ManagedWPGuide
Bottom line:
Cloudways Flexible starts at $14/mo for a 1GB DigitalOcean Premium server with unlimited sites. Pricing is per-server, not per-site. You pick a cloud provider (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, or Google Cloud), choose a server size, and host as many WordPress installations as the resources can handle.
Where costs add up: Cloudflare Enterprise CDN ($4.99/mo), premium support ($100-500/mo for phone access), backup storage beyond defaults, and bandwidth overages on AWS/GCP plans. Object Cache Pro is included free on 4GB+ servers (normally $95/mo separately).
Disclosure: This site may earn a commission from referrals to hosting providers. Content is written independently and reflects our own analysis.
How Cloudways Pricing Works
Cloudways uses a fundamentally different pricing model from Kinsta and WP Engine. Instead of paying per site with visit or bandwidth limits, you pay for server resources. A $14/mo server can host one site or ten sites — you are only constrained by CPU, RAM, and storage capacity.
This makes Cloudways dramatically cheaper at scale. An agency hosting 15 client sites on a single 4GB DigitalOcean server pays $54/mo total, roughly $3.60 per site. The same 15 sites on Kinsta costs $340+/mo.
The tradeoff is management overhead. Cloudways handles server-level operations (OS updates, security patches, stack optimization), but you handle WordPress updates, plugin management, and performance tuning yourself. It sits between fully managed (Kinsta/WP Engine) and unmanaged VPS hosting.
Cloudways now offers two product lines: Flexible (the traditional per-server model) and Autonomous (a newer Kubernetes-based autoscaling product with usage-based pricing). This page focuses on Flexible, which is what most buyers evaluate when comparing against Kinsta and WP Engine.
DigitalOcean Plans (Most Popular)
DigitalOcean is the most popular cloud provider on Cloudways and the one most deeply integrated since DigitalOcean acquired Cloudways in 2022. Premium NVMe servers deliver strong balanced performance for WordPress workloads.
| Server | RAM | CPU | Storage | Bandwidth | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DO Premium 1GB | 1GB | 1 core | 25GB NVMe | 1TB | $14/mo |
| DO Premium 2GB | 2GB | 1 core | 50GB NVMe | 2TB | $28/mo |
| DO Premium 4GB | 4GB | 2 cores | 80GB NVMe | 4TB | $54/mo |
| DO Premium 8GB | 8GB | 4 cores | 160GB NVMe | 5TB | $107/mo |
DigitalOcean also offers General Purpose and CPU-Optimized server types at higher price points for workloads that need dedicated CPU or more balanced resources. Standard servers (older generation, regular SSD) start at $11/mo but Premium NVMe servers are worth the $3 difference for the performance gain.
Vultr Plans
Vultr High Frequency servers use AMD EPYC processors and NVMe storage. Pricing is identical to DigitalOcean Premium at every tier, so the choice between them comes down to CPU architecture preference and data center locations.
| Server | RAM | CPU | Storage | Bandwidth | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vultr HF 1GB | 1GB | 1 core | 25GB SSD | 1TB | $14/mo |
| Vultr HF 2GB | 2GB | 1 core | 50GB SSD | 2TB | $28/mo |
| Vultr HF 4GB | 4GB | 2 cores | 80GB SSD | 3TB | $54/mo |
| Vultr HF 8GB | 8GB | 4 cores | 160GB SSD | 4TB | $107/mo |
For a detailed comparison of DigitalOcean versus Vultr on Cloudways, including performance benchmarks and data center coverage, see the Cloudways DigitalOcean vs Vultr guide.
AWS and Google Cloud Plans
AWS and Google Cloud on Cloudways serve a different audience: enterprise users with compliance requirements, specific regional needs, or existing cloud provider relationships. Pricing is 2-3x higher than DigitalOcean/Vultr for comparable resources.
AWS plans start at $38.56/mo for 2GB RAM with only 2GB of bandwidth (overages at $0.12/GB on AWS). Google Cloud starts at $37.45/mo for 1.7GB RAM, also with minimal bandwidth. Unless you have a specific enterprise or compliance reason, DigitalOcean or Vultr deliver better value for WordPress hosting.
Add-On Costs
Cloudways includes core features (SSL, staging, firewall, SSH, monitoring, daily backups) in every plan with no additional fees. But several useful add-ons carry separate charges.
| Add-On | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Enterprise CDN | $4.99/mo+ | Starting at 25GB. Most sites can use the free Cloudflare plan instead. |
| Premium Support | $100/mo+ | Phone support, faster response times. Standard chat support is free. |
| SMTP Email | $1/mo+ | Transactional email via Elastic Email. For business email, use Google Workspace ($7/user/mo). |
| SafeUpdates | Varies | Automated WordPress plugin updates with visual testing. |
| Malware Protection | Add-on | Proactive malware scanning. Unlike Kinsta, Cloudways does not include free malware removal. |
| Object Cache Pro | Free (4GB+) | Included on 4GB+ servers. This normally costs $95/mo separately and is a major value add. |
What You Actually Pay: Three Scenarios
| Cost Component | Single Site | Agency (5 sites) | Agency (25 sites) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server | $14 (DO 1GB) | $28 (DO 2GB) | $54 (DO 4GB) |
| CDN | $0 (free Cloudflare) | $0 (free Cloudflare) | $4.99 (Enterprise CDN) |
| Email hosting | $7 (1 user) | $21 (3 users) | $42 (6 users) |
| Total monthly | $21 | $49 | $101 |
| Per-site cost | $21/site | ~$10/site | ~$4/site |
The per-site cost advantage at scale is where Cloudways separates from the competition. At 25 sites, the same hosting on Kinsta or WP Engine would cost $340-450/mo for the base plan alone. On Cloudways, the server cost is $54.
Cloudways Autonomous: The Alternative Model
In late 2025, Cloudways introduced Autonomous, a Kubernetes-based WordPress hosting product with auto-scaling. Unlike Flexible (you pick and manage a server), Autonomous handles infrastructure automatically. It scales resources up and down based on actual traffic, charges per hour of compute used, and includes Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, Object Cache Pro with Relay, and edge caching in every plan.
Autonomous removed visit-based billing in November 2025. Under the new pricing, you pay for a baseline plan (dedicated Kubernetes pods) plus per-hour charges when additional pods spin up during traffic spikes. Disk storage is $0.04/GB. Visits are unmetered.
Autonomous makes sense for sites with unpredictable traffic patterns (viral content, flash sales, seasonal spikes) where you cannot predict resource needs. For steady-traffic sites where you know your resource requirements, Flexible remains more cost-effective and predictable.
Who Cloudways Pricing Works For
| Profile | Cloudways Pricing Fit |
|---|---|
| Agency managing 10+ client sites | Best fit. Per-site costs of $3-6 at scale are unmatched. Unlimited sites per server. |
| Developer comfortable with server settings | Good fit. SSH access, server-level control, and low pricing. |
| WooCommerce store on a budget | Good fit. 4GB server ($54/mo) with free Object Cache Pro handles most stores well. |
| Non-technical site owner wanting hands-off hosting | Possible but less ideal. No auto WP updates. Consider Kinsta for a more managed experience. |
| Team needing phone support | Expensive. Phone support is a $100+/mo add-on. WP Engine includes it at $55/mo (Professional plan). |
Cloudways wins on cost efficiency, especially at scale. The per-server model means your costs grow with server resources, not with the number of sites. For operators who are comfortable managing WordPress updates and do not need phone support, Cloudways delivers the best price-to-performance ratio among the three providers we cover.
Try Cloudways free for 3 days with no credit card required. Start with a DigitalOcean Premium 1GB server.
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