Finding a good hosting site can be challenging. Many sites claim to offer fast, safe, and easy tools, but it’s tough to pick one, especially if you’re new or want to switch.
This post explains Cloudways in plain words. You’ll learn how it works and who it’s best for.
What is Cloudways?
Cloudways makes hosting simple. It runs your apps on top servers with no complex setup. They handle speed, safety, and backups for you.
What Makes it Special?
Cloudways works with big names like AWS, Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean. This gives you choices and trust.
The screen is clean and easy to use. You can start servers, add apps, and change settings with a few clicks. You don’t need tech skills. If you need help, they offer support all day, every day.
Speed and Safety
Sites load fast with Cloudways. Quick load times keep users happy.
Cloudways keeps your site safe with free SSL, walls against threats, and regular backups.
Who Uses Cloudways?
Bloggers, small firms, and coders love it. It’s great for those who want good hosting without server stress. Big firms with many visitors also use it.
What Does it Cost?
Pricing is clear—you pay for what you use. There are no long deals to sign, and you can use more or less as you need.
In Short
Cloudways is easy to use. It’s strong yet straightforward, and it’s suitable for both new users and pros. If you want easy hosting with great speed, Cloudways might be right for you.
Understanding Cloudways as a Cloud Hosting Platform
Cloudways is not a data centre. It’s a tool that works with many cloud hosts. You can pick from AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Vultr, or Linode. Cloudways adds tools and helps with your cloud setup.
This saves you from challenging server tasks. You don’t need to know Linux or how to run networks. Cloudways fixes updates and keeps things safe and fast. You still pick the size, place, and host, but the hard work is done for you.
Cloudways works well with WordPress, Magento, Laravel, and PHP sites. It makes setup easy, and you can test your changes before going live. This is good for both new users and pros. New users get simple tools, while pros can still use SSH, Git, and cron jobs.
Key Features You Should Know
Pick Your Cloud
With Cloudways, you can choose from top clouds, including AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode. You can also check costs and speed, which helps you find servers near your users. Your site will have what it needs.
Safe and Sound
Keeping safe is a must. Cloudways gives you updates, blocks lousy web traffic, and has a team that looks for risks. You also get auto backups, so you can fix your site quickly if things go wrong.
Easy to Use
The Cloudways dash is simple. You see your servers and apps fast, and colours and icons help you. Add sites, grow your space, or set up web names with ease. There are no hard logs to read, and tasks like web names and SSL are a snap.
Backups and Quick Fixes
Free auto backups come with Cloudways. Set them for each day, week, or as you wish. Keep backups off-site, too. The site also has self-fix tools. If things crash, it starts them up again. Less downtime. Less stress.
Room to Grow
As your site grows, you may need more space. Cloudways makes this easy. Add more RAM, CPU, or disk with a few clicks. No need to move. It’s quick and safe.
Test Space
Changing a live site can be scary. Cloudways gives you test space. Try new themes or code here first. When everything works well, could you send it to your live site? No more worries.
Cloudways works with top cloud firms. You can choose data centres all over the world. Set up your server in the US, Europe, Asia, or near your users. This cuts lag time and speeds up your site. If your users live in many spots, add servers in each area. This keeps things quick.
Fast Caching Options
Cloudways uses a cache to speed up your site. Tools like Varnish, Memcached, and Redis help a lot. They reduce the frequency with which your app needs data. Breeze, a WordPress tool, also helps. It makes caching work well and cuts server load.
New PHP Support
PHP apps run best with new PHP. Cloudways has PHP 7.4 and 8.0. These run faster and are safer than old ones. You can test and move your apps with no limits.
Live Stats
The Cloudways dash shows live stats. You can see CPU, RAM, disk, and web use. If you see an issue, you can check it fast. You can share these stats with a tech pro. Most shared hosts don’t show this much. This gives Cloudways an edge.
How Much Easy to Use?
When you log in to Cloudways, you see your servers and apps. The left menu shows clear choices. You can quickly find backups, scaling, and domains. For tech pros, deep settings are still there, but the main view stays clean.
Team Work
Need to work with others? Cloudways helps you. Add teammates and decide what they can do. A design pro can work on test sites, and a coder can use SSH tools, keeping work safe.
Quick Tasks
Do things fast with Cloudways. Start a WordPress site, add SSL, or copy an app with one click. No hard steps. Save time if you run lots of sites.
Cloudways Pricing Overview
Pay As You Go Plans
With Cloudways, you pay only for what you use, unlike old plans, which require you to pay the same monthly fee. When your site gets busy, you can save cash. This works well if you want to start small and grow big later.
Your bill is based on the time your server runs. If you turn off a server early, you pay less. This helps you keep costs low and grow when you need to.
Plan Costs
Your pay depends on who hosts your site and your server size. A small server from DigitalOcean with 1GB RAM costs less than the same size from AWS or Google Cloud. Here is a simple list of monthly costs from each host (may change).:
These figures illustrate that costs vary across providers and server sizes. On top of the provider’s base rate, Cloudways levies a small management fee, which is usually included in the displayed monthly cost.
Optional Add-Ons
Beyond the core plans, Cloudways offers optional services such as application migrations (sometimes free for a single application), offsite backups, and premium support. While the standard support is adequate for many users, premium plans can fast-track your inquiries and provide more hands-on assistance if you operate mission-critical applications.
Security Features in Depth
Your Server Safety
You can use a two-step login for your control panel. To do this, you need your password plus a code from an app. This prevents bad guys from getting in.
Strong walls protect your server and stop lousy traffic. The team sets them up to block known threats. You can add SSL to keep data secure. Use a free SSL or buy one if you need to.
You can also set up a list of safe IP points. This lets only known IPs use things like SSH or SFTP. If your team has set IPs, this cuts down risks.
The team keeps your server up to date and fixes the system often. You don’t need to do this work, which keeps your server safe and fast.
Customer Support and Resources
If you have a problem, contact Cloudways’ support team. Use live chat or send a ticket. Live chat is quick for simple issues. For harder problems, a ticket works better. This helps you get fast help when needed.
Cloudways has a big knowledge base. It has guides on topics like WordPress setup and fixing errors. The guides have pictures and steps to follow. This is helpful if you want to solve issues on your own.
There’s also a community forum. Users talk about making sites faster, fixing plugins, and sharing tips. Other users can give quick answers if they’ve solved similar problems.
Many sites use the same space in shared hosting. It works well for small blogs. But when more people visit your site, it may get slow. With Cloudways, you get your own space on a virtual machine. This means other sites won’t slow yours down. But you pay more for this.
Basic VPS
A bare VPS lets you rent your virtual server. You have more say than with shared hosting. But you must update and fix things yourself. Cloudways takes care of this for you. You still pay for a VPS but with less work. It costs a bit more.
Full Server Hosting
Full servers give you total control and run very fast. But they cost a lot and need tech skills. Cloudways does not sell bare metal servers. They offer a virtual setup instead. An entire server might work best if your site needs top speed and you have the cash and skills. However, for most small to mid-size firms, Cloudways is easy to use and works well.
Other Choices
Many hosts run WordPress sites for you. Places like WP Engine or Kinsta focus on WordPress to make it fast. Cloudways works with more than just WordPress. If you need to run more than one type of site, pick Cloudways.
Who Is Cloudways Best For?
Bloggers and Small Business Owners
If you run a blog or small online shop, you want something cheap and reliable. Cloudways might be too much for tiny sites with few visitors. But if you plan to grow or already have some traffic, its scaling and caching tools can significantly help.
Agencies and Freelancers
If you manage many client sites, Cloudways makes it easy. It has tools for teamwork, testing environments, and copying apps. You can handle multiple servers from one account, giving each client their own space. This saves time and keeps things neat.
E-Commerce Owners
Online stores need speed and safety to turn visitors into buyers. A slow or unsafe site can hurt your brand. Cloudways fixes this with fast servers, caching, and SSL. You can also install tools like Magento or WooCommerce easily. It’s built to handle lots of traffic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Cloudways Include Email Hosting?
No. Cloudways does not offer email hosting. You can use Rackspace or other email services. Cloud hosts like Cloudways focus on speed, not email.
How Does Cloudways Help Move Websites?
They have a WordPress plugin that makes moving WordPress sites easy. For other sites, ask their team for help or move files yourself. Some plans offer free moves—check their site or ask them.
Can I Use cPanel with Cloudways?
No. Cloudways has its dash, not cPanel. It does all essential tasks. If you must have cPanel, look at other hosts.
Can I Run More Than One Site on One Server?
Yes. You can host many sites on one server. Each site has its folder. But they share server power so that a busy site might slow others down.
How Often Can I Back Up?
You can set backups to run daily, weekly, or whenever you choose. For more safety, you can also save backups off-site.
Is There a Money-Back Promise?
No, but you can try Cloudways for free. Their pay-as-you-go plan lets you pay for just one month to test it.
Can I Make My Server Smaller?
You can make your server bigger quickly. You’ll need to create a new, more miniature copy to make it smaller. This is how cloud systems work, not just Cloudways.
Final Thoughts
Is Cloudways Right for You?
This review will help you decide if Cloudways is good for you.
Cloudways is easy to use. You can choose from many cloud hosts and server sizes and also choose what apps to run.
You don’t need to know how servers work. The tools are simple. They help with:
Growth when you need more space
Fixing when things break
Saving your work in case of problems
Watch Your Costs
Pay only for what you use. But keep an eye on your bill. Pick what you need, not more.
If your site gets busy, you can add more power. This stops your site from going down.
Who It’s For
Cloudways works well if you want some help but also some control. It deals with speed and safety but lets you make changes.
It’s good for:
Blog writers
Small shops
Work teams
Online stores
Built-in tools make your site run fast and stay safe. You can focus on your work, not fix server issues.
Who It’s Not For
It’s not for everyone. If you don’t have much money, you might find cheaper hosts. A basic server might be better if you need full control.
Why People Like It
The dash is easy to use. You can run on many cloud hosts, set up sites with one click, and watch how your site runs. Help is available all day and night. Pay-as-you-go works for both new users and pros. You can run WordPress, Magento, Laravel, or other apps without worry.
Make Your Choice
Now you know how Cloudways works, what it costs, and how it helps. Your choice depends on what you want, what you know, and what you can spend. Are you not sure? Try it for a short time. This way, you can see if it’s right with low risk. Good hosting helps your site stay up, run well, and make users happy.
