Cloudways
Cloud platform as a service (PaaS) software
WebOps platforms
Cloud web hosting provider
Managed hosting providers
Virtual private servers (VPS) providers
WordPress hosting providers
Web hosting providers
Private cloud software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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What is Cloudways
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that provisions and operates web application servers on top of third-party infrastructure providers. It targets developers, agencies, and SMBs that need managed deployments for PHP applications and WordPress without managing the underlying OS and stack. The service provides a control panel for server provisioning, application management, backups, monitoring, security controls, and staging workflows. Cloudways sits between customers and the underlying cloud provider, abstracting infrastructure operations while exposing common WebOps tasks.
Multi-cloud infrastructure choice
Cloudways lets customers deploy on multiple underlying cloud infrastructure providers from a single management layer. This supports use cases where teams want to standardize operations while selecting regions, price points, or provider-specific characteristics. It also reduces the need to learn multiple provider consoles for common web hosting tasks.
WebOps-focused management console
The platform centralizes routine operations such as provisioning, SSL/TLS setup, backups, monitoring, scaling options, and environment management. It is designed for teams running multiple sites or client projects that need repeatable workflows. The console reduces the amount of direct server administration required compared with unmanaged VPS hosting.
WordPress and PHP app support
Cloudways supports WordPress and common PHP application stacks with tooling for deployment and site operations. Features such as staging environments and managed updates/maintenance options (where enabled) align with typical WordPress lifecycle needs. This makes it suitable for agencies and site owners who want managed hosting controls without moving to a fully proprietary site platform.
Not a full PaaS runtime
Cloudways focuses on managed servers for web applications rather than providing a fully managed application runtime with event-driven functions or deep platform services. Teams building cloud-native architectures may still need separate services for queues, serverless compute, and managed data services. This can increase architectural complexity compared with platforms centered on application-level abstractions.
Indirect control of infrastructure
Because Cloudways operates as an intermediary, customers do not manage the underlying cloud account directly in the same way as using the infrastructure provider’s native console. Some advanced networking, IAM, and provider-specific features may be limited or require workarounds. This can be a constraint for organizations with strict governance or custom infrastructure requirements.
Cost and support dependencies
Pricing includes a management layer on top of the underlying infrastructure costs, which may be higher than running equivalent workloads on an unmanaged VPS. Operational outcomes such as incident handling and maintenance depend on the vendor’s support processes and platform policies. Organizations that require full control over patching schedules and change management may prefer self-managed approaches.
Plan & Pricing
Usage-based (Cloudways Flexible - pay-as-you-go per server by cloud provider): Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go (per server; hourly and monthly billing shown). Examples from Cloudways official pricing page (DigitalOcean examples shown on vendor site):
- Micro – $11 per month ($0.0357 hourly): 2GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 50GB Storage, 2TB Transfer.
- Medium – $88 per month ($0.1310 hourly): 8GB RAM, 4 vCPU, 160GB Storage, 5TB Transfer.
- 8XL – $342 per month ($1.0848 hourly): 128GB RAM, 24 vCPU, 2560GB Storage, 11TB Transfer.
Notes: Prices vary by chosen underlying cloud provider (DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, Linode) and by selected server size/region. Cloudways displays both hourly and monthly rates and describes a 3-day free trial for Flexible.
Tiered subscription (Cloudways Autonomous – managed WordPress autoscaling plans):
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Growth | $100 per month | 1 website, 1 baseline autoscale server, 150 GB bandwidth, 20 GB disk, unmetered visits, 100 PHP workers/server; additional charges: Disk $1/GB, Bandwidth $0.04/GB, Autoscaling $0.07/hr/server beyond baseline. |
| Scale | $200 per month | 1 website, 2 baseline autoscale servers, 250 GB bandwidth, 50 GB disk, unmetered visits, 100 PHP workers/server; additional charges: Disk $1/GB, Bandwidth $0.04/GB, Autoscaling $0.10/hr/server beyond baseline. |
| Plus | $400 per month | 1 website, 3 baseline autoscale servers, 1000 GB bandwidth, 100 GB disk, unmetered visits, 100 PHP workers/server; additional charges: Disk $1/GB, Bandwidth $0.04/GB, Autoscaling $0.12/hr/server beyond baseline. |
Optional add-ons (listed on vendor pricing page):
- Enterprise Cloudflare CDN — starts at $4.99/domain/month.
- Cloudways SafeUpdates — starts at $3/app/month.
- Malware Protection — starts at $4/app/month.
- Rackspace Email — $1/mailbox/month.
- Advanced Support Addon — $100/month.
- DNS Made Easy — $0.50/month/domain.
(All items above taken directly from Cloudways official pricing page.)
Seller details
DigitalOcean Holdings, Inc.
New York, NY, USA
2011
Public
https://www.digitalocean.com/
https://x.com/digitalocean
https://www.linkedin.com/company/digitalocean/
