Cloud hosting for small business buyers
Asked as “cloud hosting provider”, and as “infrastructure-as-a-service cloud”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 53 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, fourteen models each.
Standing · first-choice share
55%
Clear leader
55DigitalOcean Droplets09Amazon Web Services06Hetzner30others
55% of first choices, clear leader.
Since October 2026▲+21Since October 2026: 34% → 55%, +21 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement.DigitalOcean Droplets held the lead, +21 points on 34%, past the floor.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.
Small business
DigitalOcean Droplets55%Clear leader▲+21Since October 2026: 34% → 55%, +21 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement.This pageMid-market
Microsoft Azure29%Contested↗new leaderNew leader since October 2026: Microsoft Azure (29%) replaces Amazon Web Services (32% then, 28% now), 1 point clear, inside the 11-point floor.Standing →Enterprise
Amazon Web Services45%Clear leader▲+3Since October 2026: 42% → 45%, +3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.Standing →
DigitalOcean Droplets55%Clear leader▲+21Since October 2026: 34% → 55%, +21 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement.This pageMid-marketMicrosoft Azure29%Contested↗new leaderNew leader since October 2026: Microsoft Azure (29%) replaces Amazon Web Services (32% then, 28% now), 1 point clear, inside the 11-point floor.Standing →EnterpriseAmazon Web Services45%Clear leader▲+3Since October 2026: 42% → 45%, +3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.Standing →The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all fourteen models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince October 2026
01DigitalOcean Droplets55%6%66endorsed leader▲+21Since October 2026: 34% → 55%, +21 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement.34% → 55%
DigitalOcean Droplets55%6%66endorsed leader▲+21Since October 2026: 34% → 55%, +21 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement.34% → 55%02Amazon Web Services9%46%57criticized challenger▼−5Since October 2026: 14% → 9%, −5 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.14% → 9%
Amazon Web Services9%46%57criticized challenger▼−5Since October 2026: 14% → 9%, −5 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.14% → 9%03
Hetzner6%4%26accepted challenger▲+3Since October 2026: 3% → 6%, +3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.3% → 6%
Hetzner6%4%26accepted challenger▲+3Since October 2026: 3% → 6%, +3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.3% → 6%04Microsoft Azure6%38%26criticized challenger▲+1Since October 2026: 5% → 6%, +1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.5% → 6%
Microsoft Azure6%38%26criticized challenger▲+1Since October 2026: 5% → 6%, +1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.5% → 6%05
Vultr4%8%37accepted challenger▼−1Since October 2026: 5% → 4%, −1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.5% → 4%
Vultr4%8%37accepted challenger▼−1Since October 2026: 5% → 4%, −1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.5% → 4%06
Atlantic.Net4%5%20accepted challenger▲+1Since October 2026: 3% → 4%, +1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.3% → 4%
Atlantic.Net4%5%20accepted challenger▲+1Since October 2026: 3% → 4%, +1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.3% → 4%07
Akamai Connected Cloud2%8%36accepted challenger▼−6Since October 2026: 8% → 2%, −6 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.8% → 2%
Akamai Connected Cloud2%8%36accepted challenger▼−6Since October 2026: 8% → 2%, −6 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.8% → 2%08
Cloudways2%18%17accepted challenger▼−5Since October 2026: 7% → 2%, −5 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.7% → 2%
Cloudways2%18%17accepted challenger▼−5Since October 2026: 7% → 2%, −5 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.7% → 2%09
Hostinger2%14%21accepted challenger▼−3Since October 2026: 5% → 2%, −3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.5% → 2%
Hostinger2%14%21accepted challenger▼−3Since October 2026: 5% → 2%, −3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.5% → 2%Show the five products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
14
Bluehost0%90%10criticized challenger▼−2Since October 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.2% → 0%
Bluehost0%90%10criticized challenger▼−2Since October 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.2% → 0%13
Google Cloud Lab in the set0%41%39criticized challenger▼−2Since October 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.2% → 0%
Google Cloud Lab in the set0%41%39criticized challenger▼−2Since October 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.2% → 0%12
Azure0%32%19criticized challenger=heldSince October 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.0% → 0%
Azure0%32%19criticized challenger=heldSince October 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.0% → 0%11
SiteGround0%27%15criticized challenger=heldSince October 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.0% → 0%
SiteGround0%27%15criticized challenger=heldSince October 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.0% → 0%10
Liquid Web0%8%12accepted challenger=heldSince October 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.0% → 0%
Liquid Web0%8%12accepted challenger=heldSince October 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise.0% → 0%The floor is 11 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one can't be told apart from repeat variation, and both are shown. Each index measures its own floor from its own repeat, over its own categories, so the floor differs from one index to the next. Both editions asked the same fourteen models. How the floor is measured
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
Google Cloud is made by Google, whose model Gemini 3.5 Flash is in the set. On the four share prompts that model made it the first choice zero times of 4; the other thirteen models zero times of 52. Lab treatment is defined on the method page; the row is marked, not excluded.
Head to head
Microsoft Azure vs Amazon Web ServicesMicrosoft Azure vs DigitalOcean DropletsMicrosoft Azure vs Akamai Connected Cloud
Head-to-head pages are published for mid-market buyers, so these open on mid-market figures, not small business.All twenty-eight head-to-head pages: the top eight products, each against each
Microsoft Azure vs Atlantic.NetMicrosoft Azure vs VultrMicrosoft Azure vs CloudwaysMicrosoft Azure vs HostingerAmazon Web Services vs DigitalOcean DropletsAmazon Web Services vs Akamai Connected CloudAmazon Web Services vs Atlantic.NetAmazon Web Services vs VultrAmazon Web Services vs CloudwaysAmazon Web Services vs HostingerDigitalOcean Droplets vs Akamai Connected CloudDigitalOcean Droplets vs Atlantic.NetDigitalOcean Droplets vs VultrDigitalOcean Droplets vs CloudwaysDigitalOcean Droplets vs HostingerAkamai Connected Cloud vs Atlantic.NetAkamai Connected Cloud vs VultrAkamai Connected Cloud vs CloudwaysAkamai Connected Cloud vs HostingerAtlantic.Net vs VultrAtlantic.Net vs CloudwaysAtlantic.Net vs HostingerVultr vs CloudwaysVultr vs HostingerCloudways vs Hostinger
One product takes 55% of first choices here, so the chart would put thirteen markers in one corner and one at the far edge. The two measurements it plots are columns in the standing above: share, and the negative label rate. Six products carry a negative rate above 25% in this category.
What they warned about
Four of fourteen models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Grok 4.20, Mistral Small, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Kimi K2, GLM 4.7 FlashX, MiniMax M2.5 and GPT-6 Luna changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Amazon Web Services46%
26 of 57 labels negative · 12 of 14 models · 3 hard negative
“they are generally poor choices for small businesses that do not have a dedicated IT team or system administrator.” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
Google Cloud41%
16 of 39 labels negative · 10 of 14 models · 2 hard negative
“The "Do-It-Yourself" Giants (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) ... poor choices for small businesses” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
Bluehost90%
9 of 10 labels negative · 9 of 14 models · 7 hard negative
“specifically those under the Newfold Digital umbrella (like Bluehost and HostGator)\u2014often create more problems than they solve” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
HostGator
100%
8 of 8 labels negative · 8 of 14 models · 6 hard negative
“specifically those under the Newfold Digital umbrella (like Bluehost and HostGator)\u2014often create more problems than they solve” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
What they cite
Fourteen of the fourteen models returned a source list in this edition: five return the pages they cited and nine the search results they consulted.
Sites the answers cite
63 of 84 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 679 links across 233 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. 26 of the 252 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category; the method page measures whether that reading tilts an answer.
vendor site · Atlantic.Net39 answers · 43 citations · 10 models
24 answers · 29 citations · 11 models
vendor site · G217 answers · 25 citations · 10 models
vendor site · ScalaHosting15 answers · 15 citations · 7 models
vendor site · DigitalOcean14 answers · 28 citations · 7 models
13 answers · 13 citations · 8 models
12 answers · 13 citations · 7 models
12 answers · 12 citations · 5 models
vendor site · Hostinger10 answers · 11 citations · 6 models
10 answers · 10 citations · 6 models
vendor site · Amazon9 answers · 12 citations · 5 models
vendor site · Hetzner9 answers · 10 citations · 7 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
37 answers · 10 models
15 answers · 7 models
12 answers · 6 models
12 answers · 7 models
12 answers · 5 models
11 answers · 7 models
10 answers · 6 models
8 answers · 6 models
8 answers · 4 models
8 answers · 6 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best cloud hosting provider”, “cloud hosting provider”, “cloud hosting providers”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean digitalocean.com DigitalOcean Droplets 55% | 55% | 109 | 74,000 | 942 | 637,494 company | $82 | 40 | 3 |
| Amazon aws.amazon.com Amazon Web Services 9% | 9% | 153 | 151,000,000 | 1,380,939 | 9,238,321 | $20,476 | 2 | |
| Hetzner hetzner.com | 6% | 62 | 33,100 | 391 | 70,486 | 1 | ||
| Microsoft azure.microsoft.com Microsoft Azure 6% | 6% | 107 | 2,240,000 | 403,136 | 1,848,766 | $6,123 | ||
| Vultr vultr.com | 4% | 54 | 22,200 | 302 | 81,453 | 95 | ||
| Atlantic.Net atlantic.net | 4% | 45 | 390 | 5 | 63,556 | $372 | 7 | |
| Render render.com | 4% | 27 | 90,500 | 20,866 | 84,662 | 19 | ||
| Hostinger hostinger.com Hostinger 2%, Hostinger Cloud Startup 2% | 4% | 39 | 201,000 | 1,828 | 496,358 | $18,320 | 118 | 4 |
| Akamai parent site Akamai Connected Cloud 2% | 2% | 67 | 27,100 | 1,614 | ||||
| Cloudways cloudways.com | 2% | 26 | 12,100 | 164 | 45,091 | $20 | 26 | 8 |
Google's top ten for the three searches hold 14 sites; 3 of them are among the sites the models cited here (aws.amazon.com, digitalocean.com, hostinger.com). The first result for “best cloud hosting provider” is wp101.com.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best cloud hosting provider for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which infrastructure-as-a-service cloud would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top cloud hosting providers for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best cloud hosting provider for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating a cloud hosting provider. What should we look at?”Negative“Which cloud hosting providers should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5CloudwaysAmazon Web Services, Microsoft AzureChangedDigitalOcean Dropletsagainst: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, SiteGroundDigitalOcean Droplets, Herokuno first choiceagainst: A2 Hosting, Amazon Web Services, Bluehost, Google Cloud, HostGator, Hosting-Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, SiteGround
Four alternatives
Atlantic.Net, DigitalOcean Droplets, Liquid Web, VultrOne alternative
Google CloudFour alternatives
Atlantic.Net, Cloudways, Hetzner, VultrTwo alternatives
Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Free TierGPT-5.4 miniDigitalOcean DropletsAmazon Web Services, DigitalOcean DropletsChangedDigitalOcean DropletsDigitalOcean Dropletsno first choicenothing named
Three alternatives
Amazon Web Services, Azure, Google CloudTwo alternatives
Azure, Google CloudFive alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Azure, Google Cloud, VultrTwo alternatives
AWS Lightsail, HetznerGemini 3.5 FlashDigitalOcean DropletsAmazon Web ServicesChangedRender, VercelDigitalOcean Dropletsagainst: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft AzureDigitalOcean Droplets, Renderagainst: Amazon Web Services, Azure, GCPagainst: Akamai Connected Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Bluehost, DigitalOcean Droplets, Domain.com, Google Cloud, Hetzner, HostGator, Microsoft Azure, Vultr, Web.com, iPage
Seven alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Cloudways, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Render, VultrTwo alternatives
DigitalOcean Droplets, Microsoft AzureFour alternatives
DigitalOcean Droplets, Fly.io, Google Cloud Run, HetznerFive alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Hetzner, Railway, Render, VultrFive alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Fly.io, Hetzner, Platform.sh, VercelPerplexity SonarDigitalOcean Dropletsagainst: Amazon Web ServicesDigitalOcean DropletsHeldDigitalOcean DropletsDigitalOcean Dropletsno first choiceagainst: Akamai Connected Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Cloudways, DigitalOcean Droplets, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, OVHcloud, Vultr
Four alternatives
Atlantic.Net, Hostinger, ScalaHosting, SiteGroundTwo alternatives
Amazon Web Services, Microsoft AzureEight alternatives
Amazon Web Services, Cloudways, Google Cloud, Hetzner, Hostinger, Microsoft Azure, SiteGround, VultrThree alternatives
Atlantic.Net, DreamHost cloud hosting, HostingerGrok 4.20Hostingeragainst: Amazon Web Services, Azure, Google CloudDigitalOcean DropletsChangedagainst: Amazon Web ServicesDigitalOcean Dropletsagainst: Amazon Web ServicesKamateraagainst: AWS Lightsail, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud Always Freeno first choiceagainst: A2 Hosting, Amazon Web Services, Bluehost, DigitalOcean Droplets, DreamHost, GoDaddy, HostGator, Network Solutions, OVHcloud, iPage
Four alternatives
Cloudways, DigitalOcean Droplets, Kamatera, Liquid WebTwo alternatives
Google Cloud, Microsoft AzureFour alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Azure, Google Cloud, VultrFour alternatives
DigitalOcean Droplets, Hetzner, Hostinger, IONOSMistral SmallDigitalOcean Dropletsno first choiceChangedDigitalOcean Dropletsagainst: Amazon Web Services, Google CloudDigitalOcean Dropletsno first choiceagainst: A2 Hosting, Bluehost, Cloudways, Contabo, DreamHost, GreenCloud VPS, HostGator, iPage
Three alternatives
Atlantic.Net, Liquid Web, ScalaHosting's Managed Cloud VPSFour alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Hetzner, Kamatera, VultrTwo alternatives
Atlantic.Net, HostwindsDeepSeek V4 FlashDigitalOcean DropletsAmazon Web ServicesChangedDigitalOcean Dropletsagainst: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft AzureDigitalOcean Dropletsagainst: Cloudways, ScalaHostingno first choiceagainst: Amazon Web Services, Azure, GCPagainst: A Small Orange, Arvixe, Bluehost, Domain.com, FatCow, GoDaddy, HostGator, HostMonster, Hostinger, IONOS, Just Host, Namecheap, Newfold Digital, Wix, iPage
Six alternatives
Amazon Web Services, Azure, Cloudways, Liquid Web, SiteGround, VultrOne alternative
DigitalOcean DropletsFour alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Hetzner, Hostinger, VultrFour alternatives
Hetzner, Hostinger, IONOS, VultrFive alternatives
DigitalOcean Droplets, Hetzner, OVHcloud, Scaleway, VultrLlama 4 MaverickDigitalOcean DropletsDigitalOcean DropletsHeldno first choiceAtlantic.Netno first choiceagainst: Amazon Web Services, Bluehost, GoDaddy, Google Cloud, HostGator
Five alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Atlantic.Net, Liquid Web, ScalaHosting's Managed Cloud VPSThree alternatives
Hostinger, IONOS, ScalaHostingQwen 3.7 FlashDigitalOcean DropletsDigitalOcean DropletsHeldDigitalOcean Droplets, Vultragainst: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft AzureDigitalOcean Dropletsagainst: Amazon Web ServicesAkamai Connected Cloud, DigitalOcean Droplets, Hetzner, Vultragainst: Amazon Web Services, Azure, Google Cloudagainst: Amazon Web Services, Bluehost, CrazyDomains, GoDaddy, Google Cloud, HostGator, Microsoft Azure, Namecheap, OVHcloud, Squarespace, Wix
Three alternatives
Amazon Web Services, Azure, CloudwaysThree alternatives
AWS Lightsail, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft AzureThree alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Cloudways, HostingerThree alternatives
Heroku, Hetzner, VercelKimi K2DigitalOcean Droplets, RenderDigitalOcean Droplets, VultrChangedagainst: Amazon Web ServicesDigitalOcean Droplets, Hetzneragainst: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft AzureHetzneragainst: Hostingerno first choiceagainst: Amazon Web Services, Azure, GCPagainst: Bluehost, CloudCone, Contabo, HostGator, Hosting.com, Hostway, SiteGround, Utho, WP Engine
Five alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, VultrTwo alternatives
Cloudways, Microsoft AzureTwo alternatives
Cloudways, ScalaHostingThree alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, DigitalOcean Droplets, VultrNine alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, DigitalOcean Droplets, Fly.io, Heroku, Hetzner, Railway, Render, Vercel, VultrGLM 4.7 FlashXDigitalOcean Dropletsagainst: Atlantic.Net, HostingB2BMicrosoft AzureChangedDigitalOcean Dropletsagainst: Akamai Connected Cloud, HostwindsDigitalOcean Dropletsno first choiceagainst: Aeza International, Bluehost, ColoCrossing, GreenCloud VPS, IONOS
Three alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Hostwinds, VultrThree alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Amazon Web Services, DigitalOcean DropletsFive alternatives
Amazon Web Services, Cloudways, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, VultrSix alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Azure, Google Cloud, Hetzner, VultrMiniMax M2.5Atlantic.NetMicrosoft AzureChangedDigitalOcean DropletsHetzneragainst: Contabo, Hostingerno first choiceagainst: Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Cloudserver.net, GreenCloud VPS, Rackspace Technology, Wasabi
Four alternatives
DreamHost, IONOS, Kamatera, Liquid WebThree alternatives
Amazon Web Services, DigitalOcean Droplets, Google CloudFour alternatives
Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, VultrThree alternatives
CloudAccess.net, DigitalOcean Droplets, KamateraGPT-6 LunaGoogle Cloud RunAmazon Web ServicesChangedRenderagainst: Fly.ioDigitalOcean Dropletsno first choiceagainst: Amazon Web Services, Azure, DigitalOcean Droplets, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Three alternatives
Amazon Web Services, Azure App Service, LightsailTwo alternatives
Azure, Google CloudFive alternatives
Amazon Web Services, DigitalOcean Droplets, Google Cloud, Lightsail, Microsoft AzureTwo alternatives
AWS Lightsail, Google Cloud RunMuse Glimmer 30BDigitalOcean DropletsDigitalOcean DropletsHeldCloudflare Pages, DigitalOcean Droplets, Vercelagainst: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft AzureDigitalOcean Droplets, Hostinger Cloud Startupno first choiceagainst: Amazon Web Services, CloudCone, Google Cloud, Liquid Web, Rackspace Technology, SiteGround, Vultr
Seven alternatives
Amazon Web Services, Atlantic.Net, Google Cloud, Liquid Web, Microsoft Azure, ScalaHosting, SiteGroundOne alternative
Amazon Web ServicesSix alternatives
Akamai Connected Cloud, Atlantic.Net, Liquid Web, Netlify, SiteGround, VultrFour alternatives
Atlantic.Net, Hetzner, OVHcloud, VultrBold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency.
Eighty-four rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct recommendation | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-11-01 14:16 | yes | 10 | 8 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-11-01 13:14 | yes | 4 | 5 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.6-flash (asked for gemini-3.5-flash; the API answered as this version) | 2026-11-01 12:01 | no | 0 | 13 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-11-01 09:24 | yes | 10 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.20-non-reasoning via xai | 2026-11-01 19:05 | yes | 5 | 12 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-11-01 16:47 | yes | 5 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-11-01 16:23 | yes | 17 | 27 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-11-01 16:52 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-11-01 09:27 | no | 0 | 24 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-11-01 19:22 | no | 0 | 40 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-11-01 12:46 | yes | 20 | 38 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-11-01 10:36 | yes | 8 | 30 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-11-01 11:44 | yes | 3 | 12 s |
| Direct recommendation | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-11-01 15:52 | yes | 13 | 20 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-11-01 17:53 | no | 0 | 5 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-11-01 11:08 | yes | 3 | 6 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.6-flash (asked for gemini-3.5-flash; the API answered as this version) | 2026-11-01 19:10 | no | 0 | 14 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-11-01 16:15 | yes | 10 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.20-non-reasoning via xai | 2026-11-01 17:40 | yes | 5 | 8 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-11-01 18:29 | no | 0 | 1 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-11-01 15:43 | yes | 25 | 44 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-11-01 18:06 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-11-01 19:25 | no | 0 | 27 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-11-01 13:00 | yes | 15 | 51 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-11-01 16:04 | yes | 10 | 31 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-11-01 19:02 | no | 0 | 10 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-11-01 10:19 | yes | 3 | 10 s |
| Paraphrase | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-11-01 11:26 | yes | 11 | 15 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-11-01 09:16 | yes | 17 | 10 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-11-01 13:05 | yes | 2 | 5 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.6-flash (asked for gemini-3.5-flash; the API answered as this version) | 2026-11-01 12:34 | no | 0 | 18 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-11-01 17:49 | yes | 10 | 5 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.20-non-reasoning via xai | 2026-11-01 19:32 | yes | 10 | 20 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-11-01 11:44 | yes | 10 | 11 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-11-01 14:13 | yes | 25 | 41 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-11-01 11:03 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-11-01 19:24 | yes | 20 | 62 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-11-01 12:50 | yes | 10 | 43 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-11-01 17:37 | yes | 20 | 19 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-11-01 15:58 | yes | 10 | 30 s |
| Comparative | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-11-01 18:03 | yes | 6 | 21 s |
| Comparative | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-11-01 10:15 | yes | 13 | 31 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-11-01 12:57 | no | 0 | 5 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-11-01 10:42 | yes | 4 | 4 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.6-flash (asked for gemini-3.5-flash; the API answered as this version) | 2026-11-01 13:57 | no | 0 | 14 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-11-01 18:49 | yes | 10 | 3 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.20-non-reasoning via xai | 2026-11-01 16:02 | yes | 5 | 12 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-11-01 13:07 | yes | 5 | 5 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-11-01 09:33 | yes | 20 | 20 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-11-01 10:36 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-11-01 10:43 | no | 0 | 26 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-11-01 18:21 | yes | 10 | 48 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-11-01 15:41 | yes | 14 | 25 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-11-01 12:27 | yes | 5 | 28 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-11-01 15:52 | yes | 3 | 11 s |
| Budget constrained | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-11-01 11:35 | yes | 15 | 16 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-11-01 12:15 | no | 0 | 5 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-11-01 14:54 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.6-flash (asked for gemini-3.5-flash; the API answered as this version) | 2026-11-01 09:03 | no | 0 | 14 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-11-01 13:48 | yes | 10 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.20-non-reasoning via xai | 2026-11-01 17:47 | yes | 5 | 14 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-11-01 18:16 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-11-01 09:25 | yes | 19 | 21 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-11-01 16:31 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-11-01 12:47 | no | 0 | 28 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-11-01 16:22 | no | 0 | 74 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-11-01 16:07 | yes | 9 | 41 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-11-01 09:38 | no | 0 | 11 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-11-01 11:57 | yes | 4 | 13 s |
| Scale constrained | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-11-01 10:49 | yes | 12 | 17 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-11-01 17:10 | yes | 18 | 8 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-11-01 17:43 | no | 0 | 4 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.6-flash (asked for gemini-3.5-flash; the API answered as this version) | 2026-11-01 15:02 | yes | 14 | 25 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-11-01 17:45 | yes | 10 | 4 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.20-non-reasoning via xai | 2026-11-01 14:20 | yes | 12 | 15 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-11-01 08:37 | yes | 13 | 9 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-11-01 08:59 | yes | 25 | 29 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-11-01 09:35 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-11-01 15:45 | no | 0 | 33 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-11-01 10:39 | yes | 15 | 22 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-11-01 15:47 | yes | 24 | 35 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-11-01 09:40 | yes | 20 | 63 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-11-01 12:05 | yes | 4 | 17 s |
| Negative framing | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-11-01 15:45 | yes | 14 | 21 s |
Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
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Category-scoped readings
AWS read as Amazon Web Services
AWS (Amazon Web Services) read as Amazon Web Services
Akamai (Linode) read as Akamai Connected Cloud
Akamai/Linode read as Akamai Connected Cloud
DigitalOcean read as DigitalOcean Droplets
InMotion read as InMotion Hosting
Linode read as Akamai Connected Cloud
Linode (Akamai Cloud) read as Akamai Connected Cloud
Linode (Akamai) read as Akamai Connected Cloud
Linode (now Akamai Cloud Computing) read as Akamai Connected Cloud
Linode (now Akamai) read as Akamai Connected Cloud
Linode (now part of Akamai) read as Akamai Connected Cloud
Linode/Akamai read as Akamai Connected Cloud
Oracle Cloud read as Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Unresolved, counted raw
Aeza International
CloudAccess.net
Cloudserver.net
CrazyDomains
DreamHost cloud hosting
Elastic Beanstalk
Google Cloud Free Tier
GreenGeeks
Hosting-Cloud
Hostinger Cloud Startup
Hostway
Microsoft Azure Free Tier
One.com
Utho
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.