RunCloud is still the #1 cloud panel for developers, and now even faster!
A quick breakdown of what I like about the latest RunCloud (with RunCloud Hub caching) and how it stacks up against other cloud panels like GridPane and Cloudways.
RunCloud has always been one of my favorite panels. It’s one of the best designed, very intuitive, performance is good, and the pricing is very reasonable (CHEAP).
But I don’t recommend it for everyone.
RunCloud PROS
Great UI
As I’ve said it has a great UI. But for doing what, exactly? It’s got a comprehensive UI that manages both servers and sites. Many cloudpanels now focus only on the sites (which is all most people need, actually). You can configure many micro settings and while it has tons of features like a cockpit, it’s not overwhelming at all. Even when you’re lost, you feel calm as if the right answer is just around the corner.
If you like comprehensive cloud panels that manage both servers and sites, like Cloudways…you’ll feel RunCloud is much more chill (while offering the same features) and also loads faster.
Many developer features
- Multiple stacks – can choose hybrid Apache-NGINX stack or pure-NGINX.
- Many Git integrations (GitHub, Bitbucket, etc).
- WordPress site staging – quickly clone your application to staging as many times as you want.
- RunCloud staging urls – can use a free runcloud url instead of having to jump in to Cloudflare and configure DNS.
- Server monitoring – track resource usage.
- Site monitoring – track traffic.
- Simple SSH management – easily manage SSH keys.
- Script installer – can 1-click install many different CMS, not only WordPress.
- File Manager – easy access.
- Logs – see server logs and activity.
- Site Authentication – quickly lock and unlock sites from public.
If you’re a developer managing many sites and cloning things back and forth, testing and development, you will LOVE RunCloud. It makes it so easy to copy and tweak, and get development sites up and running quickly. You’ll love the UI. Simply put RunCloud is great for creating and controlling your developer environment.
Great performance (with new RunCloud Hub FastCGI caching)
RunCloud’s performance wasn’t in the A-level before but now it’s right there. When I reviewed RunCloud several months ago, it’s native caching didn’t even have FastCGI installed unless you fussed around a lot in SSH. Now, their RunCloud Hub easily deploys caching from the panel. It’s really great and only 5-8ms behind the fastest cloud panel right now (GridPane).
Maybe you’ve seen other review guides or videos where I chastized RunCloud for its lack of built-in NGINX FastCGI caching, well I take it all back now. They’ve finally got that part right and I couldn’t be happier! Well done, RC!
Cheap pricing
I wanted to be professional and say something like “competitive pricing” but let’s just say it outright…it’s cheap! Like $6 and some cents. If for some people, it’s $8….or maybe that’s $8/monthly and $6.67/month if you pay a year upfront. Whatever it was, it’s cheap as hell. Other cloud panels have increased to about $15-30 now.
RunCloud CONS
Not for basic users
If you’re not a developer and don’t care about all the server management and technical details, you’re probably not gonna like RunCloud. It’ll feel too overwhelming…like there’s too many chairs in the way before you can get to your seat. You’ll be annoyed at all the places you accidentally misclick to and feel like all your common tasks are several clicks apart from each other.
If all you want to do is host one website and not have to see anything else, RunCloud will feel maybe even a tad cluttered. It still gets the job done, but as I said…with a few extra clicks than you would on a minimal empty-ish cloud panel like GridPane or SpinupWP.
No support
Truth be told, cloud panel services are not there for basic WordPress or webhosting tech support. RunCloud is no exception. Maybe they’ll be nice an answer your “I’m a noob and broke my site and don’t know what to do.” but maybe they won’t and you shouldn’t expect that!
No phpMyAdmin installed
Yes, you can install it yourself following their guides…but there’s no excuse for this. It should already be pre-installed and ready to go. Not having phpmyadmin installed by default makes RC that much more unfriendly for regular users. Keep in mind, I totally understand why it isn’t. (It’s a long convoluted explanation about having isolated application environments.)
Best use case for RunCloud
RunCloud is best used as a development server. Launch and clone a million sandbox sites to your heart’s content. Work off a Git branch with your team members. Fire up multiple servers around the world quickly and cheaply.
And sure, if you really want, RunCloud has the performance and stability to host production sites as well and it’s very cheap for that! For $6-8/month and another $5 for the VPS…it won’t cost you anything to play around.
Try RunCloud
Excellent evaluation, I’m already testing here, it seems excellent so far.
Hey, I use here in Brazil a panel that was developed based on the easy engine, it doesn’t compare to the run cloud or the like because it doesn’t offer backup, emails, … nothing like that, it basically transformed the easy commands engine on buttons. If you want to evaluate it, its price is extremely low, 27.00 reais for the unlimited plan, which converting into dollars would give you about 4.00 usd. the name is Agius Cloud (https://agius.cloud/).
Thanks for the details write-up. I’ve been using Runcloud for a number of years and was researching whether there would better alternatives out there in terms of performance.
Interested to know what you think of their new Redis Full-Page Cache released last month. It’s now part of their RunCloud Hub as an alternative to the Nginx FastCGI Cache. They don’t really go into detail about how they differ in terms of real-world performance.
I think they are copying GridPane in some ways. As for real world performance, it’s hard to state claims without being gimmicky since all sites are different and respond differently. The best way to know is to try for yourself. One thing for certain…RunCloud is good!
PS: I like your site. I’m a boxer, too. 🙂
Hey Johnny, What’s your updated opinion on (Order of FASTEST-to-SLOWEST: GridPane > SpinupWP > RunCloud > Cloudways) after runcloud’s OLS integration and please review this.
I prefer RC at the top now. 😉
Will make updated guide.
I am developing a single site and had narrowed my search to Cyberpanel because of server-level litespeed caching, but it now looks like Runcloud now allows for Litespeed configurations – without some of their bells and whistles and some general caveats about bugs. So, I’m considering using Runcloud now instead because it perhaps offers additional functionality over Cyberpanel.
Litespeed aside, can you briefly describe what the differences are between Runcloud and Cyberpanel? Does runcloud make various configurations (updates, optimizations, security, etc…) easier/more automated than cyberpanel?
Thanks!
Try them both and decide for yourself.
Thanks, I intend to! My concern is that i’m quite new to all of this so don’t really know what I’d be looking for. Anyway, thanks for the quick reply and for the wonderful resources you share here and on youtube!
If you don’t know, then it might not matter whether I explain it or not. Try both and decide for yourself.
What do you recommend to secure the server? RC dont have any defaut malware/hack/virus scan and removal tool. They recommend ClamAV or maldet but they dont remove the bad stuff and isnt that proactive. Do you have any experience with ex Immunify installed on the RC servers as a stand alone? Or what do you recommend?
It’s not possible/common to have server-level tool that scans for app-specific malware. Please read my security guides for recommendations.