Cloudways Pricing Overview

Setting up a new server and launching a new application is straightforward on Cloudways. Once logged in, creating a new application is almost intuitive. I could add several applications without referring to the Cloudways documentation or contacting the Support team. Before Cloudways, I had used other cloud control panels, including GridPane, RunCloud, and SprinupWP - this experience could have made it easier for me to use Cloudways. The comprehensive and well-written Cloudways docs make it a breeze to perform tasks like provisioning a new server, creating a new application, verifying SSL certificates, and connecting to applications via SSH or SFTP. The Cloudflare enterprise add-on is a feature that Cloudways introduced in March 2022. Few webs hosting providers offer Cloudflare enterprise, so when Cloudways announced their partnership with Cloudflare on this CDN add-on, I jumped on the opportunity to move several of our sites back to Cloudways. At least on paper, Cloudflare enterprise offered improved security and performance. The cost of this add-on is very affordable, from only $4.99 per domain per month (and substantially less with volume discounts). Unfortunately, our experience with this add-on has been less than anticipated. Page loading times using Cloudways and the Cloudflare enterprise add-on were comparable (similar) to RunCloud and GridPane, both subjectively and on testing using GTmetrix, Pingdom Website Speed Test, and WebPageTest site performance test. Likewise, our sites on Cloudways did not perform any better in the Core Web Vitals than other cloud control panels, namely RunCloud and GridPane.

There are quite a few things we dislike about Cloudways. We'll mention only a few below. As mentioned above, performance, though better than average (e.g., from shared web hosting), is not stellar and does not live up to the hype, even with the Cloudways Breeze cache plugin installed. We suspect much of the hype is because of the attractive commissions Cloudways offers its affiliates. We believe Cloudways' claim of having "the fastest hosting stack ever" is unsupported by our real-world experience and testing. While its competitors (GridPane and RunCloud) are now offering an OpenLiteSpeed option besides NGINX in their application stacks, Cloudways only offers its "ThunderStack," which includes an NGINX and Apache hybrid. OpenLiteSpeed has several advantages, including performance and the use of the excellent LiteSpeed Cache plugin. In this way, I get the impression that Cloudways is falling behind its competitors in terms of technology. Unless you select the most basic plans (1 GB RAM and 1-core processor), the cost of the service is expensive for what you get. Cloudways charges for its service more than you pay for the server, i.e., the total price you pay is more than double what it would cost you if you purchased the VPS from the provider directly. For example, the VPS we use is a Vultr High-Frequency server (2 GB RAM, one core) that costs $12 per month if purchased directly from Vultr. However, Cloudways charges $26 per month for the same VPS and its service. Likewise, for a Vultr HF VPS with 4 GB of RAM and two cores, Cloudways' price is $50 per month, while it will cost only $24 per month if bought directly from Vultr. One issue we encountered on the Cloudways platform was the inability to select the PHP version on an application basis. On Cloudways, you choose the PHP version at the server level, so all applications on any one server will have the same PHP version. Having only one PHP version for all applications was a problem. We have some WordPress sites with plugins that require PHP version 7.4. In contrast, other websites can run on the latest PHP version and therefore take advantage of the latter's performance gains. Further, the highest PHP version on the Cloudways platform is 8.0, whereas RunCloud already provides an option for PHP version 8.1. Since moving our WordPress sites to Cloudways, we have received significantly more comment spam messages while not experiencing any change in real visitor traffic (as opposed to bot traffic).

By moving some websites to Cloudways, we hoped to improve real visitor traffic, enhance user experience, and increase sales. Unfortunately, we have seen no difference in these metrics compared to other providers, such as GridPane and RunCloud.

Cloudways allows me to use top notch servers provided by high end professional tech companies without needing tech skills, developers, or a huge budget! I get my choice of providers and can choose how much horse power I need. And once I've chosen, I am only paying for performance, not for the number of applications I am running. Perfect balance!

I wish that their support documents were more poignant and written with stronger authority. It feels very much like, "this may work for you, it may not, good luck." It would be helpful if they were also easier to search. I don't feel like the serach on the site is very strong. Finally, the actual layout and font choices of their documents are difficult to read.

I am able to host as many sites as I need (live or test) without paying per site. I am only charged for the resources I use. This allows me to use my server as I see fit without having to pay per environment like other companies charge. Because I can easily scale up my resources, it makes it easier for me to manage all my sites without feeling like I will need to jump to a HUGE plan... just scale up incrimentally.

My favorite thing about Cloudways is the Flexible pricing plans. I have been blogging since 2018 and have used 3 different hosts. Cloudways has the best value for the price!

The only thing I can really think of is that it took me a little bit to get used to the platform. I had come from WPengine, and the setup is just very different.

Again with pricing, I like that I only get charged for what I use. I feel like WPengine and Cloudways have similar benefits and I like that they are not shared hosting, but I like that Cloudways gives sites just starting out a better price, and you can pay more as your site grows.

Pricing and ease of usage and migration of websites.

Dear Cloudways Support Team, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to express my deep dissatisfaction and concern regarding the charges incurred on my account for the AutoScale plan, despite not utilizing any resources during the specified billing period. My account is associated with the invoice number #4112485, and upon reviewing my billing statement, I was dismayed to discover that I have been consistently billed for the AutoScale plan, even though my website has not been utilizing any resources that warrant such charges. It is disconcerting that the process for unsubscribing or modifying the subscription plan is not clear, and this lack of transparency has resulted in unwarranted financial implications for me. As a customer, I expect to have a clear and straightforward method for managing my subscription and ensuring that I am only charged for the services I actively use. I kindly request that you investigate this matter promptly and provide a thorough explanation as to why I have been charged for the AutoScale plan despite the absence of resource utilization on my end. Additionally, I am seeking an immediate refund for the charges incurred erroneously. I value the services provided by Cloudways and have appreciated the convenience it has brought to my hosting needs. However, this billing discrepancy has eroded my confidence in the service, and I trust that you will address this matter promptly and with the utmost urgency. Please acknowledge the receipt of this complaint at your earliest convenience and provide a timeline for resolution. I believe in a swift and amicable resolution to this matter and look forward to your prompt response. Thank you for your attention to this pressing issue. Sincerely, Felipe Oliveira

It is not solving anything.

Cloudways is like the pay-as-you-go phone card version of the hosting service world. It is the easiest thing to cancel the account and you pay month by month, so it is a really risk free experience if you are hesitant about trying them out. I like how in the future in will be easy to scale the size of the server. I like how the price is as low as $126 per year, that you can fit around 4 websites for this price, that they provide free SSL, that their backend is very easy to use, that their support is very kind to beginners, that funds can be added to the Cloudways account once you are sure of them, so that you don't have to worry about paying the bill each month and that they have one-click installation of the WordPress or WooCommerce platforms. I feel secure with Cloudways, despite them being more expensive than a free hosting service. I also feel secure with Cloudways over big business names that cost more. I like how they aren't shady.

There is actually nothing I dislike about Cloudways. They are my go-to place and I use them for my business. I have been using them as my safe-place while looking for a free service somewhere, but free places seem really iffy compared to the peace of mind that Cloudways offers.

I have been able to solve the need for a good hosting service for my business website with Cloudways. It took me a long time to be able to find such an ideal and reliable hosting service. It is very beneficial to me that they have proven to be so trustworthy. Their low pricing and easy to use platform are also beneficial. I am a pre-paid phone card person, so I find the way they operate really desirable.

Cloudways support is TOTAL UTTER CRAP. Don't get me wrong, every agent you'll talk to is nice and professional, but if throw even a slightly difficult issue at them, prepare to get a run around for more than month. You will be totally ignored over and over and over. It feels like I've entered the twilight zone, where nobody at cloudways I talk to are real human beings, just a bunch of people doing their jobs. Don't be fooled by a few pagespeed and gtmetrix tests or a few dozen visits to your sites hosted with cloudways.... The consistency of website performance is ATROCIOUS!!!!!! it is all over the map. And to keep be websites running and running normally is so increddibly time consuming with cloudways. I've been trapped by the "prices are good" for too long, and am now literally going insane. Below is my review given afer one month It has been one month since I started moving sites over from my cpanel based provider to Cloudways. It isn't all positives. But the most important positive so far outweigh the negatives. The biggest positive is when I move client sites to Cloudways / Vultr they run A LOT faster in real-life experience (average improvement of 5 seconds... from 8 seconds with HUGE variation to 2.5 seconds and tight variation). These results are true across the country, where I ask my client to open both versions of their site in incognito and simply count to see how long it takes the site to open. Real life desktop and mobile experimentation. Can't beat it. The problem is... on Google's page speed test on pagespeed.web.dev, Cloudways performs A LOT worse. For the same desktop site cloudways scored a 69 on the Google speed test while my old provider got a 96, and for the same mobile site cloudways scored a 29, and my old provider a 69 (69 for mobile is actually very good compared to any and every website you can find). To give you proper perspective Amazon.com just scored a 56 on mobile performance on Google's page speed test, and a 69 on their desktop speed test. Amazon doesn't seem to care about optimizing their sites for Google's speed test, yet Amazon's pages open wicked fast. It has taken me two years to realize that the speed tests don't match reality at all. Not even close. I believed them like an idiot. With my old provider I would see 1.1 second desktop load times on GT Metrix and get a useless dopamine hit. I never checked the reality, where the site would sometimes take 1.1 seconds and sometimes 8 to 12 seconds to load on both desktop and mobile! the variation was unreal, and the average load time which I think once upon time was in the 3 to 4 second range has stretch to the 8 second range. DO NOT TRUST SPEED TESTS ALONE! However they are interesting for comparing the exact same website from the same location, but different locations, and for benchmarking. So I have to choose between the real customer experience or BS speed tests. I am going to go with the experience. That said I am still nervous that Google's official speed test meanst that by moving to Cloudways I will impact SEO negatively. I haven't devised a way to test whether this is the case, but plan to do so before I move all sites over. The real customer experience though is so compelling, that I am going to spend the time necessary to see if Cloudways can trick Google like it appears my other provider has. The biggest forseeable negative with Cloudways is... You lose a lot of control that you get through CPanel. For example, no more email forwarders, something I love! I also love that I can troubleshoot easily through php myadmin, and file manager when there are conflicting plugins. Soemthing I deal with a lot for WordPress. So I may just keep DNS records with a CPanel provider, and see if there is a way to get some of the functionality I like in CPanel for a minimal cost. while running the sites on Cloudways. Obviously I will lose some functionality. Last thing... Cloudways like most other providers does automatically back up sites and keep the backups for a week. If you check on your sites at least once a week, then you should be good.

See the what I like section, which has what I dislike. The jury is still out, and i could come back in and change my rating. Their support is something like I imagine hell would be like. It's hard to explain... but the only thing worse than somebody intentionally screwing you, is somebody who feels like they are being nice and say they'll help you, and then provide response after response after response after response after response after response that isn't helpful. Spending hours and literally getting nowhere.

they appeared to be solving a pain point for me, but it has been hell. They have literally kicked tha shit out of me. I'm so worn out trying to make it work because I think I can ge the best while paying less than a tenth what top tier host companies offer. So I'm partly to blame. I guess expected too much for what clouways charges.

As a software engineering undergraduate, I have used many web hosting providers. Most of them have given me a satisfying experience. But Cloudways was my final destination so far. Their interface is very easy to understand and they give lots of awesome features for a reasonable price. Using Cloudways by using the infrastructure provider Vultr is more reliable. They provide a very good security mechanism and their customer care is very professional and knowledgeable. Their assistance when I face a problem is so effective and efficient. Other than that. Cloudways CDN, DNS, Elastic email adds more values to my freelance client project. Cloudways introduced a great wordpress cache plugin called as "Breez" That is very simple and working magically.

I am a bit confused to understand data properly form cloudways server monitoring. They provide all the data but analyzing it is a bit difficult. Also, it's better if they can provide DDOS attack protection as a value-added feature.

Cloudways is a complete solution. I could be able to manage my site form one platform with the help of cloudways manages to host. They are so innovative and we are getting lots of new feature monthly. Really awesome experience. Cloudways also solved, the mess of backup and restore servers, SSL installation, DNS management, Server Cache, Application cloning etc. And I would prefer if Cloudways can add Linode Cloud Hosting Service as a infrastructure provider.

The best I like about Cloudways is that it provides managed cloud hosting from various well-known cloud companies, like AWS, Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean. Their pricing structure is very cost-effective anyone can afford this easily. Customer support provided by Cloudways is great, they are always available to help their customer all the time. We frequently use the digital ocean server within this platform whose features are great and provide high performance in terms of speed. The integration of the servers with the domain name is a very simple and easy method.

The thing I dislike is that new users might need some technical knowledge to completely work with this platform, some of the more technical features, which could be difficult for novices.

With the use of Cloudways, we noticed a good improvement in the speed of the site as it provided some good features like caching, CDN, and optimized server settings for better performance. Cloudways makes it possible for users to rapidly scale their hosting resources as their site or application expands. This simply means they do not have to be worried about outgrowing their hosting provider or dealing with complicated migration operations.