.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- SiteGround Cloud hosting plans Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround WordPress hosting plans and prices Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround shared hosting feature comparison Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround KB: Fair use of server resources (page dated 12 October 2021) Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround KB: Fatal error maximum execution time exceeded Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround Terms of Service Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround KB: Backup service Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround KB: What is your refund policy? Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround KB: When will I be billed for renewal? Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround tutorial: Memcached option Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- MemberPress docs: What web hosting works best with MemberPress Accessed 29 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.