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The most visible cloud hosting platforms, October 2026

October 2026 · 12 questions asked in English, worldwide · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 96 answers read

Leader

AWS

91%of answers name it

Most cited source

youtube.com

34citations

From Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews

Where engines disagree most

Microsoft Azure

1/4engines put it in their top three

Top three on ChatGPT, not on Google AI Mode, Gemini and Google AI Overviews

Brands

Rank Brand Rank change Heralded Score Score trend Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
11 Cloudflare US New entry 19 , range 7–34
19
  • : score 19 · #11
 16% 4% First reading
12 Liquid Web US New entry 10 , range 5–32
10
  • : score 10 · #12
 9% 6% First reading
13 Render US New entry 9 , range 5–32
9
  • : score 9 · #13
 9% 6% None First reading
14 OVHcloud FR New entry 8 , range 4–31
8
  • : score 8 · #14
 8% 5% First reading
15 Oracle Cloud US New entry 6 , range 3–22
6
  • : score 6 · #15
 8% 1% First reading
16 Heroku US New entry 6 , range 3–21
6
  • : score 6 · #16
 7% 1% None First reading
17 Railway US New entry 5 , range 2–21
5
  • : score 5 · #17
 5% 3% None First reading
18 Fly.io US New entry 5 , range 2–21
5
  • : score 5 · #18
 6% 2% None First reading
19 Scaleway FR New entry 5 , range 2–19
5
  • : score 5 · #19
 4% 3% None First reading
20 Bluehost US New entry 5 , range 2–19
5
  • : score 5 · #20
 4% 3% None First reading

“=” marks brands whose score ranges overlap, so the test cannot separate them. Every brand named in at least three answers is ranked. By engine has one dot per engine (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode), darker the more often it names the brand.

This month's moves

First reading. No comparable previous month yet.

Biggest risers

No clear rise.

Biggest fallers

No clear fall.

Drop-outs

No drop-outs.

Most cited sources

Rank Source Type Cited in Engines Pages cited Brands its pages mention
11Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
12Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
13Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
14 cnet.com Media 6.3% 3 of 4 1 4
15 hetzner.com Brand site 5.2% 2 of 4 6 0
16 devopsschool.com Reference 5.2% 1 of 4 1 2
17Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
18Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
19 bso.co Vendor site 4.2% 2 of 4 1 0
20Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.

The questions, and who wins each

QuestionLanguageWins it
cloud hosting with the best support English Cloudways
which cloud hosting do experts recommend English AWS and DigitalOcean, tied

Each engine's top three

Method

Each month Heralded asks every engine the same buyer questions, twice each, and reads every answer. An answer counts 0 for a brand it leaves out, 50 for a brand it names and 100 for a brand it recommends, and the Heralded Score is built from those. A brand named in at least three answers gets a score and a place.

How the leaderboards are measured