Key Takeaways
HostingAdvice has officially named the second round of winners for its Web Developer Choice Awards (WDCA). The four categories in this round were: Best SSD Hosting, Best for Developers, Best CDN Integration, and Best for Small Businesses.
The first set of winners were announced in August, which officially marked the start of an awards program that intends to spotlight the hosting providers that deserve recognition for what they do best. Instead of relying on paid placements or affiliate ties, winners were handpicked by 1,000 developers in a HostingAdvice survey. Click here to read the full methodology.
Without further ado, here are the next four winners.
The Winners
Best SSD Hosting: Hosting.com
HDD hosting may be the talk of the industry, but make no mistake that SSDs still have their place. Hosting.com, in particular, has built its own NVMe-powered Turbo Servers, which handle 9x more traffic, 3x faster read/write speeds, and reach the first byte 2x faster than traditional SSDs.
And that’s why Hosting.com was voted Best SSD Hosting in the Web Developer Choice Awards. It’s not the company’s first win, either: Hosting.com also took home the VPS Hosting award in the first round of WDCA winners.
“We built a global hosting platform with developers and site owners in mind, ensuring that every NVMe SSD server delivers on the performance today’s websites demand,” Hosting.com said. “Thank you to HostingAdvice, and to all our users for your trust and ongoing support. We’re just getting started!”
Best for Developers: DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean was voted Best Hosting for Web Developers, as it was consistently praised for its high-performance VPS servers, streamlined DevOps tools, and a clean, API-first design that gives developers total freedom without too steep of a learning curve.
DigitalOcean has always been known for its developer-friendly platform. Not only is it a low-cost entry point, but DigitalOcean also has tools like Droplets (for virtual machines) and App Platform (for bringing apps to market) without the size or sheer complexity of hyperscalers like AWS or Azure.
“We appreciate being recognized for our developer-first cloud infrastructure approach, and look forward to continuing to make developers and our customers successful on DigitalOcean in the age of AI,” said Matt Makai, DigitalOcean’s VP of Developer Relations.
Best CDN Integration: Cloudways
Cloudways took home the award for Best CDN Integration — and it’s not because it built its own CDN, but because it made Cloudflare’s enterprise-grade network accessible to everyday developers. CloudwaysCDN was officially retired in 2022, and since then, it has been offering Cloudflare as an integrable, easy-to-access CDN.
“We’re honored to be recognized with the Best CDN Integration award. At Cloudways, our goal has always been to simplify performance and scalability for our customers without sacrificing ease of use,” Cloudways said in an official statement to HostingAdvice.
Cloudways offers Cloudflare Enterprise as an optional paid add-on, making it perfect for devs who want to use Cloudflare but through a simpler interface. With Cloudways, it’s simple to do advanced caching, image optimization, Argo routing, and DDoS protection.
“In today’s digital landscape, speed and reliability are non-negotiable, and a strong CDN integration ensures that businesses of all sizes can deliver fast, secure, and seamless experiences to their users — wherever they are in the world,” the company said.
Best for Small Businesses: GoDaddy
GoDaddy has spent the past few years building toward becoming a true one-stop shop for growing businesses, and it’s paying off: WDCA respondents chose it as the Best Host for Small Businesses, praising it for its easy-to-use tools, scalable hosting, and 24/7 support.
“Being recognized as Best Host for Small Businesses is especially meaningful because it comes directly from the web developer community — the people who build and maintain the digital presence of small businesses every day,” said Casey Rowland, Partners GTM Lead at GoDaddy.
The learning curve is practically flat, and that doesn’t come at the expense of cost, with shared hosting plans starting at a few dollars a month, with some deals and discounts throughout the year.
“Our mission has always been to empower entrepreneurs and developers alike,” said Rowland, “and we’re committed to providing the reliable infrastructure, features, and intuitive tools they need to succeed online.”
More Are Coming
This is just the beginning. HostingAdvice will hand out 23 awards across six categories, with eight already announced and several more to follow in the months ahead.
To see who’s been recognized so far — and to stay updated as new honorees are announced — visit the Web Developer Choice Awards homepage.
