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Hosting review

Cloudways review for flexible UK managed cloud hosting

A managed cloud hosting platform that layers a control panel, caching, staging and support on top of DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS and Google Cloud so you get cloud resources without running a server yourself.

4.4/5
Pay-as-you-go per server in US dollars, billed hourly and invoiced monthly in arrears, from around $11/mo on DigitalOcean Standard, plus add-ons such as off-site backup storage; all fees exclude tax — confirm current pricing with Cloudways.

Reviewed by UK Business Stack Editorial Team · Last reviewed · Hosting review

Independent editorial assessment based on workflow fit, UK small business suitability and implementation risk. Methodology notes are available on each category hub and comparison page.

Documentation-based analysis: this review is built from official Cloudways product, pricing and help documentation. No live Cloudways trial was run for it.

Affiliate relationships do not determine our editorial conclusions, ratings or recommendations.

Editorial methodology and independence standardsAffiliate disclosure

Quick verdict

Should Cloudways be on your shortlist?

Strongest use case
An agency, developer or growing business that wants cloud-grade infrastructure, provider and region choice and vertical scaling, with a managed layer handling the stack — and that does not need bundled email or root access.
Main limitation
Cloudways is not all-inclusive. There is no email hosting, no cPanel and no root access, billing is in US dollars on a variable pay-as-you-go basis, and standard support does not cover application-level problems. The true monthly cost depends on provider, region, server size and add-ons you choose.
Who should investigate it
Web professionals and technically comfortable businesses hosting WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Laravel or custom PHP that want more control and room to grow than shared hosting allows, while avoiding the work of running a raw server.
When another approach makes more sense
Beginners who want one simple monthly price with email and cPanel included should choose SiteGround or Hostinger; teams that want a pure WordPress managed experience with opinionated tooling should compare Kinsta or WP Engine; and anyone who needs root access or bundled email should look at a self-managed VPS or a shared host respectively.

Product at a glance

Cloudways in one view

Product type
Managed cloud hosting platform (a management layer on top of five IaaS providers) for WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Laravel and custom PHP
Primary use
Run web applications on cloud infrastructure with managed stack maintenance, caching, staging, backups and vertical scaling
Best suited to
Agencies, freelancers and growing businesses with some technical appetite that have outgrown shared hosting but do not want an unmanaged server
Pricing model
Pay-as-you-go per server, charged hourly and invoiced monthly in arrears in US dollars; price depends on provider, region and server size, with add-ons billed separately
Infrastructure providers
DigitalOcean, Linode (Akamai), Vultr, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, each with its own server sizes, regions and bandwidth pricing
Data centres
150-plus locations across the five providers; London is available via multiple providers, and Cloudways does not itself own the data centres
Support
24/7 chat and ticket support covering the platform; application-level help, priority response and phone/Slack access are paid add-ons
UK relevance
USD billing with UK VAT added unless a valid VAT ID is supplied, London regions via several providers, and 24/7 support that covers UK hours
Editorial rating
4.4 out of 5, assessed on pricing logic, feature depth, implementation effort, support, provider flexibility and UK fit
Affiliate relationship
This page uses an affiliate link — see the disclosure at the foot of the page

Definition

What is Cloudways?

Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform. It sits on top of infrastructure-as-a-service providers — DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud — and gives you a control panel to launch servers and deploy applications on them. You are not buying a server from Cloudways; you are buying the management layer that makes a cloud server usable without you configuring the stack yourself.

That layer does a lot of the operational work. Cloudways handles the operating system and web stack, provides multi-layer caching (Breeze, Varnish, Redis and Object Cache Pro), offers one-click staging and configurable off-site backups, and exposes vertical scaling so you can add RAM, CPU and storage to a server from the panel. Applications such as WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Laravel and custom PHP are deployed in a click, and PHP versions are selectable.

What Cloudways is not is essential to understand before choosing it. It is not an all-inclusive shared host: there is no bundled email, no cPanel and no root or sudo access, and the platform is managed by design. It is not a fully elastic platform either — the flexible plans scale vertically rather than horizontally, which means bigger servers rather than automatic spread across many. And it is not cheap in the way a budget shared plan is, because you are paying for both the underlying infrastructure and the management layer, priced in US dollars.

UK Business Stack classifies Cloudways as the managed cloud layer of a website stack: the option for teams that have moved past shared hosting and want cloud resources and provider choice, but would rather not run the server. It is a deliberate middle path rather than a beginner's first host.

Stack position

How Cloudways fits into a small-business stack

Cloudways sits between the application and the raw cloud. Below it are the IaaS providers whose regions and server sizes determine performance and price; above it are the applications and tools the business runs. The platform itself is the glue: it manages the server, the web stack and the caching so the application above does not have to.

The integrations that matter are the ones a professional hosting setup expects. WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Laravel and PHP deploy in a click; Git and SSH/SFTP support deployment and file access; free Let's Encrypt SSL handles certificates; and Cloudflare Enterprise is available as a managed add-on for CDN, WAF and bot protection. What is missing is equally important: there is no bundled email, so an external provider is always required, and the Cloudways platform deliberately has no cPanel.

The practical stack decision is therefore about ownership and appetite. If you want a single account that covers hosting and email with a familiar panel, Cloudways is the wrong layer — you want a shared host. If you want cloud resources, provider and region flexibility, and you are comfortable choosing an email provider and using SSH rather than cPanel, Cloudways becomes a strong fit that scales with the site rather than capping it.

  1. Cloud providerDigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS or Google Cloud region
  2. CloudwaysManaged stack, caching, staging, backups, scaling
  3. ApplicationWordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Laravel, PHP
  4. External servicesEmail provider, CDN add-on, DNS, analytics
Cloudways manages the cloud server and stack; the application, email and business tools sit above it and connect in.
Shared and managed WordPress hosts

SiteGround and Kinsta bundle more into one price, including email on SiteGround and opinionated WordPress tooling on Kinsta. They suit teams that want less choice and more hand-holding.

Unmanaged VPS and cloud

A raw DigitalOcean or AWS instance is cheaper in raw capacity than Cloudways, but you inherit patching, hardening, caching and backups. The difference is exactly the managed layer Cloudways sells.

CDN and edge security

Cloudways offers a managed Cloudflare Enterprise add-on for CDN, WAF and bot mitigation, which sits in front of the application and is billed per domain.

Email providers

Cloudways does not host email at all. A separate provider such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or a transactional email service is mandatory, though Rackspace Email is offered as an add-on.

Core workflow

How Cloudways works

The flow below reflects Cloudways' documented product behaviour and published help-centre guidance. UK Business Stack has not run a live Cloudways server for this review, so treat these steps as documented behaviour rather than independently tested behaviour.

Step 1

Choose a provider and region

Pick DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS or Google Cloud based on price, required region (London is available via several) and the balance of performance and cost you want.

Step 2

Size and launch the server

Select a server size with the RAM, CPU, storage and bandwidth you need. Cloudways provisions the server and installs the managed stack, so you do not configure the OS yourself.

Step 3

Deploy the application

Deploy WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Laravel or a custom PHP app in a click, choose a PHP version, and connect the domain and free SSL certificate.

Step 4

Configure caching, staging and backups

Turn on Breeze and the Redis/Varnish caching layers, create a one-click staging copy for testing, and set the off-site backup frequency and retention you want.

Step 5

Migrate and go live

Use the free unlimited WordPress and WooCommerce migration service, or migrate non-WordPress apps for a per-application fee, then cut DNS over once staging is verified.

Step 6

Scale, monitor and secure

Scale RAM, CPU and storage vertically from the panel as load grows, monitor through the dashboard and CloudwaysBot alerts, and add Cloudflare Enterprise if you want edge security.

Capabilities

Key features that actually matter

1

Infrastructure-provider choice

Five providers are offered, each with distinct server line-ups, regions and bandwidth pricing. AWS and Google Cloud apply regional pricing differences that Cloudways passes through, and provider strengths differ — DigitalOcean and Vultr for value NVMe, AWS and Google Cloud for depth of services.

Trade-off: Choice is also complexity. Server sizes, regions and bandwidth overage rates all affect the bill, and you cannot reuse an existing cloud-provider account because Cloudways creates its own.

2

Managed platform and stack

Cloudways manages the operating system, web server and stack, keeping the platform layer patched and configured. The standard base includes Nginx, Apache, PHP-FPM, MySQL or MariaDB and the caching components.

Trade-off: The management model means no root or sudo access. Settings are exposed through the panel rather than the command line, which is a constraint for teams that expect full server control.

3

Caching and performance

Multi-layer caching is built in: Breeze for WordPress, Varnish as an HTTP accelerator, Redis and Object Cache Pro. The platform also supports current PHP versions and resets caches from the panel.

Trade-off: Caching is tuned for common WordPress and PHP workloads. Heavily dynamic or custom applications may need careful configuration, and aggressive caching can mask stale content if not managed.

4

Staging and cloning

Every application can have a one-click staging environment with password protection, its own SSL, and push or pull to move changes to and from production, with logs recording the operations.

Trade-off: Staging is included, which is a genuine strength, but pushing changes still requires judgement about database and file differences; it is not a full deployment pipeline with version control for every asset.

5

Backups and restore

Automated off-site backups run on a configurable schedule and retention, with on-demand backups and point-in-time restore. Snapshots (AWS and Google Cloud) capture a full server image for larger recoveries.

Trade-off: Backup storage is billed separately by size on flexible plans, and snapshots carry an estimated monthly charge. Deleted servers and applications keep backups for a limited window before permanent deletion.

6

Vertical scaling

RAM, CPU and storage can be increased from the panel on flexible plans, with rates adjusting automatically. This lets a server grow with demand without a migration.

Trade-off: Flexible plans scale vertically rather than horizontally. Teams needing automatic horizontal scaling must look at Cloudways Autonomous, and changing region means cloning the server rather than moving it in place.

7

Security controls

Server-level firewall via Imunify360, fail2ban, layer 3 and 4 DDoS mitigation from the underlying providers, bot protection, IP and country allow or block lists, and free Let's Encrypt SSL. A managed Cloudflare Enterprise add-on adds edge WAF and DDoS protection.

Trade-off: Security is a shared responsibility. Cloudways secures the platform; you remain responsible for application updates, credentials and data compliance, and advanced edge protection is an add-on rather than included.

8

Support and monitoring

24/7 live chat and ticket support, a knowledge base, and CloudwaysBot alerts for uptime, performance, security and billing. Advanced and Premium support add-ons unlock priority response, senior engineers, phone and Slack access.

Trade-off: Standard support explicitly excludes application-level work such as plugin or theme debugging and custom code, so those problems require the paid add-ons or your own developer.

9

Migrations

WordPress and WooCommerce migrations are free and unlimited, whether performed by Cloudways experts or with the self-service Migrator plugin. Non-WordPress applications incur a per-application fee beyond plan quotas.

Trade-off: Managed migration is not available during the free trial, so you must upgrade before the team will move a site. Quotas apply to free non-WordPress migrations depending on the plan.

Best use cases

When Cloudways earns its place

A growing WordPress or WooCommerce site

A site that has outgrown shared hosting and needs more RAM, CPU and storage can scale vertically on Cloudways without a rebuild, keeping caching, staging and backups managed.

Agencies hosting client sites

Provider and region choice, per-application staging and a single panel make Cloudways practical for agencies that want to place each client appropriately and scale individually.

Laravel and custom PHP applications

Non-WordPress PHP and Laravel apps deploy in a click and benefit from the managed stack, SSH access and caching layers, without the overhead of running a server from scratch.

Businesses with a specific region requirement

London is available through multiple providers, so a UK-facing site can be placed close to its audience while retaining cloud resources and management.

High-traffic sites wanting cost control

Choosing a lower-cost provider such as DigitalOcean or Vultr for the same application can reduce cost versus AWS or Google Cloud, letting a business tune the price-performance balance.

Teams moving off an unmanaged VPS

A business already comfortable with SSH that wants to hand off patching, caching and backups while keeping cloud infrastructure can move to Cloudways and remove operational toil.

Buyer fit

Who should consider Cloudways?

Agencies and freelancers

Hosting multiple sites, wanting staging, provider choice and the ability to scale each client site independently without running servers.

Technically comfortable businesses

Teams with some command-line comfort that do not need cPanel and are happy to separate email and other services.

Sites that have outgrown shared hosting

WordPress, WooCommerce and PHP applications that need more power and headroom than shared plans provide, with room to scale vertically.

Buyers who value published certifications

SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, GDPR and PCI DSS are published platform certifications, useful when clients or insurers ask for evidence.

Teams needing provider or region flexibility

Businesses that want to choose DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS or Google Cloud, including London, rather than accept a single fixed location.

Those wanting no long contract

Pay-as-you-go billing with no lock-in suits teams that may scale up or down and prefer not to prepay for years.

Buyer fit

Who should probably not choose Cloudways?

Beginners wanting one simple all-inclusive price

No email, no cPanel and provider-choice decisions make Cloudways a poor first host for a non-technical owner who wants a single monthly fee that covers everything.

Businesses that need bundled email

Cloudways does not host email. Anyone expecting mailboxes in the hosting account must arrange a separate provider, which adds a subscription and a setup step.

Teams that need root access

There is no root or sudo access by design. Organisations that require full server control should choose an unmanaged VPS or cloud instance instead.

Buyers who need predictable flat pricing

Variable provider, region, server-size and add-on costs, billed in US dollars in arrears, make the monthly total harder to predict than a fixed shared-hosting plan.

Those needing only a tiny brochure site

A very low-traffic site gains little from cloud infrastructure and managed scaling; a cheaper shared plan with email included is usually the better value.

Teams expecting support to fix their plugins

Standard support covers the platform, not application code. Businesses without a developer may find plugin or theme problems fall outside the free support scope.

Alternative approach

Cloudways vs doing it another way

Cloudways is one answer to the hosting question, and the alternatives differ mainly in how much choice you want and how much operational work you will accept. Naming them makes the trade-offs clearer.

Ordinary alternatives to Cloudways, compared on what each route actually involves.
Alternative routeWhat it involves in practice
A shared or managed WordPress hostSiteGround, Kinsta and similar hosts bundle more into one price, including email on SiteGround and opinionated WordPress performance tooling on Kinsta. They suit teams that prefer less choice, a familiar panel and a single invoice.
An unmanaged VPS or cloud instanceBuying a raw DigitalOcean, Linode or AWS instance is cheaper in raw capacity, but you take on patching, hardening, caching, backups and monitoring. Cloudways exists precisely to remove that work at a price.
A managed platform with horizontal scalingCloudways Autonomous and similar Kubernetes-backed offerings scale horizontally for very high or spiky traffic. They cost more and are aimed at sites where automatic scaling matters more than server-level control.
A serverless or PaaS platformPlatforms such as Vercel, Netlify and managed application platforms suit modern JavaScript and headless architectures. They are a different stack to a traditional PHP or WordPress deployment.
A website builder with hosting includedSquarespace and Wix bundle site and hosting for non-technical owners. They trade flexibility and portability for simplicity and are not a match for custom applications.

Rollout

Implementation and adoption

  1. Decide the provider before the server size

    Provider choice drives region availability, performance characteristics and bandwidth overage rates. Start from where your audience is and what you can afford, then size the server on that provider.

  2. Model the total monthly cost

    The server fee is only part of the bill. Bandwidth overage, backup storage, snapshots and any Cloudflare Enterprise or support add-ons all add to it, and billing is in US dollars in arrears.

  3. Arrange email separately and early

    Because Cloudways does not host email, set up Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or another provider before cutover. Leaving email until after the move creates avoidable disruption.

  4. Configure backups before you need them

    Set the off-site backup frequency and retention deliberately, and test a restore. Backup storage is billed by size, so there is a cost trade-off between retention and budget.

  5. Use staging for every risky change

    One-click staging is included and is one of the platform's strongest features. Test plugin, theme and version changes on staging and push only when verified.

  6. Plan the migration and DNS cutover

    WordPress and WooCommerce migrations are free and unlimited, but managed migration requires an active (non-trial) account. Verify the site on Cloudways before changing DNS and lower TTLs in advance.

  7. Read the support boundaries

    Standard support covers the platform and infrastructure, not your application code. If you need plugin or theme help, budget for the Advanced or Premium add-on or for developer time.

UK context

UK small-business considerations

  • Billing is in US dollars. Cloudways processes transactions in USD and does not invoice in pounds, so UK buyers carry the exchange-rate movement and any card conversion fee. Prices displayed are US-dollar figures excluding tax.
  • UK VAT handling. UK customers are charged 20% VAT based on billing address unless a valid UK VAT ID is supplied, in which case the reverse charge applies. Because the provider is part of DigitalOcean, UK VAT has applied since January 2021.
  • London regions via several providers. London is available through DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Linode and Vultr, and Vultr also offers Manchester. Cloudways does not own the data centres, so residency is really the provider's region you select.
  • Support hours suit the UK. Standard support is 24/7 chat and ticket, so UK hours are covered, and CloudwaysBot provides automated monitoring. Human response times and deeper support depend on the add-on tier you buy.
  • No UK phone line for standard plans. Phone access is a Premium support add-on. Standard and Advanced tiers are chat and ticket, which is worth knowing for a business that wants to call during an incident.
  • Email is always a separate UK decision. With no bundled email, the email provider becomes a separate UK GDPR and data-residency decision. Rackspace Email is offered as an add-on, but many UK businesses will prefer Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
  • Shared security responsibility. Cloudways secures the platform, but the customer remains responsible for application updates, credentials and data compliance. UK businesses should confirm the DPA and subprocessor list for their own GDPR records.

Buying guidance

Pricing and value considerations

Cloudways charges pay-as-you-go per server, in US dollars, billed hourly and invoiced monthly in arrears. The price is the sum of the provider you choose, the server size, the region and any add-ons. As shown on the official pricing page in October 2026, a DigitalOcean Standard entry server started at around $11 a month, with larger 8 GB and 128 GB configurations costing materially more, and millions-tier Autonomous plans starting at $99 a month with a free three-day trial.

The important point is that Cloudways is not a flat subscription. Bandwidth overage is charged at provider-specific rates, off-site backup storage is billed by size, snapshots carry an estimated monthly charge, and Cloudflare Enterprise and support add-ons are priced separately. Billing is in US dollars with UK VAT added unless a valid VAT ID removes it. Compare the total monthly cost, not the headline server price, when weighing Cloudways against a flat shared or managed WordPress plan.

1

What drives value

  • Provider choice lets you trade cost against performance — DigitalOcean and Vultr for value, AWS and Google Cloud for depth
  • Managed stack maintenance, caching, staging and backups remove the need for a systems administrator
  • Free unlimited WordPress and WooCommerce migrations reduce the cost and risk of switching
  • Vertical scaling avoids the disruption of moving to a bigger server as a site grows
  • No long contract means the platform can be scaled down or abandoned without a prepaid commitment
2

What drives cost

  • The underlying provider, region and server size drive the base price, and prices differ substantially between providers
  • Bandwidth overage is billed at provider-specific rates that vary widely, from cents per GB to more than ten cents per GB
  • Off-site backup storage, snapshots and CDN or security add-ons are billed on top of the server fee
  • US dollar billing exposes UK buyers to exchange-rate movement and card conversion charges
  • Standard support excludes application-level work, so plugin or theme help may require a paid add-on or developer time
3

Check before you buy

  • The full monthly cost at your chosen provider, region and server size, including bandwidth overage and backup storage
  • Whether the features you need, such as staging, snapshots or Cloudflare Enterprise, are included or billed as add-ons
  • The UK VAT treatment and whether supplying a VAT ID removes the charge under the reverse charge
  • The support tier you need, since application-level help is not part of standard support
  • The migration eligibility of your application and whether managed migration requires an active paid account
  • Where your chosen provider's region places your data and whether that satisfies your data-protection position

Check current plans

See what Cloudways offers today

Plans, allowances and features change. Confirm the current position directly with Cloudways before you commit.

Check Cloudways plans and pricing

Trade-offs

Important limitations of Cloudways

  • No email, no cPanel, no root access. Cloudways is a managed platform by design. Email must be arranged elsewhere, the panel is Cloudways' own rather than cPanel, and root or sudo is unavailable, which rules it out for teams that need full server control.
  • The cost is variable and priced in dollars. Provider, region, server size and add-ons all change the monthly figure, and billing is in US dollars in arrears. UK buyers should model exchange-rate movement and VAT rather than assuming a fixed sterling cost.
  • Stopping a server does not always stop billing. For some providers a stopped server still incurs charges because IPs and disk remain assigned. The vendor documents this, but it is easy to overlook when trying to save money between projects.
  • Support does not cover your application. Standard support addresses the platform, not plugins, themes or custom code. Teams without a developer may need to buy Advanced or Premium support or pay for outside help.
  • Flexible plans scale vertically only. Growth means a bigger server rather than automatic horizontal scaling, and changing region means cloning the server. Sites with very spiky or global load may need the Autonomous plans.
  • Provider choice is a double-edged benefit. The flexibility that makes Cloudways powerful also makes it harder to compare and forecast. Buyers who want a predictable all-inclusive bill may find the model frustrating.
  • No free trial for managed migration. Managed migration is not available during the free trial, so a site must be moved on an active paid account, which adds a step for businesses wanting to test before committing.

Decision framework

Deciding on Cloudways

Consider Cloudways if

  • You have outgrown shared hosting and want cloud resources without running a server yourself
  • You value provider and region choice, including a London location, and are comfortable without cPanel
  • You want staging, caching and backups managed for you but still want to scale vertically
  • You can arrange email separately and are comfortable with a panel rather than root access
  • You want no long contract and are willing to accept US-dollar pay-as-you-go billing
  • You value published platform certifications such as SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 and PCI DSS

Look elsewhere if

  • You want a single simple monthly price with email and cPanel included
  • You need root access or full control of the server configuration
  • You have no developer or technical capacity and expect support to fix plugin and theme problems
  • You require predictable flat pricing rather than a variable bill in US dollars
  • You are hosting only a tiny brochure site that gains little from cloud infrastructure
  • You need automatic horizontal scaling for very high or spiky traffic rather than vertical growth

Pros

  • Five underlying cloud providers (DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS, Google Cloud) give real choice on price, region and performance
  • A managed layer handles OS patching, the web stack, caching and security tooling that you would otherwise run yourself
  • Free one-click staging, configurable off-site backups and vertical scaling handle the everyday operational jobs well
  • SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, GDPR and PCI DSS are published platform certifications, which is stronger evidence than many budget hosts offer
  • Unlimited free WordPress and WooCommerce migrations, London regions through multiple providers, and no long contract

Cons

  • Billing is in US dollars only, pay-as-you-go and variable, so the monthly total is harder to predict than a flat shared-hosting fee
  • There is no bundled email hosting, no cPanel and no root access — a significant adjustment for teams used to shared or unmanaged hosting
  • Standard support covers the platform, not your plugins, theme or custom code; deeper help costs extra
  • Scaling on the flexible plans is vertical only, and stopping a server does not always stop the underlying provider billing
  • The provider-and-server pricing model means the sticker price depends heavily on choices a beginner may not be ready to make

Final verdict

Where Cloudways makes sense

Cloudways solves a specific and common problem well: it lets a growing website or application use cloud infrastructure with provider and region choice, without anyone having to run the server. The managed stack, multi-layer caching, one-click staging, configurable backups, vertical scaling and published certifications are a genuinely strong package for agencies and technically comfortable teams, and the absence of a long contract keeps the relationship flexible.

The trade-offs are the price of that flexibility, and they should be chosen deliberately. There is no email, no cPanel and no root access; billing is variable and in US dollars; support stops at the platform boundary; and scaling on the flexible plans is vertical. For a beginner or a simple brochure site, those are reasons to look at a shared or managed WordPress host. For a professional or a business that has outgrown shared hosting, they are usually acceptable given the control Cloudways returns.

Before committing, verify four things with Cloudways: the full monthly cost at your provider, region and server size, including bandwidth and backup add-ons; the UK VAT treatment and whether a VAT ID removes it; the support tier needed for the help you expect; and where your chosen region places your data. If those line up with how you work, Cloudways is one of the more proportionate ways for a UK team to step up from shared hosting into managed cloud infrastructure.

Next step

See Cloudways for yourself

Review Cloudways plans, features and current pricing on the official website.

Visit Cloudways

Sources and verification

Sources behind this Cloudways review

Last checked:

Official sources used to verify

  • Pricing model: pay-as-you-go per server, hourly charging, monthly invoicing in arrears, US-dollar-only processing, entry DigitalOcean pricing and the Autonomous plan tiers and trial
  • Infrastructure providers: DigitalOcean, Linode (Akamai), Vultr, AWS and Google Cloud, their server lines, regions and bandwidth overage pricing differences
  • Platform features: managed stack, Breeze, Varnish, Redis and Object Cache Pro caching, PHP versions, one-click staging, configurable off-site backups and snapshots
  • Add-ons: off-site backup storage pricing, Cloudflare Enterprise CDN pricing, Advanced and Premium support pricing, and Rackspace Email
  • Support: 24/7 chat and ticket coverage, CloudwaysBot, the application-level exclusion from standard support, and the paid support tiers
  • Security and compliance: Imunify360 firewall, fail2ban, DDoS mitigation, free Let's Encrypt SSL, and the SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, GDPR and PCI DSS certifications
  • Data centres: 150-plus locations across the providers, London availability via multiple providers, and the fact that Cloudways does not own the data centres
  • Migrations: unlimited free WordPress and WooCommerce migration, non-WordPress per-application fees, and the exclusion of managed migration during the free trial
  • UK position: USD billing, 20% UK VAT with reverse charge for valid VAT IDs, and 24/7 support covering UK hours
  • Ownership: Cloudways is part of DigitalOcean, acquired in 2022

External source links

Verification basis

Documentation-based review: built from the official sources listed above, checked in October 2026. UK Business Stack did not run a live Cloudways server or deploy an application for this review, so behaviour described here is vendor-documented rather than independently tested. Prices vary by provider, region and server size and change frequently; confirm current pricing, VAT treatment, backup and support inclusions, migration eligibility and region placement directly with Cloudways.

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FAQ

Common questions

What is Cloudways and who is it for?

Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that runs on top of DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS and Google Cloud. It gives you a panel to launch servers and deploy WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Laravel or PHP applications while it manages the stack, caching, staging and backups. It suits agencies, developers and growing businesses that have outgrown shared hosting but do not want to run a raw server.

How does Cloudways pricing work?

You pay per server on a pay-as-you-go basis, charged hourly and invoiced monthly in arrears, in US dollars. The price depends on the provider, region and server size you choose, plus add-ons such as off-site backup storage, snapshots, Cloudflare Enterprise and support upgrades. A DigitalOcean Standard entry server was shown at around $11 a month in October 2026. Confirm current pricing with Cloudways.

Does Cloudways include email hosting?

No. Cloudways does not provide email servers. You must use a separate provider such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or a transactional email service, although Rackspace Email is available as a paid add-on. Arrange email before migrating, since it is not part of the hosting account.

Can I get root access on Cloudways?

No. Cloudways does not provide root or sudo access because the platform is managed across all customers. Equivalent settings are exposed through the panel, and file access is via SSH and SFTP on port 22. If you need full server control, an unmanaged VPS or cloud instance is the better fit.

Is there a London or UK region on Cloudways?

Yes. London is available through several providers, including DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Linode and Vultr, and Vultr also offers Manchester. Cloudways does not own the data centres, so residency depends on the provider region you select at server creation. UK customers are charged 20% VAT unless a valid VAT ID applies the reverse charge.

What support does Cloudways provide?

Standard support is 24/7 by live chat and ticket and covers the platform and infrastructure, alongside a knowledge base and CloudwaysBot alerts. Application-level help such as plugin, theme or custom code troubleshooting is excluded and requires the Advanced or Premium support add-ons, which add priority response, senior engineers and, at the Premium tier, phone and Slack access.

Can Cloudways migrate my site for free?

WordPress and WooCommerce migrations are free and unlimited, either performed by Cloudways experts or with the self-service Migrator plugin. Non-WordPress applications incur a per-application fee beyond plan quotas, and managed migration is not available during the free trial, so you must be on an active paid account.

What should I check before choosing Cloudways?

Check the full monthly cost at your chosen provider, region and server size including bandwidth overage and backup storage; the UK VAT treatment and whether a VAT ID removes it; the support tier you need because standard support excludes application help; where your region places your data; and the migration eligibility of your application. Cloudways is a managed cloud layer, so expecting cPanel, bundled email or root access will lead to disappointment.

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