Cloudways, now part of DigitalOcean following their 2022 acquisition, is a managed cloud hosting platform that bridges the gap between raw cloud infrastructure and traditional managed hosting. Instead of provisioning servers manually on AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Vultr, or Linode, Cloudways provides a user-friendly dashboard that handles server management, security, caching, and backups automatically. Founded in 2012 in Malta, Cloudways has become the go-to platform for WordPress agencies, WooCommerce stores, and PHP application developers who want cloud-level performance without the DevOps overhead. Their stack includes Apache + Nginx (or OpenLiteSpeed), Varnish cache, Redis, Memcached, and PHP-FPM — all pre-configured and optimized. Key features include one-click staging environments, server cloning, team collaboration tools, and a built-in CDN powered by Cloudflare Enterprise. Cloudways operates on a pay-as-you-go model with no long-term contracts, making it flexible for growing businesses. The platform supports unlimited applications per server, so you can host multiple WordPress sites, Laravel apps, or Magento stores on a single instance. Support is available 24/7 with an optional premium support add-on for dedicated account management and priority response times.
Add a benchmark URL in admin and run the provider benchmark cron to display measured speed, security, and availability signals here.
Deploy on DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, or Linode — switch providers or scale infrastructure based on your needs.
Server updates, security patches, firewalls, and caching are handled automatically — cloud performance with shared hosting simplicity.
No long-term contracts required. Hourly billing with monthly caps means you only pay for what you use.
One-click staging environments and server cloning make it easy to test changes and replicate setups across projects.
Host multiple websites, WordPress installs, or applications on a single server without per-site fees.
Cloudways does not include email hosting — you'll need a third-party service like Google Workspace, Zoho, or Rackspace.
Cannot register or manage domains through Cloudways — must use external domain registrar.
The free trial is only 3 days, which is barely enough time to properly evaluate the platform for production use.
Starting at $14/mo, Cloudways is significantly more expensive than shared hosting — overkill for simple personal blogs.