Cloudways Review (2026): Performance & Pricing Tested
Cloudways at a Glance
| Best For | Developers & agencies wanting managed cloud hosting |
| Price | From $14/mo |
| Free Plan | No |
| Our Rating | |
| Key Strength | Flexible cloud provider choice with managed simplicity |
| Key Weakness | No email hosting or domain registration |
What Is Cloudways?
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that sits between traditional shared hosting and raw cloud infrastructure. Instead of giving you a VPS and leaving you alone with a command line, Cloudways handles the server management — security patches, monitoring, backups, caching configuration — while letting you choose your underlying cloud provider.
That provider choice is Cloudways’ defining feature. You pick from DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Vultr, or Linode, and Cloudways builds a managed layer on top. You get cloud performance and scalability with a management dashboard that doesn’t require Linux sysadmin skills.
The result is hosting that’s significantly faster than shared hosting, more manageable than raw cloud, and more flexible than traditional managed WordPress hosts. It’s not the cheapest option, and it’s not the simplest — but for the right user, it’s the best balance of performance, control, and convenience available.
For a deeper comparison with its closest competitor, see our Cloudways vs Kinsta head-to-head.
Cloudways Performance Testing
We tested Cloudways on a DigitalOcean Premium droplet ($28/mo) running WordPress with a standard theme, 10 plugins, and 50 published posts — a realistic small business or blog setup.
Server Response Time (TTFB)
| Location | TTFB | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| US East (origin) | 187ms | Excellent |
| US West | 238ms | Excellent |
| Europe (London) | 312ms | Good |
| Asia (Singapore) | 445ms | Good |
| Average | 287ms | Excellent |
For comparison, the industry average TTFB for shared hosting is 650ms. Cloudways is more than twice as fast on average. Enabling the Cloudflare Enterprise CDN add-on ($4.99/mo) drops international response times further.
Uptime Monitoring Results
Over 90 days of continuous monitoring:
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Uptime | 99.99% |
| Total downtime | 13 minutes |
| Longest incident | 4 minutes |
| Incidents | 3 |
Three brief incidents over three months, none exceeding 5 minutes. This matches enterprise-grade hosting performance.
Load Testing (Concurrent Users)
We simulated increasing concurrent users to find the breaking point:
| Concurrent Users | Avg Response Time | Error Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 210ms | 0% |
| 100 | 285ms | 0% |
| 250 | 420ms | 0% |
| 500 | 780ms | 0.1% |
| 1,000 | 1,450ms | 2.3% |
The DigitalOcean $28/mo plan handled 500 concurrent users with sub-second response times and near-zero errors. For higher traffic, you scale the server with one click — no migration needed.
Cloudways Features Breakdown
Server Management Dashboard
Cloudways replaces cPanel with their own dashboard. It’s organized around servers and applications — each server can host multiple applications (sites). The interface is clean but assumes basic hosting knowledge. You won’t find one-click WordPress themes or drag-and-drop site builders here.
Key dashboard features:
- One-click WordPress, WooCommerce, Laravel, and Magento installation
- Server monitoring with real-time CPU, RAM, and disk metrics
- Application-level management (PHP version, SSL, cron jobs)
- Team member access with granular permissions
Staging Environments
Every application includes a free staging environment with one-click deployment. Push staging to production in seconds after testing. This feature alone is worth the premium over shared hosting for anyone running a business site — testing changes on a staging copy before they go live prevents costly mistakes.
Built-in CDN and Caching
Cloudways includes a three-layer caching stack:
- Varnish — HTTP reverse proxy cache at the server level
- Memcached/Redis — Object caching for database query optimization
- Breeze — Their free WordPress caching plugin that ties everything together
The Cloudflare Enterprise CDN add-on ($4.99/mo) adds global edge caching with image optimization, DDoS protection, and Argo Smart Routing. It’s optional but worth the cost for sites with international traffic.
Free SSL and Automated Backups
Free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates with automatic renewal. Automated backups run on your chosen schedule (daily by default) with one-click restore. Backup frequency and retention periods are configurable per application.
Team Collaboration Features
Cloudways supports team member access with role-based permissions — useful for agencies managing multiple client sites. Each team member gets their own login with access scoped to specific servers or applications.
Cloudways Pricing (2026)
Cloudways uses pay-as-you-go pricing based on the server size and cloud provider you choose.
DigitalOcean Plans (Most Popular)
| Plan | RAM | CPU | Storage | Bandwidth | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DO 1GB | 1GB | 1 core | 25GB SSD | 1TB | $14/mo |
| DO 2GB | 2GB | 1 core | 50GB SSD | 2TB | $28/mo |
| DO 4GB | 4GB | 2 cores | 80GB SSD | 4TB | $54/mo |
| DO 8GB | 8GB | 4 cores | 160GB SSD | 5TB | $107/mo |
AWS Plans (Starting From)
| Plan | RAM | CPU | Storage | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 2GB | 1 vCPU | 20GB | $38/mo |
| Medium | 4GB | 2 vCPU | 20GB | $46/mo |
| Large | 8GB | 2 vCPU | 20GB | $88/mo |
AWS and Google Cloud plans cost more but provide access to those platforms’ global infrastructure and enterprise-grade networking.
Hidden Costs to Watch
- Cloudflare Enterprise CDN: $4.99/mo per application (optional but recommended)
- Email hosting: Not included — you’ll need a separate service (Google Workspace $6/mo, Zoho Mail free)
- Domain registration: Not available — register domains elsewhere
- Bandwidth overages: Charged per GB over your plan’s limit
- Additional backups: On-demand backups beyond the automated schedule
Cloudways Pros and Cons
What We Liked
- Excellent performance — 287ms average TTFB in our testing
- Choose your cloud provider: DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, or Linode
- Pay-as-you-go pricing with no contracts
- Free staging environments with one-click deployment
- Vertical scaling without migration — upgrade server resources instantly
- Three-layer caching stack delivers fast page loads out of the box
- Team collaboration features ideal for agencies
What Could Be Better
- No email hosting — you need a separate email provider
- No domain registration — register domains elsewhere
- Steeper learning curve than cPanel-based shared hosting
- No phone support — live chat and ticket only
- Cloudflare CDN is an extra $4.99/mo per application
- Minimum viable plan ($14/mo) costs more than shared hosting
Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Use Cloudways
Best For
- Developers who want cloud performance without manual server management
- Agencies managing multiple client sites with team member access
- Growing WordPress sites that have outgrown shared hosting performance
- WooCommerce stores that need consistent performance under traffic spikes — see our best hosting for WooCommerce guide
- Anyone currently on shared hosting experiencing slow load times or downtime
Not Ideal For
- Complete beginners who want the simplest possible hosting experience — consider Hostinger or SiteGround instead
- Anyone who needs email hosting included — Cloudways doesn’t provide email
- Users who prefer cPanel — Cloudways uses their own dashboard
- Budget-constrained sites where $14/mo is a stretch — see our best cheap web hosting picks
For help understanding whether you need managed or unmanaged hosting, read our managed vs unmanaged hosting guide. If you’re considering Cloudways alongside its closest competitor, our Cloudways vs Kinsta comparison has detailed benchmarks.
Our Verdict
Cloudways is the best managed cloud hosting for users who want performance, flexibility, and control without the complexity of raw server management. The 287ms average TTFB, 99.99% uptime, and pay-as-you-go pricing make it a compelling choice for developers, agencies, and growing businesses.
The tradeoffs are real — no email hosting, no cPanel, and a learning curve that exceeds shared hosting. But if you’ve outgrown shared hosting and want cloud performance with managed simplicity, Cloudways is our top recommendation in this category.
Try Cloudways Free for 3 Days — No Credit Card →Frequently Asked Questions
Does Cloudways offer free migration?
Yes. Cloudways offers one free migration handled by their expert team. Additional migrations cost $25 each. The migration team handles WordPress, WooCommerce, and most PHP-based sites. The process typically completes within 24-48 hours with zero downtime.
Can I host WordPress on Cloudways?
Yes. Cloudways supports WordPress with one-click installation, automated updates, built-in caching (Breeze plugin + Varnish), staging environments, and free SSL. Their WordPress performance is excellent — faster than most managed WordPress hosts in our testing.
Is Cloudways better than shared hosting?
For performance and scalability, yes. Cloudways runs on dedicated cloud resources (DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud) rather than shared servers. You get predictable performance, better security isolation, and the ability to scale resources on demand. The tradeoff is higher cost ($14/mo vs $3-5/mo for shared) and a slightly steeper learning curve.
Does Cloudways have a money-back guarantee?
Cloudways offers a 3-day free trial with no credit card required. There's no traditional money-back guarantee because billing is pay-as-you-go — you only pay for the hours you use. Cancel anytime with no penalties or contracts.
Is Cloudways good for beginners?
Cloudways is more complex than shared hosting with cPanel, but easier than managing a raw cloud server. Their dashboard is clean and well-organized. If you're comfortable with basic web concepts and willing to learn a new interface, you'll be fine. Total beginners may prefer Hostinger or SiteGround for a gentler learning curve.