Layershift Limited
Layershift Limited is a UK-based, founder-owned managed cloud hosting provider offering Managed VPS, Agency Optimised VPS, Enscale PaaS, EhloMail business email, and CDN/security services direct to SMBs, digital agencies, and developers across UK, USA, and Singapore data centres.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersManchester, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Layershift Limited does
Layershift Limited is a privately held, founder-owned managed cloud hosting provider incorporated in England and Wales (company number 6036217) and headquartered in Manchester, UK. Founded in 2001 by Andrew Cranson and Damien Ransome, the company sells a portfolio of premium managed hosting, platform, and email services direct-to-consumer through its website (www.layershift.com), with no channel partners or third-party marketplaces. The core product line is anchored by Fully Managed VPS and Agency Optimised VPS hosting (subscription tiers from approximately $99–$309/month), complemented by Enscale PaaS (a proprietary platform-as-a-service, formerly branded Jelastic, with usage-based hourly billing), High Traffic WordPress cluster hosting, EhloMail GDPR-compliant business email, and CDN/WAF/DDoS protection services. The technology stack combines proprietary platforms (Enscale, EhloMail) with integrated third-party components (CloudLinux OS, LiteSpeed, Plesk, Imunify360, BitNinja), hosted across ISO 27001 certified data centres in Manchester (Equinix, since 2023), Chicago, Phoenix, and Singapore.
Revenue is generated primarily through subscription billing cycles (monthly and annual, with a 5% annual discount) across VPS, Agency, EhloMail, CDN, domain, and SSL product lines, supplemented by usage-based pay-as-you-go billing on the Enscale PaaS platform measured in cloudlet units. The customer base is split across three primary segments: SMBs seeking managed hosting without in-house DevOps expertise, digital agencies managing multiple client websites, and developers/DevOps teams using Enscale for polyglot application deployment. Secondary segments include high-traffic WordPress and e-commerce operators. The company employs 11–50 staff across its Manchester headquarters and Cluj-Napoca regional office (Layershift Technologies SRL), operates with no external venture or private equity investment, and has remained profitable and continuously operating for over two decades.
Layershift Limited firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Layershift Limited
- Legal name
- Layershift Limited
- Website
- https://layershift.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Layershift Limited is a UK-based, founder-owned managed cloud hosting provider offering Managed VPS, Agency Optimised VPS, Enscale PaaS, EhloMail business email, and CDN/security services direct to SMBs, digital agencies, and developers across UK, USA, and Singapore data centres.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Layershift Limited industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Managed Cloud Hosting
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cloud & Infrastructure Support (Servers, Storage, Virtualization) (BPAAACAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Private Cloud Platforms (On‑Prem Cloud Stacks) (HDABABAA), Cloud Security Services (Posture Mgmt, Workload Protection) (BPAKAHAK)
Keywords
Where Layershift Limited is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Manchester
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices5 records
Markets served
Layershift Limited business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Managed VPS Hosting: Fully managed virtual private server hosting with tiered subscription plans (VPS 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and custom configurations up to 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, 32 CPU cores). Includes Plesk control panel, CloudLinux OS, LiteSpeed, managed backups, monitoring, security patching, and 24/7 support. Sold on monthly or annual billing cycles with 5% annual discount. Primary revenue driver.
- Agency Optimised VPS Hosting: Premium WordPress-optimized VPS plans for web agencies hosting client websites. Four tiers (Mighty One, Startup, Grow, Scale) with monthly visit allowances, SSD storage, RAM, and CPU resources. Includes Imunify360, LiteSpeed, CloudLinux, WordPress staging, free migrations. Sold on monthly or annual billing.
- Enscale PaaS: Platform-as-a-Service with usage-based (pay-as-you-go) pricing calculated hourly. Customers pay only for resources consumed (cloudlets: 128 MiB RAM, 400 MHz CPU). Automatic discounts applied to reserved resources. 14-day free trial available. Additional revenue stream from add-ons such as BitNinja security.
- EhloMail Business Email: GDPR-compliant business email hosting sold as a subscription service with three tiers (Lite $3.25/mo, Standard $5.15/mo, Professional $11.55/mo) on monthly or annual billing. Includes collaboration tools, spam/virus filtering, document storage, and chat.
- Domain Registration and Transfer: Domain name registration and transfer services across a wide range of TLDs (.com, .io, .co.uk, .uk, .rocks, .xyz, .pro, .cloud, etc.). Revenue from registration and renewal fees.
- SSL Certificates: Managed SSL certificate sales and installation including Basic single-domain ($49.95/year), Wildcard ($139.00/year), Multi-domain (from $42.80/year per domain), and Premium EV (from $164.00/year). Free installation and reissues for certificates hosted with Layershift.
- CDN/WAF/DDoS Protection: Content delivery network services sold as subscription tiers (Starter $19.25/mo, Growth $62.80/mo, Volume $114.05/mo) with optional WAF and DDoS protection add-ons. Priced per traffic volume (1,000–10,000 GB) and domain count.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | VPS 4GB — $99.02/month (4GB RAM, 4 CPU, 50GB SSD, Plesk Web Admin) |
| Subscription | Monthly | VPS 8GB — $134.52/month (8GB RAM, 75GB SSD, Plesk Web Pro) |
| Subscription | Monthly | VPS 16GB — $224.02/month (16GB RAM, 8 CPU, 200GB SSD) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Agency VPS Mighty One — $159/month (457,165 monthly visits, 100GB SSD, 6 CPU) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Agency VPS Startup — $199/month (1,285,040 monthly visits, 150GB SSD, 12GB RAM) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Agency VPS Grow — $259/month (2,837,411 monthly visits, 250GB SSD, 20GB RAM, 10 CPU) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Agency VPS Scale — $309/month (4,204,191 monthly visits, 350GB SSD, 32GB RAM, 16 CPU) |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Enscale PaaS — Usage-based (hourly cloudlet pricing, 128 MiB RAM / 400 MHz per cloudlet) |
| Subscription | Monthly | EhloMail Lite — $3.25/month (5GB storage, calendar) |
| Subscription | Monthly | EhloMail Standard — $5.15/month (30GB storage, advanced search, group collaboration, 2FA) |
| Subscription | Monthly | EhloMail Professional — $11.55/month (50GB storage, ActiveSync, custom retention policies) |
| Subscription | Monthly | CDN Starter — $19.25/month (1,000GB traffic, up to 3 domains, fully managed) |
| Subscription | Monthly | CDN Growth — $62.80/month (5,000GB traffic, up to 30 domains) |
| Subscription | Monthly | CDN Volume — $114.05/month (10,000GB traffic, unlimited domains) |
| Subscription | Annual | SSL Basic Single-Domain — $49.95/year |
| Subscription | Annual | SSL Wildcard — $139.00/year |
| Subscription | Annual | SSL Multi-Domain — from $42.80/year per domain |
| Subscription | Annual | SSL Premium EV — from $164.00/year |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
Layershift Limited product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Layershift Limited provides premium managed cloud hosting solutions, anchored by Fully Managed VPS, Agency Optimised VPS, and the Enscale Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). The portfolio extends into High Traffic WordPress cluster hosting, EhloMail GDPR-compliant business email, CDN/WAF/DDoS protection, domain registration/transfer, and SSL certificates — all operated from ISO 27001 certified data centres in the UK, USA, and Singapore with 24/7 expert support and proactive monitoring.
Product overview
Layershift Limited offers a comprehensive portfolio of premium managed cloud hosting solutions for digital agencies and application developers. The core product lineup is anchored by Managed VPS and Agency Optimised VPS hosting, complemented by Enscale PaaS as the scalable platform-as-a-service layer for DevOps workflows. High Traffic WordPress extends Enscale capabilities specifically for scalable WordPress clusters, while EhloMail provides GDPR-compliant business email hosting. Security is addressed through CDN/WAF/DDoS Protection services and security add-ons including BitNinja for Enscale and Imunify360 for VPS servers. Domain services (registration and transfer) and SSL certificates round out the portfolio, which operates from ISO 27001 certified data centres in the UK, USA, and Singapore.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Enscale: Scalable PaaS cloud hosting platform for DevOps, previously known as Jelastic until 2023
- EhloMail
Products and services
- Managed VPS
- Agency Optimised VPS
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 6x faster static content delivery compared to Apache
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Layershift Limited
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Layershift Limited technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration11 records
AI capability3 records
Feature12 records
Layershift Limited partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Equinix (UK Data Centre)coreIn 2023, Layershift moved its UK servers from Teledata to Equinix's brand new purpose-built facility in Manchester. The Equinix MH2 data centre offers more connectivity, greater scalability, improved power efficiency, and reduced environmental impact through partnership with renewable energy suppliers. This is a core infrastructure partnership critical to Layershift's UK service delivery.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves21 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Layershift Limited competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- A2 Hosting: A2 Hosting offers managed shared, VPS, reseller, and managed WordPress hosting with an emphasis on speed and developer-friendly features (LiteSpeed, Turbo servers). Directly comparable to Layershift's Managed VPS and Agency Optimised VPS product lines targeting SMBs and developers.
- Cloudways: Cloudways (a DigitalOcean company) is a managed cloud hosting platform offering VPS, WordPress, and application hosting on top of multiple cloud providers. Closely matches Layershift's Managed VPS, Agency Optimised VPS, and High Traffic WordPress offerings, targeting the same SMB and digital agency segment with a self-service model and 24/7 support.
- WP Engine: WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting platform serving SMBs, agencies, and enterprise customers with high-traffic WordPress clusters, staging environments, and developer tooling. Directly comparable to Layershift's High Traffic WordPress product targeting agencies and high-traffic WordPress sites.
- DigitalOcean: DigitalOcean provides cloud infrastructure (droplets/VPS, Kubernetes, App Platform PaaS, managed databases) targeted at developers, SMBs, and startups. Comparable to Layershift's VPS and Enscale PaaS offerings with usage-based pricing, multi-region data centers, and developer-friendly tooling.
- Linode (Akamai): Linode, now part of Akamai, is a cloud infrastructure provider offering VPS, dedicated servers, object storage, and managed Kubernetes. Like Layershift, it targets developers and SMBs with simple pricing and global data center presence, making it a close comparison for VPS and PaaS workloads.
- Vultr: Vultr offers cloud compute (VPS, dedicated servers, bare metal), PaaS-style application deployment, and storage across 32+ global locations. Comparable to Layershift's VPS and Enscale PaaS pricing model and developer focus, with a similar self-service global infrastructure positioning.
- SiteGround: SiteGround is a managed web hosting provider offering shared, VPS, and managed WordPress hosting with proprietary performance and security tooling. Like Layershift, it emphasizes managed service, agency-friendly features, and a tiered self-service model, and operates from European roots with global data center presence.
Broad incumbents
- OVHcloud: OVHcloud is a large European cloud infrastructure provider offering VPS, dedicated servers, private cloud, and PaaS services globally. Broader incumbent competitor with overlapping product lines to Layershift, particularly in the European SMB hosting market where OVHcloud's scale and pricing create ongoing pressure.
- Hetzner: Hetzner is a German-based hosting provider offering VPS, dedicated servers, and cloud services with strong price-performance across European data centers. Overlaps significantly with Layershift's Managed VPS offering on cost-competitive European hosting, though Hetzner's model leans more unmanaged.
Others
- Equinix (Metal): Equinix is Layershift's UK data center infrastructure partner (2023 migration) and also operates Equinix Metal, a bare-metal cloud service for developers and enterprises. While not a direct competitor, Equinix Metal overlaps in developer-focused cloud infrastructure and provides ecosystem context for Layershift's positioning against bare-metal providers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Layershift Limited social profiles
Digital presenceLayershift Limited compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Layershift Limited financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Layershift Limited leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Layershift Limited subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Layershift Limited funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Layershift Limited M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Layershift Limited
What does Layershift Limited do?
Layershift Limited provides premium managed cloud hosting solutions, anchored by Fully Managed VPS, Agency Optimised VPS, and the Enscale Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). The portfolio extends into High Traffic WordPress cluster hosting, EhloMail GDPR-compliant business email, CDN/WAF/DDoS protection, domain registration/transfer, and SSL certificates — all operated from ISO 27001 certified data centres in the UK, USA, and Singapore with 24/7 expert support and proactive monitoring.
Is Layershift Limited a public or private company?
Layershift Limited is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Layershift Limited founded?
Layershift Limited was founded in 2001. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Layershift Limited based?
Layershift Limited is headquartered in Manchester, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Layershift Limited make money?
Seven revenue lines are on record. Managed VPS Hosting is the primary driver. The others are agency Optimised VPS Hosting, enscale PaaS, ehloMail Business Email, domain Registration and Transfer, SSL Certificates and CDN/WAF/DDoS Protection.
Who are Layershift Limited's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are A2 Hosting, Cloudways, WP Engine, DigitalOcean, Linode (Akamai), Vultr and SiteGround. Broad incumbents are OVHcloud and Hetzner. Equinix (Metal) is listed as an others.
Does Layershift Limited have an API?
No public API is recorded for Layershift Limited.
What industry is Layershift Limited in?
Layershift Limited's product category is Managed Cloud Hosting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAAACAE, Cloud & Infrastructure Support (Servers, Storage, Virtualization), with a secondary code of HDABABAA, Private Cloud Platforms (On‑Prem Cloud Stacks). Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7370.