Cloudways Pricing (April 2026)
How much does Cloudways cost?
Cloudways starts at $11/mo with 4 plans available.
All Plans
Cloudways Pricing Breakdown
Cloudways employs a pay-as-you-go pricing model that varies significantly based on your chosen cloud provider. The platform's pricing structure is more complex than traditional hosting but offers greater flexibility and transparency. You're billed hourly for actual usage, which means you can spin up servers for testing and only pay for the time consumed.
DigitalOcean plans start at $14 monthly for 1GB RAM, 1 CPU core, 25GB storage, and 1TB bandwidth. This represents the most affordable entry point and works well for small to medium websites. The 2GB plan at $24/month offers better performance for growing sites, while the 4GB plan at $46/month suits most business websites with moderate to high traffic.
Vultr and Linode pricing begins at $14/month for standard plans, with Vultr's High Frequency servers starting at $16/month. These providers offer better CPU performance than DigitalOcean's basic plans, making them suitable for resource-intensive applications. Vultr's high-frequency plans use NVMe storage and dedicated CPU cores, providing superior performance for eCommerce sites and dynamic applications.
AWS and Google Cloud plans start at approximately $38-39/month for 2GB RAM configurations. While significantly more expensive, these enterprise-grade providers offer unlimited scalability, advanced networking features, and global infrastructure. The pricing includes configurable disk sizes and pay-as-you-go bandwidth, making them ideal for large enterprises or applications with unpredictable traffic patterns.
It's important to note that Cloudways charges approximately 220% more than dealing directly with cloud providers like DigitalOcean or Vultr. This markup covers the managed services, support, and user-friendly control panel. Additional costs include the Cloudflare Enterprise add-on, premium support tiers, and automated backups beyond the included daily backups. For most users, the convenience and support justify the premium, but budget-conscious developers might prefer unmanaged alternatives.
Feature Breakdown by Plan
| Feature | DigitalOcean 1GB | DigitalOcean 2GB | AWS Small | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB RAM | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 25GB SSD | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 1TB bandwidth | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 2GB RAM | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| 50GB SSD | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 2TB bandwidth | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 20GB SSD | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AWS infrastructure | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| 1.7GB RAM | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| GCP infrastructure | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Team Cost Calculator
Estimated monthly costs based on team size (price per user × team members):
| Team Size | DigitalOcean 1GB | DigitalOcean 2GB | AWS Small | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 users | $55/mo | $140/mo | $192.80/mo | $187.25/mo |
| 10 users | $110/mo | $280/mo | $385.60/mo | $374.50/mo |
| 25 users | $275/mo | $700/mo | $964/mo | $936.25/mo |
| 50 users | $550/mo | $1,400/mo | $1,928/mo | $1,872.50/mo |
Is Cloudways Worth It?
There is no free tier, but most paid plans include a trial period.
Paid plans range from $11/mo (DigitalOcean 1GB) to $38.56/mo (AWS Small). Most users pick the DigitalOcean 2GB plan.
Best for: Developers, Agencies, Growing businesses. Keep in mind: no email hosting.
Cloudways Pros & Cons
- Multiple cloud providers
- Excellent performance
- Pay-as-you-go
- Free migrations
- Staging environment
- No email hosting
- Learning curve
- No domain registration
- Extra cost for add-ons