Cloud-based database hosting seems to be an extremely viable solution for modern apps. After all, the entire management-and-maintenance thing is relegated to the hosting provider, scalability is not an issue, and you can free up lots of precious time to focus on actual product development as you see fit.
And there you have MySQL, one of the world’s top management systems whose popularity is driven by its open-source nature, high performance and reliability, broad integration options, and, of course, a massive community that never lets the system stagnate. MySQL is by all means huge, and there are quite a few providers ready to deliver it to your software, fully managed, secure, and well-adjusted to your needs and resources.
In this post, we’d like to guide you through some of the most popular MySQL cloud hosting solutions. No ads here—even if none of the following providers gets you interested, our goal is to give you a clear picture of what’s currently available on the market and pinpoint a few important factors to consider.
Contents
- Introduction to MySQL hosting
- Key features of top MySQL hosting providers
- Best MySQL hosting providers for 2024
- Hosting providers comparison table
- How to choose the best MySQL hosting provider for your needs
- Benefits of using dbForge Studio for MySQL with cloud hosting
Introduction to MySQL hosting
Over time, cloud hosting services are continuously becoming more flexible and affordable. You can always start with something simple and gradually switch to more advanced options as your product grows and demands a higher level of performance and security.
Now nearly every hosting provider focuses on the same stuff that remains valuable to their clients. This, for instance, includes flexibility, which will help you make the most cost-effective choice for your particular project; scalability, which will help your product grow without affecting end users; and, say, responsive tech support, which is an absolute must for a top-tier market player.
That being said, we’d like to expand a bit more on the key advantages, or, we might say, features that constitute the foundation of a good hosting service.
Key features of top MySQL hosting providers
Without further intros, let’s get straight to the point.
Cost-effectiveness
First and foremost, you don’t want to overpay, and you don’t have to. Most providers are extremely flexible in this respect, allowing to find a budget-friendly plan that does not require large upfront investments.
Performance and uptime
Show us a hosting provider that doesn’t list performance among its key advantages. Indeed, that’s their focus, they can’t afford providing you with performance that would be inferior to an on-premises infrastructure. As for the actual metrics—RAM, SSD storage, and so on—they’ll depend on the selected plan, and you’ll get exactly what you’re paying for.
Security
Surely you want to keep your sensitive data intact, protected from unauthorized access, and that’s where you get secure SSH/SSL connections, cloud firewalls, and automated backups of your databases.
Scalability
As we mentioned previously, your product is going to grow, and you need to make your upgrades invisible for end users. Managed databases typically offer nearly unlimited scalability and easy adjustment of resources without significant downtime.
Reliability and availability
We won’t argue that reliability is a rather vague notion, so let’s narrow things down a bit. First, a cloud hosting provider must offer failover options to keep your databases up and running even during outages. Second, cloud infrastructures must be (naturally) accessible from anywhere in the world, monitored 24/7, and always kept up-to-date without affecting your users. Third, in case anything goes wrong, you need quick access to tech support at all times.
Best MySQL hosting providers for 2024
Now that we have listed the factors that will influence your choice, let’s have a look at several actual hosting providers that we caught sight of. All of them offer a wide range of services that go far beyond MySQL hosting.
Kamatera
Kamatera is a US-based cloud hosting provider with a global presence, whose sheer diversity of options is impressive by itself. The company focuses on versatile cloud infrastructure services, including cloud servers, cloud hosting, reseller hosting, and managed cloud services.
Pros
- 21 data centers covering four continents
- Quick deployment and scaling of servers
- Highly customizable plans with a price calculator
- Per-hour or monthly billing
- Free 30-day trial that provides a cloud server valued up to $100 with the configuration of your choice
Cons
- No free SSLs, domains, or backups
- Auxiliary services can boost the price quite a bit
FastComet
FastComet justifies its name; you will definitely be happy with the provided performance. What’s more, they have some of the most affordable plans on the market and overwhelmingly praised customer support.
Pros
- 11 server locations around the world
- Consistently high performance and accessibility
- Good pricing for all plans
- Free SSL, Cloudflare CDN, and domain transfer
- Free daily and weekly backups with all plans
- Excellent customer support service
Cons
- No free domains
- Their uptime goes below the standard 99.9% at times
IONOS
IONOS delivers highly scalable hosting that covers MySQL, MariaDB, and Microsoft SQL Server. Among other things, they offer rather competitive pricing and solid support, well-suited for both newcomers and power users.
Pros
- Data centers in the UK, US, and Europe
- Rich feature sets for starter and pro plans alike
- User-friendly custom control panel
- Huge resource center that includes guides and tutorials
- Top-tier security features
Cons
- Expensive renewal plans
A2 Hosting
A2 was founded in 2001 and has gathered over 110,000 clients worldwide. They offer nearly every kind of hosting and top-notch performance with 99.9% uptime guarantee. When it comes to user reviews, they are almost uniformly positive.
Pros
- Two decades of experience
- Outstanding server speed
- Wide array of hosting plans to cover virtually any needs and requirements
- Exceptionally intuitive user dashboard
- Out-of-the-box advanced security features
- Good customer support
Cons
- Boosted plans can turn out to be rather pricey
Ultahost
Ultahost is a rather young player on the market, established in 2018, yet it has already earned a solid reputation, offering a variety of hosting plans and highlighting performance and security among its key strengths.
Pros
- Affordable plans without hidden fees
- Responsive customer support service
- Very intuitive user interface
- Wide range of security features
- Free SSL, DDoS protection, and daily backups
Cons
- None
Hosting providers comparison table
Let’s sum things up with the following table. Check the plans and official websites to get more detailed information about each hosting provider.
| Kamatera | One of the most diverse, flexible, and feature-rich options | Pricing | Website |
| FastComet | Affordable, fast, and offering exceptional support | Pricing | Website |
| IONOS | Budget-friendly pricing plans and reliable performance | Pricing | Website |
| A2 Hosting | Well-established provider with affordable long-term plans | Pricing | Website |
| Ultahost | Optimal for medium-sized businesses | Pricing | Website |
How to choose the best MySQL hosting provider for your needs
It’s no surprise that your first step is to get a provider that fits well into your budget and yet delivers the exact capabilities that your project requires, no more and no less. In the long run, you will need space to grow, but there won’t be any trouble with that. Probably the last recommendation we can give here is that you should get the much-needed firsthand experience with a free trial (in case the provider offers one, that is).
Benefits of using dbForge Studio for MySQL with cloud hosting
All right, you got yourself a cloud-based MySQL instance, but where do you go next? After all, you’ll need a tool that will help you create, modify, and manage your databases, work with your data, perform routine database administration and stuff like that. If that’s your case, you might as well try dbForge Studio for MySQL, a multifeatured integrated environment with broad compatibility options. It perfectly works with both cloud and on-premises databases, be it MySQL or its forks like MariaDB.
It has a clean, intuitive user interface and a slew of features that you’ll find helpful in daily work with databases.
- Context-aware SQL code completion, formatting, and debugging
- Source control integration with support for all major version control systems
- Comparison and synchronization of database schemas and table data
- Data import and export with 14 most popular formats
- Database design on ER diagrams
- Database refactoring
- Visual construction of SQL queries that involves no coding
- Data aggregation, analysis, and reporting
- Generation of column-intelligent test data
- Creation of searchable database documentation
- Database backup and recovery
- User and session management, service control, and table maintenance
Download dbForge Studio for MySQL today!
Just like we recommended getting some firsthand experience with cloud hosting providers, we recommend starting with dbForge Studio by downloading it for a free 30-day trial. It’s a perfect way to get acquainted with all of its features, evaluate its performance, and see how it makes your routine operations with databases a breeze.
