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Aliyun Review 2024 – Can It Compete with the Big Players?

Gwen Rodgers Written by: Gwen Rodgers

Alibaba Cloud is the largest cloud provider in China and is one of the largest worldwide. Despite its size, its single web hosting solution is a little limited in terms of features.

We hosted the same WordPress website on the most popular web hosting platforms and measured their performance
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Overview


Screenshot 2019 05 23 at 09.48.101

To compare the best web hosts, we hosted the same WordPress website on each one and tested performance, customer service, and value for money. Check out the results here.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba first launched its cloud computing business back in 2009 as Aliyun, which was later rebranded as Alibaba Cloud. With 18 data centers and more than 50 availability zones around the world, Alibaba Cloud has grown rapidly to cross the one millionth customer mark in 2017.  It is now China’s largest cloud provider, and one of the biggest cloud hosting companies worldwide.

Alibaba Cloud’s website is very sleek, informative, and available in several languages, including English.                  

Features and Ease of Use

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Alibaba Cloud offers a broad and diverse range of enterprise-level cloud products and services such as elastic computing, database services, storage hosting, VPC networking, and domain solutions. Starting with its web hosting service, some of the key features are:

  • 5 GB web space
  • 30 domain names
  • 50 GB monthly data transfer
  • 30,000 monthly visits
  • PHP 5.3 – 5.5
  • Custom control panel
  • 99.99% uptime
  • Linux OS with Apache web server

One of Alibaba Cloud’s standout features is its widely dispersed worldwide network. However, its web hosting is available only in two regions: the U.S.A. (Silicon Valley) and Hong Kong.

Although Alibaba Cloud could be a good choice for personal blogs and small to medium-sized businesses, it doesn’t offer anything to set itself apart from the competition apart from its global infrastructure.

I’m slightly disappointed not to see more features from such a “big name” provider. Disk space is limited to 5 GB, and the custom control panel isn’t very user-friendly for an average (non-techie) user. On the plus side, you can host 30 domains on each account. There is no auto-installer, but you can still install popular CMS applications such as WordPress and Joomla.

Pricing and Support

Alibaba Cloud offers just one fairly priced web hosting plan but with slightly lackluster features considering the size of this company. 

The good news is that it offers more than 20 always-free products and a free trial that allows you to test 16 paid products. You can make use of the free trial(s) as long as you have been registered for less than a year. However, it’s important to note that you will need to provide your payment details, which means you could be charged if you fail to cancel the contract before the trial period concludes.

Alibaba Cloud provides excellent support. There’s a very good knowledge base plus a forum and a helpful F.A.Q. section. Support channels include telephone and ticket support, and live chat. I was happy with the help I received when I tested the live chat channel:

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Alibaba Cloud Web Hosting

Comparison

How does Alibaba Cloud match up to the competition?

1HostingerCompareOur Score4.9Compare
1IONOSCompareOur Score4.8Compare
1Alibaba CloudCompareOur Score4.1Compare
1Go4HostingCompareOur Score2.4Compare

Alibaba Cloud REVIEW: BOTTOM LINE

1Alibaba Cloud is a versatile provider that capitalizes on its record-breaking data sorting abilities and server performance to offer a range of services for almost any sort of business. It also excels in mitigating DDoS attacks and processing high volumes of e-commerce transactions. However, its web hosting plan provides limited features compared with many competitors.

Alibaba Cloud might offer a good service at a reasonable price, but does it match up with the top web hosting companies? We find it hard to say “yes.”

Pros

  • Wide range of cloud services
  • Free trial
  • Live chat support
  • Global server network

Cons

  • Limited hosting services
  • Complex custom control panel

FAQ

Does it matter where you host your website?

Yes. For peak performance, it’s best to use a host with a data center near your target audience. Where your host and its data centers are located will also be subject to local security and privacy laws. Alibaba Cloud is based in China, and adheres to the security standards of all regions in which its service is available.

What’s the difference between shared hosting and cloud hosting? 

Shared hosting involves the sharing of space and resources on one physical server with other websites. Cloud hosting gives your site access to the resources of a network of servers, scaling performance to meet the demands of surging traffic – so it also costs more.

If you decide that cloud hosting is more than what you need, we’ve identified the best web hosts for 2024, and you’ll find both shared and cloud hosting options among them. 

Is Alibaba Cloud better than Amazon Web Services?

Alibaba is the Amazon of China – an e-commerce giant that has become much more. Alibaba Cloud provides fast, secure cloud hosting to a global marketplace. AWS offers a similar range of services based in the USA, and is one of the top cloud hosts we’ve tested in 2024.

Do Alibaba Cloud plans include a free domain name?

You won’t get a free domain name with Alibaba Cloud, but you can register a domain name as part of your hosting plan.
If you want web hosting that gives you a free domain, try browsing our coupons page for deals that include this service.
Gwen Rodgers Gwen Rodgers
Gwen is a web developer and software engineer who loves to get lost in JavaScript (and a good book). She spends her free time teaching girls how to be coders, and doing yoga on her balcony in the sunshine.
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