Cloudways Review 2026: Why Growing Sites Switch to It (Honest Results)

There comes a point where shared hosting stops being enough. Your site gets more traffic. Pages start loading slower during peak hours. Your WooCommerce store lags when multiple customers browse at the same time. And your host’s support tells you to “upgrade your plan” even though you are already on their highest tier.

That is the exact moment Cloudways was built for. It bridges the gap between cheap shared hosting and expensive dedicated servers by giving you managed cloud hosting with dedicated resources, pay as you go pricing, and zero server management headaches.

The short version: Cloudways is the best managed cloud hosting for WordPress users who have outgrown shared hosting. It gives you cloud server performance without requiring you to be a server administrator. If your site consistently gets over 25,000 monthly visitors or you run a WooCommerce store, Cloudways is worth every penny.

Here is our complete, honest review.

What Is Cloudways?

Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform. Unlike traditional shared hosts where your site shares a server with hundreds of other websites, Cloudways gives you your own dedicated cloud server with guaranteed resources.

What makes Cloudways unique is that it is not a hosting provider in the traditional sense. It partners with five major cloud infrastructure providers: DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, and Google Cloud. You choose which cloud provider you want, pick your server size, and Cloudways handles everything else. Server setup, security, updates, caching, backups, and monitoring are all managed for you.

Think of it this way. Shared hosting is like renting a room in a house with 50 other people. You all share the kitchen, bathroom, and internet. When someone else uses too many resources, your experience suffers. Cloudways is like renting your own apartment. You have your own space, your own resources, and nobody else affects your performance.

Cloudways was founded in 2012 and was acquired by DigitalOcean in 2022. It now hosts over 570,000 WordPress websites and is trusted by digital agencies, ecommerce businesses, and serious bloggers worldwide.

Who Is Cloudways For? (And Who Is It NOT For)

Cloudways IS for you if:

• Your shared hosting is getting slow as your traffic grows
• You run a WooCommerce store and need consistent performance
• You manage multiple WordPress sites for clients
• You want cloud server power without learning server administration
• You prefer monthly pay as you go billing over long term contracts

Cloudways is NOT for you if:

• You are launching your first website with zero traffic (start with Hostinger instead)
• You want the cheapest hosting possible (Cloudways starts around $14/month)
• You need built in email hosting (Cloudways does not include email)
• You are a complete beginner who needs phone support and guided setup

Our recommendation for beginners: Start with Hostinger or Bluehost (see our Best WordPress Hosting guide). Upgrade to Cloudways when your traffic and revenue justify the higher investment.

8 Cloudways Features That Matter Most

1. Choose Your Cloud Provider

No other managed host gives you this choice. With Cloudways, you pick from 5 cloud infrastructure providers: DigitalOcean (best value for most users), Vultr (fast performance), Linode, AWS (enterprise), and Google Cloud (enterprise). Each provider has multiple data center locations worldwide, so you can choose the server closest to your target audience for faster loading times.

For most WordPress users, DigitalOcean is the best starting point because it offers the best balance of performance and price.

2. Dedicated Cloud Resources

This is the biggest upgrade from shared hosting. On Cloudways, your server’s CPU, RAM, and storage are dedicated to your site. Nobody else shares them. This means your performance stays consistent regardless of traffic spikes, time of day, or what other websites are doing.

On shared hosting, a traffic spike from another site on the same server can slow your site down. On Cloudways, that never happens because your resources belong to you.

3. Pay As You Go Pricing

Unlike Hostinger and Bluehost where you pay for 1 to 4 years upfront, Cloudways bills monthly with hourly tracking. You can cancel anytime without losing money on unused months.

This is perfect for seasonal businesses, new projects you are testing, or anyone who does not want to commit thousands of dollars upfront. You pay for what you use, nothing more.

4. Built In Performance Stack

Cloudways includes a powerful performance stack that most shared hosts do not offer: Varnish cache for server level page caching, Memcached and Redis for object caching, an optimized PHP environment with the latest PHP versions, and Breeze (their own caching plugin) pre installed.

These are server level optimizations that deliver significantly faster page loading than any plugin based caching solution on shared hosting. You do not need to configure them manually because Cloudways handles the setup.

5. Free WordPress Migration

Switching hosts sounds scary, but Cloudways makes it painless. Every account includes free site migration. Their team moves your WordPress site from your current host to Cloudways with zero downtime.

You can also use the Cloudways WordPress Migrator plugin to do it yourself in a few clicks. Either way, the migration is free and your site stays online throughout the process.

6. Staging Environment on Every Plan

A staging environment is a copy of your live site where you can test changes before pushing them live. Want to test a new plugin, update your theme, or try a redesign? Do it on staging first. If something breaks, your live site is untouched.

Most shared hosts either do not offer staging or only include it on their most expensive plans. Cloudways includes it on every single plan.

7. One Click WordPress Install and Management

Despite being a cloud hosting platform, Cloudways is surprisingly easy to use. WordPress installs with one click. The dashboard lets you manage SSL certificates, domains, backups, cron jobs, and application settings without touching a command line.

You can also host multiple WordPress sites on a single server, which saves money if you manage several websites.

8. Automated Backups

Cloudways automatically backs up your server and applications. You can set backup frequency (every hour, every day, or every week), take on demand backups before making changes, and restore from any backup with one click.

For extra protection, we also recommend installing UpdraftPlus and storing backups off site in Google Drive or Dropbox. Having both server backups and plugin backups gives you double protection.

Cloudways Pricing Explained

Cloudways pricing depends on which cloud provider and server size you choose. Here is a quick overview of the most popular starting options:

Our recommendation: Start with DigitalOcean. It offers the best balance of performance and price for WordPress sites. You can always upgrade your server size or switch providers later without migrating.

Cloudways also offers a free 3 day trial with no credit card required. You can test the platform completely risk free before committing.

Cloudways Pros and Cons

Pros

Dedicated cloud resources. Your CPU, RAM, and storage are yours. No shared server slowdowns during traffic spikes.

Choose your cloud provider. Pick from DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, or Google Cloud based on your needs and budget.

Pay as you go pricing. No long term contracts. Monthly billing with hourly tracking. Cancel anytime.

Built in performance stack. Varnish, Memcached, Redis, and optimized PHP deliver faster speeds than plugin based solutions on shared hosting.

Free migration. Cloudways migrates your site for free, or you can use their migration plugin.

Staging environment on every plan. Test changes safely before pushing to your live site.

Multiple sites on one server. Host several WordPress sites on a single server to save money.

3 day free trial. Test everything with no credit card required.

Cons

Higher starting price. Cloudways starts around $14 per month, which is more than shared hosting. But you get significantly better performance for the price.

No free domain. Unlike Hostinger and Bluehost, Cloudways does not include a free domain name. You need to buy one separately from a registrar like Namesilo.

No built in email hosting. Cloudways does not include email. You will need a third party email service like Google Workspace or Rackspace (available as an add on for about $1 per user per month).

Slight learning curve. The dashboard is more technical than Hostinger or Bluehost. Not overwhelming, but beginners may need 30 minutes to get familiar with the interface.

No phone support. Support is via live chat and ticket system. Response times are generally good, but phone support is not available.

Cloudways vs Shared Hosting: Key Differences

When Should You Switch to Cloudways?

Do not switch to Cloudways if you are just starting out. Shared hosting from Hostinger or Bluehost is perfect for new sites. But here are the clear signs that it is time to upgrade:

Your site loads slowly during peak hours even after optimizing with caching plugins and image compression. This usually means your shared server is overloaded.

You get over 25,000 monthly visitors and your hosting is struggling to keep up. Cloud resources handle higher traffic much better than shared environments.

You run a WooCommerce store where every second of load time directly affects sales. Customers leave slow stores. Cloudways gives you the consistent performance ecommerce demands.

You manage multiple client sites and need reliable hosting with easy management. Cloudways lets you host multiple sites on one server and manage them all from one dashboard.

Your shared host’s support keeps telling you to upgrade but their highest plan still does not fix the performance issues. This is the clearest sign you have outgrown shared hosting entirely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict: Is Cloudways Worth It?

If your WordPress site has outgrown shared hosting, Cloudways is the smartest upgrade you can make. It gives you dedicated cloud resources, pay as you go flexibility, a built in performance stack, and free migration, all without requiring server administration skills.

It is not the cheapest option, and it is not designed for brand new sites with zero traffic. But for growing blogs, WooCommerce stores, and agencies managing multiple client sites, the performance improvement over shared hosting is significant and directly impacts your revenue.

Our recommendation: If you are just starting out, begin with Hostinger (see our Hostinger Review). When your traffic grows and shared hosting starts holding you back, switch to Cloudways. The 3 day free trial lets you test everything with zero risk.

What to Read Next

• Compare all hosting options: See our Best WordPress Hosting guide with Hostinger, Bluehost, and Cloudways compared.
• Read our Hostinger review: If you are starting out, Hostinger is our #1 pick for beginners.
• Compare Hostinger and Bluehost: See our Hostinger vs Bluehost comparison.
• Choose the right theme: Pair your hosting with a fast theme from our 10 Best WordPress Themes guide.
• Set up SEO properly: Install Rank Math on your new Cloudways site.
• Install essential plugins: See our 15 Best WordPress Plugins guide.