What is Cloudways?
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting Platform-as-a-Service that lets you deploy PHP-based applications (WordPress, Magento, Laravel, etc.) on top of leading IaaS providers. Founded in 2012 and acquired by DigitalOcean in 2022, it has grown into one of the most popular managed cloud hosting platforms available today.
The platform offers two main plans: Cloudways Flexible — where you can choose your preferred cloud provider and pay as you go — and Cloudways Autonomous, a managed WordPress hosting solution with built-in autoscaling and an enterprise-grade CDN. Over 100,000 agencies and small businesses trust Cloudways to host their websites across 50+ data centers worldwide.
Cloudways’ core offerings include a custom control panel (no cPanel), one-click app installs (WordPress, Magento, Drupal, etc.), on-demand staging environments, automated backups, free SSL certificates, and integrated caching using Varnish, Redis, and its proprietary ThunderStack technology to optimize speed and performance.
The platform supports five leading cloud providers — DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS, and Google Cloud — giving users flexibility in terms of region selection, pricing, and performance characteristics.
In essence, Cloudways abstracts away the complexity of server management while still giving developers and businesses deep control over resources, configurations, and performance settings.
Performance (Speed, Uptime, Scalability)
Cloudways sites generally load very fast and stay online. Independent benchmarks report 99.99% uptime and strong response times. For example, one year-long test found Cloudways’ Time-To-First-Byte around 405 ms (comparable to premium hosts) and perfect uptime. Its built-in stack (Nginx + Apache/Varnish + Redis + Cloudflare) plus optional enterprise add-ons give enterprise-grade performance.
In practice, many users note that “servers are always fast and reliable, and I never experienced downtime.” In comparisons, Cloudways’ load handling is excellent (128 ms in a stress test) – better than SiteGround and Hostinger – though Kinsta and WP Engine can edge it in raw speed. Kinsta’s GCP-based architecture and edge caching make it slightly faster on page load tests, but Cloudways’ multi-cloud stack remains competitive.
Cloudways guarantees carrier-grade uptime rooted in each provider’s 99.99% SLA and maintains stable performance under traffic spikes. Its scaling model is also robust: you can vertically scale server RAM/CPU with a click, and the new Cloudways Autoscale (Kubernetes-based) enables automatic horizontal scaling during traffic surges.
In short, Cloudways delivers speed and reliability on par with high-end managed hosts, though extremely heavy workloads (e.g., large WooCommerce stores) may require higher-tier plans to avoid CPU bottlenecks.
Cloudways Key Features
- Multi-Cloud Flexibility: Choose any of five cloud providers (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, or Google Cloud) by server. This lets you select pricing, performance, and data-center locations that best fit your needs.
- Managed Hosting: Cloudways handles OS and stack maintenance for you — including security patches, updates, and firewalls. Common tasks such as PHP version changes and SSL certificate setup can be done with a single click.
- Staging Environments: Every plan includes staging sites, allowing you to test updates safely before pushing them live — a feature not always available for free on other hosts.
- Automated and On-Demand Backups: You get scheduled backups (daily or weekly) plus unlimited one-click on-demand backups. You can also customize backup frequency and retention (up to four weeks), making it more flexible than many competitors.
- ThunderStack Caching: Cloudways uses a hybrid caching setup (Nginx, Varnish, Redis, and optional Cloudflare). Its proprietary “ThunderStack” technology significantly improves page load times, while the built-in Breeze plugin automates caching rules for WordPress.
- Collaboration & Team Management: You can create multiple team members with role-based access controls. For instance, a developer can access server settings while a designer only edits site files — ideal for agencies and teams.
- Cloudways Bot & Monitoring: The built-in “Cloudways Bot” sends real-time alerts (via email or Slack) about usage, resources, security, and other key events. The dashboard also displays detailed server metrics like CPU, RAM, and bandwidth usage for easier monitoring.
- Security: All sites come with free Let’s Encrypt SSL, two-factor authentication, firewalls, and automated OS patches. Servers are auto-healed on failures, and each application runs in isolation for enhanced protection. A paid Cloudflare Enterprise add-on is also available for DDoS protection, edge caching, and WAF.
- Cloudflare Integration: Cloudways includes a built-in CDN and offers optional Cloudflare Enterprise integration. With edge caching enabled, users can experience up to 70% faster load times under heavy traffic.
- Autoscaling (Autonomous Plan): For high-traffic WordPress sites, the Cloudways Autonomous plan offers Kubernetes-based autoscaling using Google C2 machines. It automatically adjusts resources and includes unlimited PHP workers — essentially running your site on a managed cloud cluster.
- No cPanel: Unlike traditional hosts, Cloudways uses its own custom control panel. While this may involve a short learning curve, it eliminates unnecessary overhead. However, email hosting and DNS management are not included — you’ll need third-party services for those.
Ease of Use
Cloudways’ interface is modern and straightforward, even for developers who aren’t deeply technical. Setting up a new server and application typically takes just a few clicks. One user review notes: “Even if you don’t have advanced technical skills, Cloudways makes it super easy to deploy, scale, and manage applications. The dashboard is clean and intuitive, and setting up a server takes just a few clicks.”
The platform guides you through the setup process: after signing up, you simply choose your application (e.g., WordPress), select a provider, location, and server size, and your environment is ready within minutes. A personal staging site is also provisioned automatically.
Common tasks are one-click operations — such as installing SSL certificates, performing software updates, deploying via Git, and cloning servers. The Servers tab displays resource usage and backups, while the Applications tab lists your sites along with quick links to credentials, cron jobs, domains, Git repositories, and app-specific backups.
Beginners may initially find the number of options a bit overwhelming, as there’s no “simplified mode,” but Cloudways’ detailed documentation and responsive live chat support make the learning curve short. The platform also comes equipped with essential developer tools like SSH access, WP-CLI, and staging URLs, removing the need for manual configurations.
Overall, Cloudways strikes an excellent balance — far simpler than raw VPS management yet far more flexible than shared-hosting control panels. As one reviewer put it: “Cloudways gives the perfect balance between power, flexibility, and ease of use. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants worry-free hosting with excellent support.”
Customer Support
Cloudways provides 24/7 live chat and ticket-based support (no phone line). Both the company and user reviews highlight the speed and expertise of the support team. The platform is often praised for its exceptional around-the-clock technical assistance, with an average response time of about 90 seconds.
User feedback reinforces this reputation. Many report that the support team is helpful, polite, and easy to communicate with, often describing the experience as comparable to working directly with Tier 1 specialists. Others mention that when problems do arise, Cloudways support consistently resolves them faster and more effectively than competing hosting providers.
Multiple users have also noted that every interaction with support has been quick, professional, and solution-oriented — a sign of consistent quality service.
That said, Cloudways support primarily focuses on issues related to its platform and software stack. Users needing in-depth, system-level troubleshooting may need to be patient or handle some configurations independently.
Overall, Cloudways’ support stands out for being fast, knowledgeable, and reliable — a clear step above typical budget hosting providers — though users shouldn’t expect personal phone access or assistance beyond the platform’s scope.
Pricing and Value
Cloudways uses a transparent pay-as-you-go pricing model — you only pay for the server size and add-ons you use, either hourly or monthly. There are no fixed plans beyond your chosen server specifications. A basic starting price for a DigitalOcean server with 2 GB RAM and 1 vCPU is about $11/month (or roughly $0.015/hour). In comparison, a similar AWS server costs around $38/month.
All plans include 24/7 support, unlimited sites, a staging site, SSL certificates, and full SSD storage. This means even the entry-level Cloudways plan offers far more value and features than a typical unmanaged VPS.
Bandwidth and storage scale automatically with your selected server size. For instance, the $11 DigitalOcean plan includes 2 GB of bandwidth, 10 GB of app storage, and 10 GB of database storage, with the option to upgrade to much larger configurations as needed. Cloudways also provides premium NVMe and CPU-optimized servers for enhanced performance. There are no long-term contracts — you can cancel anytime — and a 3-day free trial is available with no credit card required.
In terms of value, Cloudways sits comfortably between budget shared hosts and premium managed WordPress providers. While its per-site cost is higher than traditional shared hosting, the improved performance, scalability, and expert support often justify the price.
Some users note that pricing can be slightly higher compared to a few competitors, and certain advanced features (such as one-hour backup intervals or extra IP addresses) are available as paid add-ons. However, for businesses that prioritize reliability, speed, and developer-friendly tools, Cloudways generally provides better value than managing your own cloud infrastructure.
Competitor Comparisons
Cloudways vs SiteGround:
SiteGround is a long-time leader in managed WordPress and shared hosting, but it differs from Cloudways’ cloud-based approach. In performance tests, SiteGround sometimes holds a slight edge in WordPress page speeds thanks to its SuperCacher technology. However, Cloudways excels in flexibility — offering staging on all plans (SiteGround limits this to higher tiers), fully on-demand backups, and truly unlimited sites.
Cloudways also provides multi-cloud support and global data centers, while SiteGround’s infrastructure is fixed. On the other hand, SiteGround’s plans start at a lower price (under $7/month) and include email hosting, phone support, and proprietary tools like a website builder. In general, SiteGround is easier for individual bloggers or small businesses on a tight budget, whereas Cloudways is better suited for agencies or growing websites that need more control, scalability, and performance.
Cloudways vs Kinsta
Kinsta is a premium, WordPress-only hosting provider built on Google Cloud. Its custom stack (NGINX, LXD, MariaDB, and Cloudflare Enterprise) delivers exceptional speed and advanced developer tools like DevKinsta. In performance comparisons, Kinsta slightly outpaces Cloudways in raw WordPress speed.
That said, Cloudways matches Kinsta on key features such as staging, backups, and expert support — and adds more flexibility through its multi-cloud options, full server access (for custom PHP apps), and longer backup retention (up to four weeks, compared to Kinsta’s 14 days). Kinsta’s interface is more polished and hands-off for WordPress users, but Cloudways is generally more affordable at scale and ideal for those who need to host both WordPress and non-WordPress applications within one account.
In short, Kinsta is perfect for those seeking a fully managed, premium WordPress experience, while Cloudways is better for users who value flexibility, multi-cloud capability, and e-commerce scalability.
Other Hosts
Cloudways easily outperforms typical shared hosts like Hostinger and Bluehost in both speed and scalability. It also surpasses most budget hosts by offering true pay-as-you-go pricing and no unexpected CPU or traffic limits. Compared with WP Engine, Cloudways delivers similar managed features at a lower starting cost — plus more server location options.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Multi-cloud Flexibility: Choose AWS, GCP, DigitalOcean, Vultr, or Linode — select the provider that best fits your budget and needs.
- Managed Convenience: Cloudways handles server OS, security patches, and advanced caching for you. One-click tools simplify setup and maintenance.
- Excellent Performance: Industry-standard uptime (99.99%) and fast page loads thanks to ThunderStack and CDN integration. Many users report outstanding performance and stability.
- Scalability: Easy vertical scaling with optional auto-scaling on demand. Cloudways scales more efficiently than fixed shared hosts.
- Staging & Backups: Staging environments are included on all plans, with flexible daily or hourly backups. Developers benefit from on-demand restore and full retention control.
- Support: 24/7 live chat support with strong user feedback. Many reviewers describe it as exceptional and Tier 1 support.
- Developer Features: SSH access, Git, WP-CLI, cron jobs, and team management make Cloudways a power-user-friendly platform.
- Transparent Pricing: No locking contracts; you only pay for what you use. Hourly billing and per-byte bandwidth offer flexibility, and prepaid credits can simplify billing.
- Ideal for Agencies/SMBs: Supports unlimited apps and multiple client sites. Widely endorsed by digital agencies for reliability and tools.
Cons
- Cost: While flexible, cloud droplets can be more expensive than basic shared hosting. High-end specifications and add-ons (Premium DNS, Cloudflare Enterprise, advanced backups) increase fees. Some users note pricing is slightly higher compared to competitors, and useful add-ons like email, SMTP, and IP addresses cost extra.
- No cPanel / No Email Hosting: The custom control panel is powerful but may overwhelm beginners. Users need external email providers, limiting an “all-in-one” approach for non-technical users.
- Learning Curve: Although simpler than raw cloud management, Cloudways has more options than typical shared hosting. Inexperienced users may need time to learn new workflows, though many find it easier than managing AWS directly.
Recommended Use Cases
Cloudways is ideal for developers, digital agencies, and growing businesses seeking managed hosting without being locked into a single provider. It’s especially suited for:
- High-Traffic WordPress/eCommerce Sites: Perfect for midsize shops, learning platforms, or any site that needs scalability.
- Agencies and Freelancers: Manage multiple client sites with unlimited domains and built-in team management tools.
- Businesses Expecting Traffic Spikes: Autoscaling and easy resource upgrades help handle sudden surges.
- Startups and SMBs: Cloud reliability without hiring a full-time sysadmin. The intuitive dashboard allows non-developer founders to launch and manage sites quickly.
- Mix of PHP Applications: Not limited to WordPress — also suitable for Laravel, Magento, and custom PHP stacks.
Cloudways is less ideal for personal blogs or simple brochure sites on a tight budget, where shared hosting may be cheaper, or for organizations that require built-in email and DNS. However, many users find it easier than managing a DIY cloud setup. As one review notes, Cloudways simplifies the complexity of raw cloud hosting, allowing you to focus on growing your business instead of dealing with technical issues.
Conclusion
Cloudways is a powerful, flexible managed cloud host that delivers on its promise of high performance and convenience. Its core strength is combining cloud scalability with managed services – you can spin up a global hosting environment in minutes and let Cloudways handle the heavy lifting (stack optimization, security, backups). For developers and businesses that need reliable speed and 24/7 support, Cloudways often provides better value and agility than traditional VPS or premium managed WordPress hosts.
However, this comes at a cost and complexity: pure beginners or those on a tight budget may find Cloudways overkill, and power-users might prefer the raw control of other cloud platforms. Overall, Cloudways remains one of the top choices for managed cloud hosting in 2025.
