Cloudways Review 2024

Updated


Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported, which means we earn commissions from links on Digital. Commissions do not affect our editorial evaluations or opinions.

Cloudways is rapidly becoming one of the most popular web hosting service providers worldwide with competitive prices, top-notch security, and 24/7 chat support.

Who should choose Cloudways? Cloudways is the go-to choice for anyone who’s built a site before but is interested in learning more or getting a boost in performance, entrepreneurs, ecommerce stores, and small-businesses.

Featured Partners

Advertisement
Grey circle with an i in the middle Featured Partners pay us for placement on our site. When you sign up for one of them using our links, we get paid a small percentage at no cost to you.

Hostinger

The easiest option

Starts at $2.49 per month

  • Fail-proof setup
  • Great for beginners
  • Free AI tools

Bluehost

For new WordPress sites

Starts at $2.95 per month

  • Guided onboarding
  • Recommended by WordPress
  • 24/7 support

HostGator

Best security and scalability

Starts at $3.75 per month

  • All types of hosting
  • Enhanced security tools
  • Affordable as you grow

Cloudways Pros and Cons

Cloudways is one of the top-rated cloud hosting providers. Cloud-based hosting is an ideal option for many types of websites. It works differently than traditional server-based hosting. With this in mind, I always recommend choosing a hosting company that specializes in cloud services if you want cloud-based hosting, and that is exactly what Cloudways does. – Michael Levanduski, Network Technical Engineer

Cloudways is popular due to its ability to keep users online, maintain site security, and offer pay-as-you-go pricing. However, there may be drawbacks if you pick Cloudways as your web host service provider.

What we like about Cloudways

  • Easily upgrade your plan to a dedicated server or VPS without moving your website
  • 24/7 live chat support
  • Collaboration tools
  • Pay-as-you-go prices
  • Extensive security features including a free SSL, IPs, and SiteLock protection
  • Solid state drive (SSD)-based hosting
  • Flexible and customizable hosting plans
  • Built-in caching
  • Auto healing features
  • Very stable hosting environment

What fell flat

  • Email hosting not included 
  • Complicated UI design
  • Requires some hosting experience
  • CDN and advanced security is a $4.99 a month add-on

Digital.com’s Editorial Review

Cloudways offers excellent price options, add-ons, and user ratings. It’s one of the better options for a reliable host server and impressive site functionality.

What customers say: Cloudways is a managed cloud services provider offering fast speeds as well as exceptional customer service and pricing. The setup can be a bit hard, and there is no cPanel.

See how we review hosting providers.

Plans & Pricing

Jump to Review

  • Free trial–3 days
  • Standard DigitalOcean–$11/mo
  • Premium DigitalOcean–$14/mo
  • Google Cloud–$37.45/mo
  • AWS–$38.56/mo

Features

Jump to Review

  • Easy-to-use site migration
  • Unlimited apps and sites
  • Account management dashboard
  • Free site builders
  • One-click installations
  • Two-factor authentication
  • Auto-healing feature

Performance & Uptime

Jump to Review

  • 99% uptime in real life
  • Average response time: 63 ms
  • Average TTFB: 0.33 s

Security

Jump to Review

  • Free SSL certificates
  • Regular malware scans
  • Continuous server monitoring
  • Dedicated firewalls
  • Extra protection for $4.99 per month

Support

Jump to Review

Cloudways has a top-tier 24/7 technical support team to answer your questions and address any problems your website might face.

  • Live chat
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Ticketing
  • Knowledge base

Improvements

Jump to Review

Cloudways frequently provides valuable improvements in services for users. Whether you are considering signing up for a free three-day trial or are already using Cloudways, continuous improvement is a good sign when deciding on a web host service provider.

Cloudways Plans and Pricing

Cloudways offers powerful cloud hosting plans built on top of three different cloud infrastructures. You can choose which infrastructure you prefer, then enjoy Cloudways’ streamlined control panel and intuitive interface to manage your apps and websites with ease.

You get the same standard features no matter which platform you choose. With each platform, you can choose RAM, cores, storage, and bandwidth limits to match your needs, so it’s super customizable.

There are a few optional add-ons, including Cloudflare Enterprise CDN at $4.99 per month, Cloudways SafeUpdates at $3 per month, and Rackspace Email at $1 per month.

You can also try DigitalOcean or AWS free for three days.

Standard DigitalOcean–starts at $11 per month

  • Good for: new or small websites

Premium DigitalOcean–starts at $14 per month

  • Good for: small and growing websites that want a performance boost

Google Cloud–starts at $37.45 per month

  • Good for: ecommerce, configurable disk space, and pay as you go bandwidth

AWS–starts at $38.56 per month

  • Good for: large sites, hosting multiple high-traffic sites

Features

Cloudways has an impressive selection of hosting plans to meet virtually any business owner’s needs. There are varying amounts of memory, storage space, power, and bandwidths, with the entry-level hosting plans offering 1 GB of RAM, 25 GB of storage, 1 TB of bandwidth, and one core processor.

You will also get a one-click WordPress installation and free, built-in site migration. Cloudways keeps your WordPress site functioning, fast, and easy to use through various features.

Easy-to-use site migration

Cloudways handles the migration of your site when you have to change hosts. I appreciate the one-click installation so you can easily move your site and get it running and functional for your customers and clients.

You can easily reach out to their experts to help move your website in one piece. Cloudways guarantees that your website will not have downtime throughout the migration process.

Other tools that can be used to migrate your website to Cloudways include configuration services like Apache and MySQL. You can also use Cloudways’ migrator tool to move your current WordPress site to the Cloudways hosting platform.

Account management dashboard

Using the Cloudways console, I reviewed server management features. Multiple add-ons or apps can be used to improve and optimize your website. You may benefit from adding transactional email services or add-ons for DNS management.

With Cloudways, I could access integration, resources, and health features with just a click. Although domain or email management isn’t included, you can scale your site, make changes to hosting, and improve your site’s performance.

What is the Cloudways control panel for?

The control panel is where you manage everything related to your website’s hosting and accounts, including domain name management (hosting, registration, renewals, or transfers), email address/inbox configuration, and payments/billing for the services you receive.

Free site builders

When you are ready to create a new site for your business, Cloudways is a great choice. The site builder was easy to explore, so I’m confident it allows even the most novice web designers to make functional and beautiful websites.

One-click installation: Easily set up a new site on your server

One of the top benefits of Cloudways is the ability to set up a new site on your server. First, you will need to choose one of the preferred providers via the Cloudways console:

  • DigitalOcean
  • Vultr
  • Google Compute Engine
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Linode

After selecting your preferred cloud provider, you can configure your server via the control panel. Select your anticipated number of page views, and Cloudways can recommend the ideal server size for your business.

You also have the option of customizing your server specifications by setting limitations on RAM, bandwidth, storage, and core processors.

Two-factor authentication

Cloudways offers two-factor authentication (2FA) for primary accounts and all team members for tighter security. Two-factor authentication provides maximum security against phishing, brute-force attacks, or keylogging.

I used my mobile device to download and install an authenticator app and connected it to my Cloudways account.

In case you misplace the 2FA-enabled device, Cloudways allows the use of backup codes for logging in to your account. It’s recommended that you generate backup codes.

Auto-healing feature

When there are issues with your site, Cloudways’ auto-healing feature addresses problems immediately, reducing the time your site is down. This feature helps to ensure your site will be up and running smoothly at all times.

Technology to support faster site speeds

Cloudways automatically configures websites to use their Cloudflare system, which distributes files across multiple data centers so your webpages load more quickly. In my testing, Cloudways had an average load time of approximately 2 seconds and an average response time of approximately 63 milliseconds.

Built-in SSL certificate

One of the top Cloudways benefits is using a built-in, free SSL certificate that secures your site and allows you to communicate safely with your customers. The free SSL certificate is available on all hosting packages and plans and will help ensure your website adheres to Google’s recommended security practices, which can help boost your site rankings.

Dedicated firewalls

Having powerful firewalls in place will help reduce unauthorized traffic to your website and help increase the site’s security overall. With Cloudways’ dedicated firewalls, you can:

  • Create email and user filters
  • Develop blacklists for IP addresses
  • Create password-protected directories

With Cloudways’ pay-as-you-go pricing options, you can select the backup frequency to increase your website’s security.

Performance and Uptime

Cloudways provides a stable hosting environment and its distributed servers are up and running 24/7, resulting in faster page load times.

Uptime and reliability

Cloudways users experience 99% uptime, but there is no uptime guarantee. Cloudways technology features used to increase reliability and site uptime include:

  • MariaDB/MySQL
  • Varnish
  • Redis
  • Apache
  • PHP-FPM
  • Nginx
  • Memcached
  • SSD for storage

Site response times

My testing showed that Cloudways had an average site response time of 0.063 seconds. This is impressive and demonstrates the efficiency with which Cloudways can load your site pages and comply with users’ web requests.

Average connection and time to first byte for cloudways.com from various locations.

Optimized WordPress tools

Cloudways also allows you to use WordPress site-building tools to design your website and configure it to ensure fast web page load speeds and functionality.

Security

Cloudways takes server and site security seriously. Through the WordPress-managed hosting click-and-go platform, cloud servers are safeguarded by firewalls. Cloudways uses “security hardening techniques” to protect servers from potential hacking.

Cloudways offers a choice in how often you want to back up your data or opt for automatic site backups, depending on your needs. You can set up your server to automatically back up every day, every three days, or at whatever interval you want. You also have the option of simply clicking a button to back up your server manually at any time.

Support

Contacting Cloudways for help when you run into issues with your site is simple. You can email them, contact the support team by phone, or initiate a live chat.

Live chat may be the best way to communicate with the technical support team at Cloudways. However, if you have simple questions, Cloudways has a dedicated page for technical queries, billing, sales, and other questions through their frequently asked questions page.

I got help immediately via live chat, but it took longer to resolve issues when I reached out via phone or email.

Cloudways’ user interface gives you the information to address many problems without technical support. Even if you cannot reach Cloudways representatives by phone or email immediately, live chat allows you to immediately address many issues.

Recent Improvements

Cloudways is continuously updating the web host services it offers and improving to meet users’ needs.

  • Run PHP 8.1: Using your Cloudways control panel, you can update your CMS to PHP 8.1 after cloning your server and testing for additional application issues. Once all tests have been run, you can publish the changes to your live server.
  • Safe updates: When users encounter internal errors or receive 505 or 404 codes visiting your pages, it could hurt your site rankings. By installing safe updates for WordPress in the general availability section, you can automate the process for detecting and testing updates and employing them as needed.
  • Cloudways affiliate program: Cloudways has launched an affiliate program that claims business owners and entrepreneurs can earn up to $6,000 per month with a choice of two different commission structures. You might be a good fit for a Cloudways affiliate program if you run your blog, in performance marketing, or work in media publishing.

Cloudways frequently provides valuable improvements in services for users. Whether you are considering signing up for a free three-day trial or are already using Cloudways, continuous improvement is a good sign when deciding on a web host service provider.

Compare Cloudways Alternatives

Cloudways is a leader in the cloud-hosting industry. This company is trusted by major global organizations as well as small businesses. While the advanced features offered can seem overwhelming at times, those who need top-tier hosting will see that Cloudflare performs better than most other hosting providers. — Michael Levanduski, Network Technical Engineer

Although Cloudways is a great option when searching for a web host provider, some alternatives could be better options. Check out our full list of the best cloud hosting providers and use the table below to compare it to its closest competitors.

Hosting Provider

Pricing + Basic Plan Features

Starts at $11 per month

  • 1 GB RAM
  • 1 core processor
  • 25 GB Storage
  • 1 TB Bandwidth

Starts at $2.95 per month

  • 1 website
  • 50 GB storage
  • Custom themes
  • Free domain for a year
  • Free SSL certificate

Consider Bluehost if: You’ve never built a website before or want more affordable pricing for a new website.

Starts at $4.50 per month

  • 512 MB RAM
  • 1 core processor
  • 80 GB Storage
  • 100 GB of block storage
  • Unmetered bandwidth

Consider DreamHost if: You need more storage space (or block storage) and less RAM than Cloudways offers.

Starts at $6 per month

  • 1 GB RAM
  • 1 vCPU
  • 30 GB Storage
  • 2 TB of transfer

Consider InMotion if: You want the control and flexibility of unmanaged cloud at a lower price than Cloudways.

What You Need to Know

What sets Cloudways apart from other web hosting service providers?

Cloudways differs from other web hosting service providers due to its “Click&Go Cloud,” which allows you to configure advanced caching tools and set automatic website backups across multiple cloud servers. This should increase your website’s performance and boost page load speeds.

Which cloud providers will Cloudways support?

You have the option of hosting your website at data centers in South America, Europe, the U.S., and Asia. There are three cloud providers Cloudways currently supports, including DigitalOcean, GCE, and Amazon Web services.

Can cPanel or Plesk be used on a Cloudways server?

Cloudways uses a custom server management application called the Click&Go Cloud console. Although you may not be able to use cPanel or Plesk, the Click&Go Cloud console supports various web applications, including Magenta, WordPress, WooCommerce, and other applications that allow you to monitor your server’s resources and make use of other tools.

Will Cloudways help move my site to Cloudways’ servers?

One of the top benefits of choosing Cloudways as your cloud-based web host service provider is the ability to migrate your site for free when transferring your current website to Cloudways’ platform. However, you may need to prepare for additional migration fees depending on the applications your website is running.

Can I scale up or down with Cloudways servers?

You have the option of customizing your server’s resources to meet your business needs. Utilizing Cloudways Click&Go Cloud console, you can upgrade or downgrade your server resources using GCE or AWS. However, if you choose to go with DigitalOcean, you will not have the opportunity to scale down your website.

When will I need to start making Cloudways payments?

Most web host service providers require you to pay in advance. However, Cloudways uses a pay-as-you-go, post-billing system. This means you are only going pay for the services you used the month before. Even if you sign up for a more costly plan, you’ll only be billed for the services you use.

What payment methods does Cloudways accept?

Cloudways accepts all major credit card providers, including Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. Cloudways also accepts PayPal.

When is Cloudways’ customer support available?

You can reach Cloudways representatives 24/7 via live chat. However, you also have the option of sending an email to Cloudways’ support agents or requesting a call during traditional business hours.

How We Reviewed Cloudways

I test web hosts based on the following factors:

  • Plan value: What plans are available, and do they offer a good value?
  • Ease of use: Is the dashboard easy to navigate?
  • Support: How fast can you get help when needed, and is support genuinely helpful?
  • Features: What features does the host offer, and how do they compare to similar competitors?
  • Security: Does the host offer SSL certificates, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack protection, backup services, and scans for viruses and malware?
  • Speed and uptime: Does the provider offer a fast, stable environment for your website? How does it perform in tests, and what kind of servers does the hosting company use?
  • Recent improvements: What has the host done lately to update its technology and services?

Learn more about our review methodology.

Scroll to Top