Relatively speaking, cloud mining is the lowest cost.
Lowest cost is definitely a huge positive but if you don't actually make money in the end anyway, what's the point? Cloud mining services are either a scam, or very unprofitable for the service subscriber.
This is absolutely true, since if the person that offers the cloud mining would make the rent less than the return they could simply mine for themselves. If you dont have an advantage over the rest of the world, like free electricity you can never win by mining.