Cloudways Review: Pros, Cons, Features & Pricing
Cloudways is a cloud platform as a service for teams that need managed hosting on major cloud infrastructure providers—AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode—without configuring and maintaining servers manually. I'd mainly consider it if you want more infrastructure flexibility and cloud provider choice than Heroku gives you, but without the operational overhead of managing raw cloud environments through a provider console directly.
Cloudways Evaluation Summary
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Cloudways Overview
Cloudways gives your team flexibility and ease with its user-friendly interface and excellent performance in managed cloud hosting.
pros
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You get a user-friendly interface that simplifies server management.
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Your team can enjoy excellent performance and uptime.
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You have access to flexible server customization options.
cons
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You might find the customer support response time slow.
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You could experience occasional bugs in the platform.
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You may miss more advanced features found in specialized hosting solutions.
Is Cloudways Right For Your Needs?
Who Would be a Good Fit for Cloudways?
Cloudways is well-suited for small to medium-sized businesses and digital agencies that need reliable hosting without deep technical expertise. If your team values performance and flexibility, Cloudways’s user-friendly interface and customizable server options make it ideal. E-commerce sites also benefit from its excellent uptime and performance, ensuring smooth customer experiences. Its capabilities allow you to focus on growing your business rather than managing servers.
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Small Businesses
Cloudways offers easy server management, letting you focus on business growth.
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Digital Agencies
Your agency can leverage its flexibility and performance to deliver client projects efficiently.
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E-commerce Sites
Expect excellent uptime and performance, ensuring smooth transactions for your customers.
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Freelancers
You get a cost-effective solution with flexible server options to match your project needs.
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Developers
Enjoy the customization options that allow you to tailor the hosting environment to your project.
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Startups
Cloudways provides a scalable and manageable hosting solution to support your growth.
Who Would be a Bad Fit for Cloudways?
Large enterprises with complex IT needs might find Cloudways lacking, as it doesn’t offer the advanced features and dedicated support that such companies often require. If your team needs extensive compliance features or deep integrations with existing systems, Cloudways might not meet your expectations. Additionally, if your business relies heavily on cutting-edge technology stacks or custom solutions, you could find Cloudways’s offerings too limited.
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Large Enterprises
You might miss the advanced features and dedicated support typical of enterprise solutions.
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Compliance-Heavy Industries
Cloudways lacks extensive compliance features needed for industries with strict regulations.
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Highly Custom Solutions
If you rely on complex custom solutions, Cloudways’s offerings may not be flexible enough.
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Tech-Heavy Startups
Your cutting-edge technology stacks might not integrate well with Cloudways’s platform.
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Financial Institutions
You may require more robust security features than Cloudways provides.
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Healthcare Providers
Cloudways might not meet the stringent data handling and compliance requirements of healthcare.
Our Review Methodology
How We Test & Score Tools
We’ve spent years building, refining, and improving our software testing and scoring system. The rubric is designed to capture the nuances of software selection and what makes a tool effective, focusing on critical aspects of the decision-making process.
Below, you can see exactly how our testing and scoring works across seven criteria. It allows us to provide an unbiased evaluation of the software based on core functionality, standout features, ease of use, onboarding, customer support, integrations, customer reviews, and value for money.
Core Functionality (25% of final scoring)
The starting point of our evaluation is always the core functionality of the tool. Does it have the basic features and functions that a user would expect to see? Are any of those core features locked to higher-tiered pricing plans? At its core, we expect a tool to stand up against the baseline capabilities of its competitors.
Standout Features (25% of final scoring)
Next, we evaluate uncommon standout features that go above and beyond the core functionality typically found in tools of its kind. A high score reflects specialized or unique features that make the product faster, more efficient, or offer additional value to the user.
We also evaluate how easy it is to integrate with other tools typically found in the tech stack to expand the functionality and utility of the software. Tools offering plentiful native integrations, 3rd party connections, and API access to build custom integrations score best.
Ease of Use (10% of final scoring)
We consider how quick and easy it is to execute the tasks defined in the core functionality using the tool. High scoring software is well designed, intuitive to use, offers mobile apps, provides templates, and makes relatively complex tasks seem simple.
Onboarding (10% of final scoring)
We know how important rapid team adoption is for a new platform, so we evaluate how easy it is to learn and use a tool with minimal training. We evaluate how quickly a team member can get set up and start using the tool with no experience. High scoring solutions indicate little or no support is required.
Customer Support (10% of final scoring)
We review how quick and easy it is to get unstuck and find help by phone, live chat, or knowledge base. Tools and companies that provide real-time support score best, while chatbots score worst.
Customer Reviews (10% of final scoring)
Beyond our own testing and evaluation, we consider the net promoter score from current and past customers. We review their likelihood, given the option, to choose the tool again for the core functionality. A high scoring software reflects a high net promoter score from current or past customers.
Value for Money (10% of final scoring)
Lastly, in consideration of all the other criteria, we review the average price of entry level plans against the core features and consider the value of the other evaluation criteria. Software that delivers more, for less, will score higher.
Core Features
Server Management
You can easily manage your servers through a user-friendly dashboard, which simplifies tasks like scaling and monitoring.
Performance Optimization
Cloudways uses advanced caching mechanisms to ensure your site runs quickly and efficiently, benefitting your user experience.
Security Features
Your work is protected with regular security patches and dedicated firewalls, keeping your data safe from threats.
Automated Backups
Enjoy peace of mind with automated backups, ensuring your data is always recoverable if something goes wrong.
Staging Environment
Test your changes safely in a staging environment before going live, preventing disruptions to your live site.
24/7 Monitoring
You get round-the-clock server monitoring, allowing you to catch and address issues before they impact your users.
Standout Features
Pay-As-You-Go Model
Cloudways offers a flexible payment model, letting you pay only for the resources you use, which is perfect for managing costs.
CloudwaysCDN
With CloudwaysCDN, you can speed up your site's delivery to users around the world, enhancing global performance and user satisfaction.
Ease of Use
Cloudways stands out for its user-friendly dashboard that makes server management straightforward, even if you’re not a tech expert. The intuitive interface lets your team handle tasks like scaling and monitoring with ease. Users appreciate the simplicity of its automated backups and one-click staging environment, which save time and reduce errors. Compared to other platforms, Cloudways offers a smoother experience with its clear navigation and accessible features, making it ideal for teams focused on productivity.
Onboarding
Cloudways offers a decent onboarding experience, guiding new users through setup with clear instructions and helpful resources. While the initial setup is straightforward, some users feel the need for more detailed tutorials to fully utilize all features. Support is available, but response times can be slow, which might delay your progress. Despite this, the platform’s documentation and community forums provide valuable insights, helping your team get up and running efficiently.
Customer Support
Cloudways provides customer support through live chat and ticketing, but users often find the response times slower than expected. While the support team is knowledgeable, the delay can be frustrating when you’re facing urgent issues. Despite these challenges, the platform’s extensive documentation and active community forum offer valuable assistance, helping your team troubleshoot and find solutions independently. However, if immediate support is critical for your work, you might find Cloudways lacking in this area.
Integrations
Integrations include WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Joomla, Drupal, GitHub, Slack, Cloudflare, New Relic, Elastic Email, Mailchimp, and PrestaShop.
Value for Money
Cloudways pricing is flexible, letting you pick server types and providers based on your needs and budget. Users like that you can start as low as $14/month and scale easily. Its pay-as-you-go setup and server-level control offer strong value for managed hosting.
- Micro: Basic setup with 1GB RAM, good for personal sites and small blogs.
- Small: Doubles RAM and storage; ideal for growing traffic.
- Medium: Adds more power with 4GB RAM and 2 CPUs for high-traffic sites.
- Large: Handles heavy workloads like e-commerce or media-heavy platforms.
Cloudways Specs
- API
- Bug Tracking
- CI/CD Integration
- Cloud Deployment
- Code Review
- Code Transformation
- Collaboration Support
- Data Export
- Data Import
- Developer Tools
- External Integrations
- Git Integration
- History/Version Control
- IDE Plugins
- Local Deployment
- Multi-User
- Notifications
- Project Management
- Release Management
- Static Analysis
- Task Scheduling/Tracking
- Testing
Cloudways FAQs
How does Cloudways handle data security and compliance?
Can I migrate my existing website to Cloudways?
What kind of performance optimization does Cloudways offer?
Is there a staging environment available on Cloudways?
How reliable is Cloudways’s uptime?
Can I customize server settings on Cloudways?
What kind of support does Cloudways offer?
How does Cloudways handle backups?
Cloudways Company Overview & History
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform founded in 2012 and based in St. Julian’s, Malta (and also listed as New York in some records) with around 264 employees before its acquisition. It lets you host websites and apps on infrastructure from providers like DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud, while handling server management, security patches, backups, and performance optimizations. In August 2022, DigitalOcean bought Cloudways for $350 million after the companies had worked together since 2014; Cloudways generated over $52 million in revenue for fiscal 2022 and had grown rapidly, serving tens of thousands of customers. Your team benefits from Cloudways’ platform simplicity, 24/7 expert support, and its integration into DigitalOcean’s broader cloud ecosystem.
Cloudways Major Milestones
- 2012: Founded by Aaqib Gadit and Pere Hospital to simplify managed cloud hosting.
- 2014: Began close partnership with DigitalOcean’s infrastructure.
- 2022: Acquired by DigitalOcean for $350 million in cash.
- 2022: Generated over $52 million in revenue with 3‑year CAGR > 50%.
- 2025: Launched Cloudways Copilot, an AI tool for server management (public preview).
What's Next?
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