Table of Contents
TLDR: Key Takeaways
Quick Summary — Cloudways Pricing 2026
- Cloudways pricing starts at $7/month with DigitalOcean and goes up to $91.61/month for AWS Large plans.
- The pay-as-you-go model means you're only charged for actual server usage, not the entire billing cycle.
- Cloudways offers a 3-day free trial with no credit card required to test the platform.
- All plans include unlimited websites, automated backups, free SSL certificates, and 24/7 support.
- Use exclusive code BFCM5050 to save 50% for 3 months + get 50 FREE migrations worth $1,000+.
Cloudways Black Friday Deal — Still Active!
Claim the Cloudways discount code and receive 50% off all hosting plans for 3 months with 50 complimentary expert migrations.
New customers only. 50% applies for first 3 months. No credit card required for trial.
How Much Does Cloudways Cost?
Cloudways pricing is based on the infrastructure provider and server resources you choose. Instead of fixed packages, you select the RAM, processor, storage, and bandwidth you need — then you're billed hourly. This gives you incredible flexibility to scale up or down without penalties.
The platform offers servers from five leading cloud infrastructure providers. Here's a look at the starting prices for each, giving you an idea of the entry points available:
How billing works: You're charged hourly based on your server uptime. If you delete a server mid-month, you only pay for the hours it ran. This makes Cloudways ideal for temporary projects, testing environments, and seasonal businesses.
DigitalOcean Pricing Plans
DigitalOcean remains the most popular choice on Cloudways for individual bloggers, small businesses, and growing agencies. It offers the best balance of price, performance, and reliability for most use cases.
DigitalOcean Plans on Cloudways
High-performance SSD cloud servers — most popular choice for WordPress hosting
Best for: Personal blogs, small business sites, WooCommerce stores, and WordPress sites getting up to 50,000 monthly visitors. The $14/month 2GB plan is our top recommendation for most users starting out.
Linode / Akamai Pricing Plans
Linode (now rebranded as Akamai Cloud) is another excellent budget-friendly option on Cloudways. It offers similar entry pricing to DigitalOcean but is known for its strong global network and consistent performance.
Linode / Akamai Plans on Cloudways
Consistent performance with Akamai's global network — great for content-heavy sites
Vultr Pricing Plans
Vultr is known for its blazing fast NVMe SSD storage and has data centers in over 32 locations worldwide. It's perfect for users who need global reach and ultra-fast disk I/O performance.
Vultr Plans on Cloudways
NVMe SSD-powered servers with 32 global data center locations
AWS (Amazon) Pricing Plans
AWS plans on Cloudways are ideal for enterprise-grade workloads, high-traffic eCommerce, and compliance-heavy applications. You get the power of Amazon's global cloud infrastructure with Cloudways' easy management layer on top.
AWS Plans on Cloudways
Enterprise-grade reliability backed by Amazon's global infrastructure
Note on AWS: AWS plans are billed based on EC2 instance pricing, which can vary by region. The prices shown are for US East regions. Always check current pricing in the Cloudways dashboard before provisioning.
Google Cloud Pricing Plans
Google Cloud (GCE) offers premium infrastructure with live migration, sustained-use discounts, and Google's global private network. It's excellent for AI-powered apps, global audiences, and projects needing Google's ecosystem.
Google Cloud Plans on Cloudways
Google's premium global network — best for AI workloads and international audiences
Important: Google Cloud (GCE) has flexible disk sizes and pay-as-you-go bandwidth. Note that the Cloudways free trial is not available for GCE servers — you must upgrade your account with payment details first before launching a Google Cloud server.
What Do You Get With Every Cloudways Plan?
Cloudways includes a powerful set of features with every plan — regardless of which cloud provider or pricing tier you choose. These tools simplify your workflow and enhance performance and security without extra costs.
| Year | <$25 | $25-50 | $51-100 | $101-200 | $201-500 | Enterprise ($500+) | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | ☆ | ☆ | ☆ | ☆ | ☆ | ☆ | |
| 2022 | ☆ | ★ | ☆ | ★ | ☆ | ☆ | ☆ |
| 2021 | ☆ | ★ | |||||
| 2020 | ☆ | ☆ | ★ | ☆ | ✦ |
Additional Costs to Know About
Cloudways keeps pricing transparent, but there are a few extra charges worth noting if you exceed your plan's limits or choose certain providers. Here's a complete breakdown:
Secure, offsite data protection for your most critical files
Pay only for extra transfer if you exceed your plan's allocation
Extra disk space for web files or databases beyond your plan
Google Cloud disk sizes are flexible — billed per actual usage
Pro Tip: For most WordPress sites under 100,000 monthly visitors, you'll rarely hit bandwidth or storage limits on plans above the $14/month tier. Monitor your usage in the Cloudways dashboard to avoid surprise charges.
Optional Add-ons & Hosting Models
Cloudways offers powerful add-ons and two distinct hosting models to match your website's exact needs — all easily integrated with just a few clicks from your dashboard.
Premium Add-ons
Enterprise Cloudflare CDN
Edge Page Caching, Argo Smart Routing, and DDoS protection for lightning-fast global delivery
CloudwaysSafeUpdates
Automatically test and deploy WordPress plugin & theme updates safely without breaking your site
Malware Protection
Automated malware scanning, detection, and removal to keep your site clean and secure 24/7
Rackspace Email Hosting
Professional business email mailboxes with spam filtering and reliable uptime
Advanced Support
Application-level troubleshooting, performance optimization, and dedicated support engineers
DNS Made Easy
Instant DNS propagation with enterprise-grade DNS management and GeoDNS routing
Two Hosting Models
☁️ Cloudways Flexible
Versatile managed hosting for any web application
- 5 cloud provider choices
- Pay-as-you-go billing
- Unlimited app installs
- Manual vertical scaling
- 3-day free trial
- Full dev tools access
🚀 Cloudways Autonomous
Fully managed WordPress with true auto-scaling
- True WordPress auto-scaling
- Built-in Elasticsearch
- Edge CDN included
- Redis object caching
- WP-CLI + SSH access
- 99.99% SLA uptime
Get 50% Off All Cloudways Plans for 3 Months
Activate this Cloudways deal and enjoy 50% off all hosting packages for three months plus 50 complimentary migrations — handled by expert engineers.
Valid for new accounts only. 50% discount applies to all plans for first 3 billing months.
Quick Money-Saving Tips for Cloudways
Want to get the most out of your Cloudways budget? Here are our 7 proven tips to reduce hosting costs without sacrificing performance:
Cloudways vs The Competition: Head-to-Head
How does Cloudways pricing stack up against the most popular managed WordPress hosting alternatives? Here's an honest side-by-side comparison:
| Feature | Cloudways ✅ | Kinsta | WP Engine | SiteGround |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Flexible, Pay-As-You-Go | Fixed Monthly | Fixed Monthly | Fixed Termly |
| Starting Price | From $7/mo | From $35/mo | From $20/mo | From ~$14.99/mo |
| Free Trial | 3-Day (No CC) | 30-Day Money-Back | 60-Day Money-Back | 30-Day Money-Back |
| Cloud Providers | 5 (DO, AWS, GCP, Linode, Vultr) | Google Cloud only | AWS + Azure | Google Cloud only |
| Unlimited Apps | ✅ Yes | ❌ Capped by plan | ❌ Capped by plan | ❌ Capped by plan |
| Hourly Billing | ✅ Yes | ❌ Monthly only | ❌ Monthly only | ❌ Monthly only |
| AI Copilot | ✅ Included | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Staging Environments | ✅ 1-click free | ✅ Included | ✅ Included | ✅ Included |
| Auto-scaling | ✅ Autonomous plan | ❌ Manual only | ✅ Limited | ❌ Manual only |
| Email Hosting | Add-on ($1/mailbox) | ❌ Not included | ❌ Not included | ✅ Included |
| Key Focus | Multi-cloud flexibility | Premium WordPress | Premium WordPress | Shared + Managed |
Cloudways wins on value and flexibility. At $7/month vs $35/month (Kinsta) or $20/month (WP Engine), you get comparable — often superior — performance with the freedom to choose your cloud infrastructure and scale infinitely.
FAQs: Cloudways Pricing
How does the Cloudways 3-day free trial work?
What is the Cloudways refund policy?
What happens after the Cloudways free trial ends?
Can I switch cloud providers after signing up?
Does the BFCM5050 coupon code expire?
Which Cloudways plan is best for WordPress?
Is Cloudways Pricing Worth It?
After analyzing every plan, add-on, and hidden cost, our conclusion is clear:
Exceptional Value for Managed Cloud Hosting
Cloudways pricing delivers exceptional value. Its pay-as-you-go structure, choice of top cloud providers, and plans starting at just $7/month offer unmatched flexibility and affordability. For anyone seeking a powerful, scalable, and cost-effective managed hosting solution without being locked into a contract, Cloudways is an excellent choice.