ChemiCloud Review: LiteSpeed Hosting With 3 Cores/3GB RAM, NVMe SSDs, Redis, cPanel, And ∼100ms Global TTFB On QUIC

If you have a small static site and want a 100ms global TTFB without overpaying, this setup usually does the trick: ChemiCloud’s WordPress Turbo plan + LiteSpeed Cache + QUIC.cloud.

This demo site uses the same setup which you can test in SpeedVitals or KeyCDN to measure TTFB in multiple global locations. You’ll want to run 3 tests to make sure resources are cached.

They also scored mostly green in my shared hosting spreadsheet.

You get LiteSpeed servers, NVMe SSDs, Redis, MariaDB, and cPanel. Hostinger uses a similar setup, but you get hPanel, more restrictions hidden in their TOS, AI chat support, and usually less CPU cores/RAM. Compare these to ChemiCloud’s resource limits (or see the spreadsheet). You can also scale to 6 cores + 6GB RAM using their add-on and they do 10-200 free migrations.

Full setup:

• Hosting: WordPress Turbo plan ($4.95-$6.95/mo).
• Cache plugin: LiteSpeed Cache (free) which connects to Redis.
• CDN: QUIC.cloud’s standard plan ($.02 – $.08/GB depending on regions).
• CSS/JS unloading: Asset CleanUp disables plugins on certain pages/posts (free/optional).

 

1. Specs

View In Google Sheets

 

2. LiteSpeed Outperforms Traditional Setups

All ChemiCloud’s WordPress hosting plans use LiteSpeed.

LiteSpeed Servers OutPerform Apache/Nginx – it can handle 2x the capacity of Apache and there are plenty of other tests outside LiteSpeed’s that show it outperforms Apache and Nginx.

LiteSpeed’s PHP Outperforms FastCGI/FPM – LiteSpeed’s PHP is more efficient than FastCGI (used on SiteGround) and FPM (used on Cloudways). Even PHP.net says “LSAPI is similar to FCGI, but is more efficient” and that it’s also a “highly optimized API.” WordPress is built on PHP.

It Uses Resources Efficiently – “you’ve exceeded your plan’s maximum resources, now upgrade or we’ll suspend you.” This is what SiteGround does with their CPU limits, or you’ll get 5xx errors on Bluehost/HostGator/GoDaddy. Since LiteSpeed uses resources efficiently, this can mean less CPU and memory spikes (usually from traffic spikes or resource-demanding plugins).

LiteSpeed Cache Optimizes Web Vitals Better – it’s free with a 4.8/5 star rating and 5M installs. Here are a few features included with LSC that either aren’t found in WP Rocket or SG Optimizer:

• Preload LCP images.
• Faster server-side caching.
• Lazy load HTML selectors.
• Guest mode + guest optimization.
• Connect to object cache (i.e. Redis).
• Remove unused CSS using the faster file method.
• Host third-party code locally, like fonts and Gravatars.
• Automatically exclude viewport/LCP images from lazy load.
• Limit post revisions while keeping a certain amount (instead of deleting them all).

QUIC.cloud’s CDN Is #1 On SpeedVitals’ CDN Performance Tracker – see here. Unlike most CDNs, QUIC also optimizes images which uses less resources than image optimization plugins. And when using QUIC’s DNS, you get superior geographic routing and Anycast. Just make sure you use the paid (standard) plan since the free plan only uses 6 PoPs and doesn’t include DDoS protection, while the paid plan does and uses all 84 PoPs. I previously suggested Cloudflare with full page caching, but QUIC’s performance has been improving. It’s also needed for certain page and image optimizations to work in LiteSpeed Cache. You’ll see the performance of a few other CDNs on cdnperf.com (like Google Cloud, what SiteGround’s CDN uses), but it doesn’t list QUIC.

Cost Savings

• LiteSpeed Cache is free (no paid cache plugins).
• Less chance of upgrading from CPU/memory spikes.
• Even if you have to upgrade, you can get 6 cores + 6GB RAM for $6-7/mo on Chemi.

 

3. Faster Hardware/Software (NVMe SSDs, Redis, MariaDB)

NVMe SSDs often have 6x faster read/write speeds than traditional hard drives:

Redis is more powerful than Memcached which is used on most shared hosts:

ChemiCloud also uses MariaDB which Amazon says “offers a higher query speed when compared to MySQL” with more features. Likely why it was preferred in this Facebook poll:

 

4. More Resources (3 CPU Cores + 3 GB RAM, Scalable To 6/6)

ChemiCloud also has a Turbo+ Boost add-on to double it to 6 cores + 6 GB RAM for $6-7/mo. Which means even if your resource usage goes up, you don’t have buy a new plan. The add-on can be much cheaper since hosts aren’t likely to give you the cheap intro price when upgrading.

Only 1 CPU core is used on SiteGround/GoDaddy/NameCheap/InMotion/WPX from the plans used in the spreadsheet. 1 GB RAM (or less) is used on Hostinger/GoDaddy/NameCheap/WPX.

This is why CPU limits and 5xx errors are so common.

Don’t pay for a 3 year plan with a fixed amount of resources, especially if the host has low resource limits. Resource usage should be under 50% and ChemiCloud has other add-ons too.

Price:

• 12 months (7% Discount) $77.40 ($6.45/mo)
• 24 months (10% Discount) $150 ($6.25/mo)
• 36 months (14% Discount) $214.20 ($5.95/mo)

 

5. cPanel with Imunify360

Site Tools, hPanel, and other custom panels usually have limited functionality and bugs. They also tend to have worse security since a security suite (like Imunify360) is usually replaced with their ‘own’ security measures. Hosts likely did this to save money after cPanel increased prices.

It’s also harder to migrate away since cPanel hosts usually offer unlimited cPanel migrations, but only 1 non-cPanel migration (ChemiCloud does 200 cPanel and 10 non-cPanel migrations).

 

6. 5/5 TrustPilot Rating With Better Support

Search their profile for people who left SiteGround, Bluehost, HostGator, GoDaddy, etc.

As always, I recommend joining the WP Speed Matters Facebook Group since most other Facebook groups are run by SiteGround (that’s the only reason they’re promoted everywhere).

 

7. 9 Server Locations

While ChemiCloud has 18 locations, 9 are used for shared hosting which can be chosen at checkout. If ChemiCloud doesn’t have a location close to your visitors, use QUIC.cloud’s CDN (ideally the paid standard plan) to ensure TTFB is fast no matter where your site is loaded from.

Some hosts like Bluehost/GoDaddy don’t let you choose your server location. This is bad for TTFB since their CDN usually doesn’t support full page caching. Hence, why TTFB gets slower the further you are away from the server location (this can be seen in SpeedVitals and KeyCDN).

 

8. Choose A Plan Based On Resources

In the table, the main difference is resources (CPU cores/RAM/storage/inodes). They used to only support Redis and OPcache on WordPress Turbo, but they’re supported on all plans now.

 

9. Intro Price For 1-3 Years

You get the cheaper intro price for 3 years ($178.20) or 1 year for $83.40.

SiteGround only offers intro prices for 1 year and has worse autorenewal policies. When turned on, many hosts bill you 7-15 days before the renewal date (ChemiCloud is 7 days, SiteGround is 15 days). So if you’re putting these in your calendar, use the billing date – not the renewal date.

 

10. Configure LiteSpeed Cache

The next few steps are tutorials on setting everything up.

First, configure the settings using my tutorial. Since ChemiCloud uses LiteSpeed servers, you get all the “LiteSpeed exclusive features” shown on the plugin page (Apache hosting doesn’t).

It’s an upgrade from WP Rocket, and an even bigger one from SiteGround Speed Optimizer which can’t even delay JavaScript or remove unused CSS. The developers do an awesome job releasing new features which you can follow in the LiteSpeed WordPress Community FB group.

Configure Redis

Step 1: Go cPanel → Redis Object Cache.

Step 2: Enable Redis and copy the socket path.

Step 3: Go to LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → Object. Enable object cache + Redis and paste the socket path. Port will always be 0. Save changes, then make sure you pass the connection test.

When setting up Redis on multiple sites, each site should have a unique Redis Database ID (0-100). For example, site 1 is “1” and site 2 is “2.” You can also read ChemiCloud’s Redis tutorial.

 

11. Configure QUIC.cloud (Or Cloudflare)

QUIC.cloud’s CDN is currently #1 on SpeedVitals’ CDN Performance Tracker. Besides hosting, Google lists CDNs as the 2nd best way to improve TTFB for visitors far away from your server.

QUIC is also needed for certain LiteSpeed Cache features to work, specifically critical CSS and image optimizations. And unlike free Cloudflare, QUIC optimizes images and their DNS uses geo-routing. Just make sure you use the paid plan which uses all 84 PoPs and is $.02 – $.08/GB.

I previously suggested Cloudflare, but QUIC.cloud’s performance has improved. Cloudflare’s APO plugin also isn’t compatible with LiteSpeed, so you’d need to use Super Page Cache For Cloudflare (similar to APO but more compatible/free). To use Cloudflare, see these instructions.

QUIC.cloud

Step 1: In the LSC General settings, request a domain key and add your Server IP.

Step 2: Go to CDN → QUIC.cloud CDN Setup → “Begin QUIC.cloud CDN Setup.” Then click “Refresh CDN Setup Status” and you’ll get 2 nameservers (kevin.quicns.net and jon.quicns.org). QUIC’s DNS provides better performance when using LiteSpeed with more accurate geo-routing.

Step 3: Add your QUIC nameservers to ChemiCloud (Domains → Manage Domain → Nameservers → Custom Nameservers). Refresh CDN status again and QUIC.cloud will be setup.

Step 4: Configure the “CDN Config” settings in QUIC.cloud’s dashboard. 3 things I would try:

• QUIC backend – lets QUIC connect to your server via QUIC and HTTP/3.
• Block Browser XML-RPC – most sites don’t use XML-RPC and can block it.
• Hotlink Protection – prevents sites from copying images and using your bandwidth.

Step 5: Use the standard plan, not the free plan! The free plan only uses 6 PoPs without DDoS protection while the standard plan uses all 84 PoPs with more features. It costs $.02 – $.08/GB depending on the region (similar to BunnyCDN). You also get a certain amount of free credits every month if you’re using a host that uses LiteSpeed Enterprise (i.e. ChemiCloud, NameHero) but not if you use OpenLiteSpeed. Credits are needed for UCSS, CCSS, and image optimizations.

 

12. Upgrade To PHP 8.3

Login to your ChemiCloud cPanel → Select PHP Version. Update to the latest version while testing your site for broken elements, which probably means a specific plugin isn’t compatible.

 

13. Retest Global TTFB In SpeedVitals (~100ms)

SpeedVitals tests TTFB in 40 locations. Run 3 tests to ensure you get a cache HIT and that content is served from the closest CDN data center (also recommended by SpeedVitals). Each test is different, so you can run your own or click through the demo site to see responsiveness.

Even when using ChemiCloud’s New York data center, TTFB is ~100ms in most locations.

This is why “choosing a host based on their server location” doesn’t always make sense (especially for static sites and if QUIC/Cloudflare have a close PoP to visitors). To get a similar TTFB on WooCommerce, you would ideally use CDN smart routing (such as Cloudflare Argo). Without a CDN, TTFB is fast for visitors close to the server location and slower in other locations:

 

14. 10-200 Free Migrations + 45 Money-Back

Migrations include 200 cPanel + 10 non-cPanel. It’s also easy to install WordPress with cPanel (Softaculous). More importantly, you can trust them since support knows what they’re doing – unlike some hosts. Or just search “migrations” on TrustPilot to see other people’s experiences.

Try them out and see yourself (they have a 45 day money back guarantee): chemicloud.com

Cheers,
Tom