Cloudways Review
Cloudways Review 2024: A Candid Perspective from a Web Developer.
This allows you to simply install WordPress (or another CMS) and get started. If you prefer to run a site without dealing with server management, Cloudways is a reliable and cost-effective cloud-based option. You can also try it out with a 3-day free trial to see if it meets your needs.
A reliable web hosting service is crucial for your website’s success, and it’s a topic I’ve frequently discussed on this blog. So, let’s dive in again!
After extensive testing and research, I bring you the Cloudways Hosting Review! Cloudways stands out from the other web hosts we’ve reviewed. Curious to know how? Read on to find out.
Having used Cloudways for over three years, I’ll be sharing results and opinions based on my personal experience. Additionally, this website is currently hosted on Cloudways. In this review, we’ll start by exploring how Cloudways distinguishes itself from other hosting providers.
4.6
Cloud Hosting ₹913 – ₹15210
London ✓
San Francisco ✓
Singapore ✓
New York ✓
Amsterdam ✓
Ranked 21 from 3860
Web Hosting
Performance: |4.9| 
Cloudways excels in performance and uptime, largely due to its partnership with top-tier cloud providers such as DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, and Google Cloud. Users experience excellent performance and response times, with reported uptimes often exceeding 99.99% across different providers.
Uptime: |4.9|
Cloudways is highly regarded for its exceptional uptime performance, consistently delivering near-perfect uptime across various cloud providers.
Customer Service: |4.8|
Cloudways offers 24/7 customer support through live chat and online ticketing. Premium support, which includes priority phone support, is available for more complex issues but at an additional cost. The support team is knowledgeable and responsive.
Pricing: |4.7|
Cloudways offers flexible pricing starting at $10 per month, with costs varying based on the chosen cloud provider and resource requirements. While the entry-level plans provide good value, higher-resource plans can become quite expensive.
Cloudways
| ⭐ Rating: | 4.7 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ |
|---|---|
| 💵 Price: | From $8.25/month | 📑 Uptime guarantee: | 100% |
| ⚙️ Hosting types: | Managed Cloud Hosting | 🌎 Server locations: | Depends on cloud hosting plan |
| 👨💻 24/7 live support: | Yes | 🔥 Coupons: | Cloudways coupon 25% OFF |
The Power of the Cloud, Without the Hassle
Cloudways, a trailblazer in cloud hosting, provides users with significant benefits such as exceptional uptime, highly flexible scalability, and overall superior performance compared to traditional web hosts.
Why consider cloud hosting at all? Cloud hosting leverages multiple servers to host your site, creating redundancy that boosts your site’s speed and security. Additionally, cloud hosting allows for quick scalability to handle traffic surges. However, setting up cloud hosting on your own can be complex and challenging.
Cloudways simplifies this process by handling the technical complexities for you, allowing you to focus on building your site. You can choose from various infrastructures like Google Cloud Platform or Amazon Web Services, and Cloudways will manage your cloud hosting for you.
Whether you are an individual freelancer creating a portfolio, a self-employed entrepreneur with an online store, or the manager of a local hair salon needing reliable cloud hosting for a WordPress site, Cloudways’ managed hosting plans make it easy and dependable to get your content onto the cloud.
Features: 4.9
Flexibility, WordPress expertise, and robust security? Absolutely!
One of Cloudways’ strengths is its flexibility. You can choose from a variety of top cloud providers, and Cloudways helps you manage everything, including WordPress and server security.
However, there is one downside: unlike most traditional hosts, Cloudways does not offer email or domain registration. If you want your own email address on your domain, you will need to find an external email solution. Cloudways does offer an elastic email add-on and an SMTP add-on to configure an external SMTP service for email delivery and management.
Why Choose Cloudways?
Cloudways allows you to select your cloud provider, such as Digital Ocean, AWS, or Google Cloud. With Cloudways Managed Cloud Hosting, they handle the complex tasks while you use their platform and interface, making the process much simpler. You enjoy all the benefits of cloud hosting without the headaches.
Here are some additional features Cloudways offers:
Optimized PHP Stack (including NGINX, Varnish Cache, Apache, Memcached, and PHP-FPM)
Choose from over 60 data centers
Easy-to-use dashboard interface
Host an unlimited number of websites
Team member collaboration
Security features include firewalls, bot protection, application isolation, and more
Three levels of 24/7/365 expert support
Automatic and on-demand data backups
Staging environment included
Free website migration
Free 3-day trial with no credit card needed.
PROS AND CONS
Exceptional Speed: With over 65 server locations and a combination of Apache and Nginx servers, Cloudways delivers excellent speed across all locations.
Unbeatable Uptime: Cloudways provides outstanding uptime performance. Even the most basic DigitalOcean server offers 99.99% uptime.
Unlimited Websites: Regardless of the Cloudways plan you choose, you can create and manage an unlimited number of websites from a single dashboard.
75 Server Locations: Partnering with five unmanaged web hosts—AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Linode, and Vultr—Cloudways provides access to over 75 data center locations.
Customizable Backups: Cloudways gives you complete control over your backups. You can set preferences for automated backups or create on-demand backups as needed.
All-Round Security: Cloudways offers a range of security features to protect your website from malicious software, unauthorized access, and malware. Their WordPress Vulnerability Scanner also identifies vulnerabilities in themes and plugins.
Good Customer Support Quality Their live chat support is impressive, with well-informed representatives who efficiently resolve queries.
Managed Cloud Service: As a Managed Hosting Provider, Cloudways simplifies server management, backups, app installations, and resource monitoring, all with just a click. You also receive responsive support and automated app updates.
Scalable: The Cloudways platform is highly flexible, allowing you to scale your servers based on traffic spikes. Their new premium Cloudways Autonomous service automatically adjusts your server size according to traffic.
Constant Updates: Cloudways frequently implements updates and new features, helping it maintain a strong position among top hosting providers.
No Extra Renewal Fee: Cloudways charges a fixed amount for both new hosting and renewals. There are no extra renewal fees, and their unique ‘pay as you go’ pricing model means you only pay for what you use.
Cloudways Cons
No Email Hosting: Cloudways does not offer free email hosting. You can enable this feature through their Rackspace add-on for $1/month for one email account.
No Free CDN: Unlike many hosting services, Cloudways does not include a free CDN with any of its plans.
Acquired by DigitalOcean: Although performance hasn’t significantly changed since Cloudways was acquired by DigitalOcean, Vultr and Linode servers are no longer available.
Slight Learning Curve: While tech-savvy users will find the Cloudways console straightforward, beginners may face a slight learning curve due to the numerous options and settings.
No Free Domain: Cloudways does not provide domain registration services. You’ll need to register your domain with another registrar like GoDaddy or Dynadot and then use Cloudways for hosting.
Higher Costs for Larger Servers: Hosting prices increase with server size. For instance, the DigitalOcean Starter plan with 25 GB of space costs $10/month, while a 160 GB server costs $88/month.
Popular Web Hosting Provider
CLOUDWAYS PRICING |4.7|
Cloudways allows you to choose between monthly or hourly payments, depending on your preference.
While using Cloudways might be more expensive compared to going directly through cloud providers, you’re paying for the Cloudways control panel, security features, and support services. The added value includes WordPress-specific optimizations that help your site load faster and run smoothly.
Cloudways lets you scale your hosting plan up or down as needed, ensuring you only pay for the server resources you actually use. This feature is common among hosting providers, but it’s worth noting. At the end of each month, Cloudways bills you based on the resources consumed during that period.
You can test Cloudways’ services with a free three-day trial. Although three days isn’t a lot of time, it will give you a glimpse of how the service operates. Cloudways doesn’t offer a standard 30-, 60-, or 90-day money-back guarantee, but the pay-as-you-go pricing somewhat eliminates the need for such a guarantee.
| DigitalOcean | AWS | Google Cloud | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introductory Pricing (per Month) | INR 915.85 ($11) | INR 3210.46 ($38.56) | INR 3118.04 ($37.45) |
| Renewal Pricing | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Contract Lengths | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Available | - | - | - |
| Storage | 25GB to 3840GB | 20GB | 20GB |
| Bandwidth | 1TB to 12TB | 2GB | 2GB |
| Free Domain Name | No | No | No |
| Free SSL Certificate | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| cPanel | No | No | No |
| Business Email | No | No | No |
| Uptime Guarantee | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Money-Back Guarantee | No | No | No |
| Customer Support | Email, chat, online FAQ | Email, chat, online FAQ | Email, chat, online FAQ |
Running WordPress with Cloudways
When signing up, you can choose WordPress as your application. It will be pre-installed and ready for you when you access your server. Through the Cloudways dashboard, you can easily access both the front and back ends of your WordPress site.
Website Speed and Performance
Cloudways delivers excellent website speed and performance. You’ll notice a significant difference while using the front end of your site, and our separate speed tests also show impressive results.
The combination of top cloud providers, performance and database optimizations, NGINX, and Varnish Cache ensures exceptionally fast websites. For WordPress users, the Cloudways Breeze plugin further enhances speed by optimizing your databases for quicker response times.
Below are some of our sample speed test results from GTmetrix:
Data Backup and Restore
Cloudways offers impressive data backup features. You can set the frequency of automatic backups and define your data retention period—up to 4 weeks. Additionally, you have the option to perform on-demand backups at both the server level and the application level.
Website Staging
The website staging functionality in Cloudways is highly effective. I was able to create my staging environment quickly and easily and push changes back to my live site without any issues. The only minor confusion was that, unlike the management screen for your production site, there’s no direct link to access the admin side of your staging site. Instead, you need to add the wp-login.php suffix to your URL. It’s a small inconvenience but might be a bit confusing the first time you use their staging feature.
Cloudways Security |4.8|
Cloudways offers robust security features, including Login Security, Firewalls, Bot Protection, SSL Certificates, Application Isolation, Two-Factor Authentication, and End-to-End Encryption, among others.
You’ll experience Cloudways’ security measures right from the login process, as all devices are verified. Additionally, you can monitor the status of your Bot Protection from your Cloudways dashboard.
You can also easily obtain your free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates directly from your dashboard.
Cloudways Safe Updates
If you use WordPress for managing and publishing your blog posts, you could be at risk. Plugins and themes in WordPress might have vulnerabilities that could compromise your entire website.
To address this, Cloudways has introduced a great solution called Safe Updates for WordPress. This feature works by backing up your website and creating a staging environment before applying updates.
Updates are carried out on the staging site, with screenshots taken before and after the updates. Following this, various speed and performance tests are conducted on the staging site to identify any issues or errors.
Yes, Cloudways is known for its user-friendly hosting management platform. Here are some aspects that contribute to its ease of use: Website Speed |4.8|
Cloudways is known for its focus on performance and speed optimization. Here are several aspects that contribute to the high website speed on Cloudways:
Cloudways Cloud Hosting
| Plan Name | Storage | Bandwidth | CPU | RAM | Price | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DO1GB | 25 GB | 1 TB | 1 CORE | 1 GB | ₹913 | More details |
| DO2GB | 50 GB | 2 TB | 1 CORE | 2 GB | ₹1992 | More details |
| DO4GB | 80 GB | 4 TB | 2 CORES | 4 GB | ₹3819 | More details |
| DO8GB | 160 GB | 5 TB | 4 CORES | 8 GB | ₹7305 | More details |
| Linode1GB | 25 GB | 1 TB | 1 CORE | 1 GB | ₹1162 | More details |
| Linode2GB | 50 GB | 2 TB | 1 CORE | 2 GB | ₹2324 | More details |
| Linode4GB | 80 GB | 4 TB | 2 CORES | 4 GB | ₹4898 | More details |
| Linode8GB | 160 GB | 5 TB | 4 CORES | 8 GB | ₹8716 | More details |
| VULTR1GB | 25 GB | 1 TB | 1 CORE | 1 GB | ₹1162 | More details |
| VULTR2GB | 40 GB | 2 TB | 1 CORE | 2 GB | ₹2324 | More details |
| VULTR4GB | 60 GB | 3 TB | 2 CORES | 4 GB | ₹4483 | More details |
| VULTR8GB | 100 GB | 4 TB | 4 CORES | 8 GB | ₹8218 | More details |
| AWS Small | 20 GB | 2 GB | 1.75GB | 1.75GB | ₹3201 | More details |
| AWS Medium | 20 GB | 2 GB | 3.75GB | 3.75GB | ₹7624 | More details |
| AWS CO Large | 20 GB | 2 GB | 4GB | 4GB | ₹13656 | More details |
| AWS Large | 20 GB | 2 GB | 8 GB | 8 GB | ₹15210 | More details |
| GCE Small | 20 GB | 2 GB | 1vCPU | 1.70 GB | ₹3109 | More details |
Frequently Asked Question.
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that offers cloud hosting solutions through multiple cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Linode, and Vultr. It simplifies server management with a user-friendly control panel.
Cloudways partners with several cloud providers, including AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), DigitalOcean, Linode, and Vultr.
Cloudways offers a flexible pay-as-you-go pricing model. You can choose to pay monthly or by the hour, and you’re billed based on the resources you use. There are no extra renewal fees, and you can prepay for services if desired.
Yes, Cloudways provides a free 3-day trial with no credit card required. This allows you to test their services before committing.
Yes, you can host an unlimited number of websites on any Cloudways plan, allowing you to manage all your sites from a single dashboard.
Cloudways offers customizable backup options. You can set the frequency of automated backups and create on-demand backups at both the server and application levels. Data retention can be set for up to 4 weeks.
Cloudways includes several security features such as firewalls, bot protection, SSL certificates, application isolation, two-factor authentication, and end-to-end encryption. They also offer a WordPress Vulnerability Scanner.
Yes, Cloudways provides robust support for WordPress, including one-click installations, a dedicated Breeze plugin for optimization, and the ability to create staging environments
Yes, Cloudways allows you to easily scale your server resources up or down based on traffic needs. They also offer a premium Cloudways Autonomous service for automatic scaling.
No, Cloudways does not provide free email hosting. You can use their Rackspace add-on for email services at $1/month per account.
No, Cloudways does not include a free CDN with its plans. You will need to use a third-party CDN service if you require one.
Cloudways offers 24/7 customer support through live chat, with well-informed representatives available to assist with technical issues and queries.
Yes, Cloudways provides a free one-time website migration. If you need additional migrations, you can use their WordPress Migrator Plugin or request further assistance.
Cloudways provides scalable solutions, so you can adjust your plan as needed. They charge based on the resources used, so you can upgrade or scale your server to accommodate increased demand.
Cloudways does not have a standard 30-, 60-, or 90-day money-back guarantee due to its pay-as-you-go pricing model. However, you can test their services with the free 3-day trial.
No, Cloudways does not offer domain registration services. You need to register your domain with a separate domain registrar like GoDaddy or Dynadot and then use Cloudways for hosting.
