Last Updated on May 21, 2026
Quick Verdict
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that gives you real cloud infrastructure without needing to manage servers yourself. It is not the cheapest option, but it delivers consistent performance, no renewal price hikes, and genuine scalability. Best for businesses in the Build and Scale stages of growth.
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8.2/10 Overall |
8.5/10 Performance |
7.0/10 Value |
7.5/10 Ease of Use |
8.0/10 Support |
Last Updated on May 20, 2026
There is a moment in every growing business where shared hosting starts to hurt.
Pages load slower. Traffic spikes cause wobbles. Support tickets pile up about things you cannot fix because you share server resources with hundreds of other sites.
Cloudways is built for that exact transition point.
It is not a traditional web host. It is a managed platform that sits on top of real cloud providers (DigitalOcean, Vultr, AWS, Google Cloud, Linode) and handles the server management for you. You pick the provider, the data centre, and the server size. Cloudways handles the stack, the security, and the updates.
Important context: Cloudways was acquired by DigitalOcean in 2022. It continues to operate as a separate platform, but DigitalOcean ownership means the DigitalOcean integration is particularly tight. This is worth knowing if provider independence matters to you.
The question is not whether Cloudways is good. It is whether your business is at the stage where it makes sense.
What Cloudways Actually Is
Cloudways is not a hosting provider in the traditional sense. It does not own servers. It does not sell domains. It does not include email.
What it does is manage cloud infrastructure on your behalf. You choose one of five cloud providers, pick a server location (London is available via DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud), and Cloudways configures the entire server stack.
That stack includes Nginx, Apache, Varnish caching, Redis, Memcached, PHP-FPM, and Cloudflare Enterprise CDN. All pre-configured. All managed.
The practical difference: on shared hosting, you share CPU, RAM, and bandwidth with other sites. On Cloudways, your resources are dedicated. Your 2GB server is your 2GB server. Nobody else touches it.
Note: Cloudways prices are in USD. There is no GBP billing option. Your bank or payment provider will handle the conversion, so actual costs will fluctuate slightly with exchange rates. Budget accordingly.
Where Cloudways Is Strong
1. Genuine Cloud Performance
This is the core selling point and it delivers. Dedicated resources mean consistent load times, not the lottery you get with shared hosting where one neighbour’s traffic spike slows your site down.
The pre-configured stack handles caching at multiple layers. Varnish sits at the HTTP level, Redis handles object caching, and Cloudflare Enterprise CDN distributes static content globally. For WordPress and WooCommerce sites, this combination produces noticeably faster page loads than most shared hosting environments.
Performance context: A well-optimised WordPress site on Cloudways DigitalOcean (2GB plan) will typically load in under 1 second with proper caching enabled. That is significantly faster than most shared hosting providers under comparable conditions. The difference becomes more pronounced under traffic load.
Cloudways also reports 99.99% uptime across its infrastructure. For businesses where downtime directly costs money, that reliability matters.
2. London Data Centre for UK Businesses
Server location affects page speed. The closer your server is to your visitors, the lower the latency.
Cloudways offers London data centres through DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud. For UK businesses serving a predominantly British audience, this is a meaningful advantage over providers that only offer US or EU data centres.
If your customers are in the UK, your server should be too. Cloudways makes that straightforward.
3. No Renewal Price Hikes
This deserves its own section because it is one of the most significant differences between Cloudways and traditional hosting.
Most shared hosting providers offer a low introductory price, then increase it substantially on renewal. A plan advertised at $2.99/month might renew at $10.99/month. You budget for one cost and inherit another.
Cloudways does not do this. It is pay-as-you-go. The price you pay in month one is the price you pay in month twelve. And month twenty-four. No contracts, no lock-in, no surprise increases.
For cash flow planning, this predictability is valuable. You know exactly what hosting costs next quarter.
4. Scaling Without Migration
On shared hosting, when you outgrow your plan, you migrate. New provider, DNS changes, downtime risk, testing. It takes time and introduces risk.
On Cloudways, you scale vertically. Need more RAM? Upgrade the server. Takes minutes. Your site, files, databases, and configurations stay exactly where they are.
You can also clone servers, launch additional applications on the same server, or spin up entirely new servers in different regions. For agencies managing multiple client sites, this flexibility is particularly useful.
5. Developer and Agency Features
Cloudways includes features that shared hosting typically does not offer or charges extra for:
- One-click staging environments: Test changes on a copy of your live site before pushing them live. Essential for any site that generates revenue.
- SSH and SFTP access: Full command-line access for developers who need it.
- Git integration: Deploy directly from Git repositories.
- Team management: Add team members with granular access controls. Useful for agencies and businesses with external developers.
- Server cloning: Duplicate your entire server configuration for testing or launching new projects.
- Automated backups: Configurable backup frequency with one-click restore.
For a solo business owner, some of these features are unnecessary. For an agency or a business with a development team, they justify the price premium over shared hosting.
6. Cloudflare Enterprise CDN
Cloudways includes Cloudflare Enterprise CDN on all plans. This is not the free Cloudflare tier that anyone can set up. Enterprise-level CDN provides better caching, DDoS protection, and global content distribution.
For UK businesses serving international traffic, or for sites with heavy media content, this is a genuine performance advantage included in the base price.
Where Cloudways Falls Short
1. No Email Hosting
Cloudways does not include email. No webmail, no SMTP, no POP3. Nothing.
You will need a separate email provider. Options include Google Workspace (from $7.20/user/month), Microsoft 365 (from $6/user/month), or a dedicated email host like Zoho Mail (free tier available for up to 5 users).
This is the most common frustration for businesses migrating from shared hosting, where email is typically bundled in. Budget for it separately.
2. Higher Cost Than Shared Hosting
The entry point is $14/month on DigitalOcean. Compare that to shared hosting providers offering plans from $2 to $4/month.
The cost difference is real. But the comparison is misleading if you only look at the sticker price. Shared hosting shares resources. Cloud hosting dedicates them. The performance gap widens under load, and the true cost of slow hosting (lost conversions, higher bounce rates, wasted ad spend) often exceeds the price difference.
Still, if your site is a simple brochure with minimal traffic, the premium is harder to justify.
3. No Domain Registration
Cloudways does not sell domains. You register and manage your domain elsewhere (Namecheap, Google Domains, Cloudflare Registrar) and point your DNS to your Cloudways server.
This is straightforward if you are comfortable with DNS settings. Less so if you want everything in one dashboard.
4. Learning Curve
If you have only used cPanel-based shared hosting, the Cloudways dashboard will feel different. It is well-designed, but the concepts are different. You are managing servers and applications, not just a hosting account.
The platform has improved its onboarding significantly, and most WordPress users adapt within a day or two. But it is not instant.
5. AWS and Google Cloud Bandwidth Costs
DigitalOcean and Vultr include bandwidth in their pricing. AWS and Google Cloud do not. Bandwidth on those providers is billed separately, and for high-traffic sites, it can add meaningful cost.
If you are considering AWS or Google Cloud through Cloudways, model your bandwidth usage before committing. For most UK small businesses, DigitalOcean or Vultr is the practical choice.
Cost warning: AWS bandwidth is approximately $0.09 per GB after the first 1GB. A site serving 100GB/month in bandwidth would add roughly $9/month to your bill. For most small business WordPress sites, bandwidth usage stays well within included allowances on DigitalOcean and Vultr. But if you serve large files or video, check the numbers.
6. No Phone Support on Base Plan
24/7 support is available via live chat and ticketing. It is generally responsive and competent for hosting-related issues.
Phone support requires the Premium Support add-on, which costs extra. For businesses that prefer picking up the phone when something breaks, this is worth noting.
Performance: What You Actually Get
Performance claims are easy to make. Here is what the Cloudways stack actually delivers and why it matters for your business.
The stack: Every Cloudways server runs a pre-configured combination of Nginx (web server), Apache (application server), Varnish (HTTP cache), Redis or Memcached (object cache), PHP-FPM (PHP processing), and Cloudflare Enterprise CDN (global content delivery). This is the same type of stack that enterprise sites pay thousands to configure manually.
Dedicated Resources vs Shared
On shared hosting, your 2GB plan means you might get 2GB of RAM available to your account, but you share CPU and I/O with dozens or hundreds of other sites. During peak times, everyone slows down.
On Cloudways, your 2GB server has 2GB of RAM dedicated to your applications alone. CPU cores are allocated, not shared. This means your site performs consistently regardless of what other Cloudways customers are doing.
The practical impact: more consistent TTFB (Time to First Byte), more predictable load times under traffic spikes, and fewer unexplained slowdowns.
Caching Layers
Cloudways implements caching at three levels:
- Varnish (HTTP level): Serves cached pages directly without hitting PHP. Dramatically reduces server load for repeat visitors.
- Redis/Memcached (object level): Caches database queries so WordPress does not need to repeat expensive lookups.
- Cloudflare Enterprise (CDN level): Distributes static assets (images, CSS, JavaScript) to edge servers globally.
Together, these three layers mean that a returning visitor to your site often receives a fully cached page from a server near them, with no PHP execution or database queries required. That is fast.
WooCommerce note: E-commerce sites benefit particularly from object caching via Redis. Product pages, cart calculations, and checkout processes all involve database-heavy operations. Redis reduces the load on your database, which means faster page loads during busy shopping periods.
Uptime
Cloudways reports 99.99% uptime across its infrastructure. This translates to roughly 52 minutes of downtime per year. For context, 99.9% uptime (offered by many shared hosts) allows roughly 8.7 hours per year.
If your business loses money when your website is down (e-commerce, lead generation, booking systems), the difference between 99.9% and 99.99% is meaningful.
Cloudways Pricing: Full Breakdown (May 2026)
Cloudways pricing is based on the cloud provider you choose and the server resources you select. All prices are in USD and billed monthly with no long-term contracts required.
All prices USD, billed monthly, pay-as-you-go. No contracts. Prices are the same on renewal. AWS and Google Cloud bandwidth is billed separately. Source: Cloudways.com, May 2026
Which Provider Should You Choose?
For most UK small businesses, the answer is DigitalOcean or Vultr High Frequency.
DigitalOcean is the lowest cost entry point and performs well for WordPress, WooCommerce, and general business sites. It has a London data centre, and as the company that owns Cloudways, the integration is seamless.
Vultr High Frequency costs slightly more but uses NVMe storage and higher-clock-speed CPUs. If speed is a priority (e-commerce, landing pages for paid ads), the extra $2/month is worth it.
AWS and Google Cloud are enterprise options. Unless you have a specific compliance requirement or need integration with other AWS/GCP services, they add cost without meaningful benefit for most small businesses.
Whito recommendation: Start with DigitalOcean 2GB ($28/mo) if your site drives revenue. The 1GB plan works for low-traffic sites, but 2GB gives comfortable headroom for WordPress with caching plugins, WooCommerce, and moderate traffic without performance constraints.
Feature Comparison Across Providers
Not all Cloudways plans are identical. The cloud provider you choose affects features, storage type, and bandwidth handling.
What Is Included (and What Is Not)
Cloudways bundles some features that other hosts charge extra for. But it also omits things that shared hosting providers include by default. Here is a clear breakdown.
Cloudways and the Whito Framework: Which Stage Are You?
Not every business needs cloud hosting. Not every business should avoid it. The decision depends on where you are in your growth.
The honest test: If your shared hosting is working fine and your site gets under 5,000 monthly visitors, you probably do not need Cloudways yet. Save the money. If shared hosting is causing slow load times, downtime during traffic spikes, or your site directly generates revenue that depends on performance, that is when Cloudways earns its cost.
Cloudways in Practice: A UK Business Example
A Manchester-based e-commerce business sells handmade candles. They started on shared hosting at $3/month. It worked fine for the first year when they were getting 50 to 100 orders per month through organic traffic and word of mouth.
Then they started running Instagram ads. Traffic increased. During a Christmas promotion, their site slowed noticeably. Pages that normally loaded in 2 seconds took 5 or more. Cart abandonment spiked. They lost sales they could measure.
What Changed
They migrated to Cloudways on DigitalOcean 2GB with a London data centre. Total cost: $28/month plus $7.20/month for Google Workspace email. Monthly hosting cost went from $3 to roughly $35.
The result: consistent sub-second load times, no slowdowns during ad campaigns, and a checkout process that did not stall under traffic. The extra $32/month in hosting cost was recovered within the first week of stable ad performance.
What They Did Not Need
They did not need AWS. They did not need a 4GB server. They did not need Google Cloud. The DigitalOcean 2GB plan handled their WooCommerce store with roughly 500 products and 3,000 to 5,000 monthly visitors comfortably.
Cloudways was right for them because their site had crossed the line from “nice to have” to “revenue infrastructure.” Below that line, shared hosting is fine.
Cloudways vs Competitors
Here is how Cloudways compares with the hosting providers UK small businesses most commonly consider at this price point.
Entry prices based on lowest available plan with annual billing where applicable. Source: Provider websites, May 2026
vs Hostinger
Hostinger is cheaper, includes email and a free domain, and offers a Manchester data centre for UK businesses. For Start-stage businesses, it is the better choice.
Where Cloudways pulls ahead: dedicated resources mean more consistent performance under traffic. No renewal price hikes means predictable long-term costs. Staging environments, SSH access, and server-level control give technical teams more flexibility.
The real difference shows up under load. If you run paid ads, operate a WooCommerce store, or depend on your site for lead generation, Cloudways handles traffic spikes more gracefully than shared hosting.
vs SiteGround
SiteGround is a managed WordPress host with strong support (including phone), email included, and a London data centre. It is a popular upgrade from budget shared hosting.
The trade-offs: SiteGround has renewal price increases (introductory pricing jumps significantly after the first term). Cloudways does not. SiteGround is easier for beginners. Cloudways offers more control and flexibility.
For businesses that want phone support and a hands-off WordPress experience, SiteGround is compelling. For businesses that want cloud-level performance, scaling flexibility, and predictable pricing, Cloudways wins.
When to Choose Each
Is Cloudways Right for Your Business?
Good Fit
WooCommerce stores with growing order volume
Businesses running paid advertising to their website
Sites where page speed directly affects conversions or revenue
Agencies managing multiple WordPress client sites
Businesses outgrowing shared hosting and experiencing performance issues
UK businesses needing a London data centre with managed cloud infrastructure
Teams that need staging, SSH, and Git-based deployment workflows
Not the Right Fit
New businesses with a brochure site and minimal traffic
Anyone who wants email, domain, and hosting in one dashboard
Budget-first businesses where $14/mo is a stretch
Non-technical users who are uncomfortable without cPanel
Sites with under 1,000 monthly visitors and no revenue dependency
Businesses that need phone support as standard
Side projects, hobby blogs, or testing environments where cost matters more than speed
Migrating to Cloudways: What to Expect
Moving from shared hosting to Cloudways is a common migration path. Here is what the process looks like in practice.
Free Migration
Cloudways offers free migration for your first website. Their support team handles the technical transfer. For WordPress sites, they use a migration plugin that moves files, databases, and configurations.
The process typically takes a few hours. You verify the migrated site on a temporary URL before switching your DNS. Downtime is minimal if planned correctly.
What You Need to Handle Separately
- DNS changes: You point your domain to your new Cloudways server. If your domain is with Namecheap or Cloudflare, this is a simple A record update.
- Email migration: Since Cloudways does not include email, you need to set up a separate email provider before or during migration. Do not let email lapse.
- SSL certificate: Cloudways generates a free Let’s Encrypt SSL after DNS propagation. There may be a brief period where your new server does not have SSL until propagation completes.
Whito tip: Set up your email provider (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Zoho) before migrating to Cloudways. Update your MX records first, wait 24 hours for propagation, then migrate hosting. This ensures no gap in email service.
Security on Cloudways
Cloudways handles server-level security. You handle application-level security. The split is clear.
What Cloudways Manages
- OS-level patching and updates
- Server firewall with IP whitelisting
- Two-factor authentication on your Cloudways account
- DDoS protection via Cloudflare Enterprise CDN
- Automated backups with one-click restore
- SSH key authentication (no password-based SSH)
What You Need to Handle
- WordPress core, theme, and plugin updates
- Application-level security (Wordfence, Sucuri, or iThemes Security)
- Strong admin passwords and user access management
- Regular review of installed plugins for vulnerabilities
The server-level security is solid. But Cloudways does not scan your WordPress installation for malware or vulnerabilities. Use a dedicated WordPress security plugin for that layer.
Support: What You Get
Cloudways support is available 24/7 via live chat and ticketing. Response times are generally fast, and the support team handles server-level issues competently.
What Support Covers
- Server configuration and troubleshooting
- Migration assistance (first site free)
- Performance optimisation at the server level
- DNS and SSL setup guidance
- Backup and restore assistance
What Support Does Not Cover
- WordPress theme or plugin issues
- Custom code debugging
- SEO or marketing questions
- Email setup (since they do not provide email)
For most UK small businesses, the live chat support is sufficient. If you need phone support, the Premium Support add-on provides it, but adds to the monthly cost.
Support reality check: If you are used to SiteGround-level support where the team will troubleshoot WordPress plugin conflicts for you, Cloudways is more limited. Their expertise is server infrastructure, not application code. For WordPress-specific help, consider a maintenance service or a developer on retainer.
The Whito View
The Whito View
Cloudways occupies a specific gap in the hosting market. It is the step up from shared hosting for businesses that need real performance but do not want to manage servers themselves.
It is not for everyone. If your site is a brochure with 500 monthly visitors, shared hosting does the job. If your site drives revenue and performance matters, Cloudways delivers.
The no-renewal-hike pricing is genuinely unusual and valuable. The lack of email hosting is genuinely inconvenient. Both are real.
For UK businesses, the London data centre options through DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud make it a practical choice for serving British audiences with low latency.
The right time for Cloudways is when your website stops being a cost centre and starts being revenue infrastructure. That is when the investment makes sense.
Whito Takeaway
Cloudways is managed cloud hosting that earns its price once your site earns its keep.
For Start-stage businesses, it is premature. The cost is higher than shared hosting, email is not included, and the performance advantage is wasted on low-traffic sites.
For Build and Scale-stage businesses, it is a strong choice. Dedicated resources, consistent performance, predictable pricing, London data centres, and the ability to scale without migration make it a solid foundation for growth.
The decision is simple. If your website directly generates revenue, leads, or conversions, invest in the infrastructure that protects that revenue. If it does not yet, use shared hosting and revisit when it does.
Infrastructure should match ambition. Not exceed it.
Cloudways: Common Questions Before You Buy
Sources & Editorial Standards
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