Short lead: This guide shows real costs. No fluff. Read fast. Make a clear call. Use the numbers to pick the right plan.
Cloudways adds a managed layer over popular cloud providers. You pick the cloud. You pay the cloud price. You also pay Cloudways’ management price.
This model is different from shared hosting. Shared hosting charges a fixed fee. Cloudways lets you scale. You pay for what you use.
Three main cost drivers:
- Server size. More RAM and CPU costs more.
- Bandwidth. Data out can add up for busy sites.
- Application type. WordPress is light. WooCommerce and Magento need more resources.
Zero commitment: No annual lock. No cancellation fee. You can spin servers up or down.
Bottom line: You get control and flexibility. But you must watch usage.
Cloudways Pricing Tables & Cost Comparison (2026)
Below are real, publish-ready numbers. Use them on your page.
DigitalOcean, Linode, and Vultr Pricing (1GB-ish entry tier)
| Provider | Typical entry price (monthly) | Quick notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudways (DigitalOcean stack) | ~$11 / month (managed) | Cloudways adds a management layer and convenience. This is Cloudways’ managed entry price for the DigitalOcean option. |
| DigitalOcean (Droplet) | $4 / month | Unmanaged. 1 vCPU, 1GB, monthly capped billing. |
| Linode (Nanode) | $5 / month | Unmanaged 1GB shared CPU plan. |
| Vultr (Shared) | $3.50 / month | Cheapest shared entry plans on some SKUs. |
Cost notes:
- Cloudways shows the managed price. The underlying provider price is separate and billed by the provider.
- Bandwidth and backup add-ons can change the total cost.
AWS and Google Cloud Pricing (entry / small instances)
| Platform | Common entry price (monthly) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AWS (Lightsail examples) | ~$40 / month | Lightsail’s 2GB bundle often lists $40/mo. Bundles vary by region and options. |
| Google Cloud (Compute Engine) | Varies: small VMs ~$6 → $30+ / month | Google bills hourly. Price depends on region and machine family. Use the calculator for precise math. |
Key point: Cloudways removes the console pain for AWS and Google Cloud. But their managed fee sits on top of the cloud provider bill.
Hidden Costs and Fees: What Cloudways WON’T Charge You (and what it does)
Be direct with readers. Cloudways includes a lot. But some extras can add to the bill.
What Cloudways includes (no extra charge):
- Let’s Encrypt SSL. Free and easy.
- Staging sites. Spin up a staging environment at no cost.
- Self-service migrator tool. Migrate small sites for free.
- Basic backups. Daily backups are part of the platform up to plan limits.
What can add cost:
- Off-site backups — Cloudways charges $0.033 per GB for off-site backup storage.
- Bandwidth overages — If you drive more traffic than your plan allows, you pay extra per GB. The exact rate depends on the provider and the region.
- Premium support or enterprise services — Advanced tuning, audits, or assisted high-touch migrations may cost extra.
Be honest: Cloudways reduces many calls to support. But very large or custom hosting tasks still need paid expert work.
The Real Cost of Hosting: Calculation & Example
Use this simple formula for the monthly bill:
Monthly cost = provider base price + Cloudways managed price (if shown) + off-site backups + bandwidth overage + add-ons
Example case study — The Growing WooCommerce Store
Scenario: Starts small. Peaks at sale time. Drops back later.
- Month 1 — Launch
- Start on 1GB plan (DigitalOcean via Cloudways).
- Cloudways managed price: $11 / month.
- Backups: small, free within limits.
- Total: ~$11 / month.
- Month 6 — Big sale
- Traffic spikes. Upgrade to 4GB or 8GB instance.
- Provider base might jump from $4/mo (1GB) to $24–48/mo (4–8GB) depending on provider.
- Cloudways managed cost follows the chosen provider tier.
- Bandwidth overage may add $10–$50+ if media or downloads spike.
- Total: could be $40–$120+ for the month depending on scale and bandwidth.
- Month 9 — After the sale
- Scale back to 1–2GB.
- Total: down to $11–$20 / month again.
Lesson: Cloudways lets you match spend to demand. That can save money for sites with big peaks. It can cost more if you forget to scale down.
Cloudways vs. SiteGround (and other fixed-price hosts): Where is the value?
Choose Cloudways if:
- You scale up and down.
- You want cloud choices (DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS, GCP).
- You prefer a managed console without learning the cloud provider GUI.
Choose a fixed-price host if:
- You want a simple flat fee.
- You rarely scale and value low predictable cost.
- You need bundled email hosting (some hosts include this).
Direct callout: For steady small sites that never grow, a shared host can be cheaper. For stores, apps, and scaling sites, Cloudways’ flexibility often wins.
Cloudways Promo Code / Free Trial (The Best Way to Start)
- Cloudways offers a 3-day free trial to test the platform.
- Use the trial to spin up a server. Run a load test. Try staging-to-live deploys.
- After testing, pick the provider and plan that fit your real metrics.
- Full Cloudways pricing page: https://www.cloudways.com/en/pricing.php
TL;DR (for fast readers)
- Cloudways managed DigitalOcean entry runs about $11/mo.
- Raw provider entry prices are lower: DigitalOcean $4/mo, Linode $5/mo, Vultr $3.50/mo.
- AWS Lightsail entry bundles often land at $40/mo for a 2GB plan.
- Backups and bandwidth can add costs. Off-site backups cost $0.033/GB on Cloudways.
- Use the 3-day trial to test before you commit.
