What is Cloudways?
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform. You pick a cloud provider (DigitalOcean, AWS, GCP, Linode, Vultr) and Cloudways handles the OS, security, scaling, backups. Pay monthly, no DevOps required.
Pricing
Starts at $14/month (1 GB RAM DigitalOcean). Premium options up to $1,000+/mo for AWS/GCP. Add-ons: backups +$0.033/GB, advanced monitoring +$2/server.
Best For
- Agencies running 5-20 client WordPress sites
- SaaS startups needing managed scaling without dedicated DevOps
- Anyone tired of cPanel-style hosting limits
Not For
- Single low-traffic site (cheaper alternatives like Hostinger or shared hosting)
- Custom containers/Docker setups (use raw VPS)
- Bots and automation services (use our Cloud Hosting instead)
Cloudways vs. Raw VPS
Raw VPS (e.g. our comparison): cheaper ($5-10/mo) but you handle everything. Cloudways: 2-3× more expensive but server is hands-off — security patches, scaling, monitoring all done for you.