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As of October 2026, Cloudways pricing starts at $11 a month for a 1GB DigitalOcean server, billed by the hour at $0.0164, with no prepayment and no limit on how many sites you run on it. Servers on Vultr and Linode start at $14 a month, AWS at $20.56 and Google Cloud at $37.33, and the Autonomous plans for a single high-traffic WordPress site start at $99 a month.
Every price below comes from Cloudways‘s own pricing and add-on pages, checked on October 9, 2026. To compare Cloudways with shared and managed hosts on intro and renewal prices, see our Web Hosting Price Index.
Key facts
| Item | Cloudways, October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cheapest server | DigitalOcean Standard 1GB: $11 a month ($0.0164 an hour), 1 vCPU, 25GB SSD, 1TB transfer |
| Billing | Hourly, invoiced in arrears in the first week of each month; tax added where it applies |
| Sites | Unlimited applications per server |
| Free trial | 3 days, no credit card; not available for AWS or Google Cloud servers |
| Money-back guarantee | Not mentioned on the pricing page |
| Included | Free SSL, staging, server firewall, automated backups, 24/7 chat and ticket support |
| Costs extra | Offsite backup storage, Cloudflare Enterprise, email, faster support tiers |
Cloudways Flexible prices by cloud provider
Flexible is the main Cloudways product: you pick a cloud provider and a server size, and Cloudways manages the server stack, security and backups. These are the monthly prices on the pricing page for each provider’s entry server line.
| Provider and server line | Smallest | 2GB | 4GB | 8GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean Standard (SSD) | 1GB: $11 | $24 | $46 | $88 |
| DigitalOcean Premium (NVMe) | 1GB: $14 | $28 | $54 | $99 |
| Vultr Standard | 1GB: $14 | $28 | $54 | $99 |
| Vultr High Frequency (NVMe) | 1GB: $16 | $30 | $60 | $118 |
| Linode Standard | 1GB: $14 | $28 | $59 | $105 |
| AWS Standard | 1GB: $20.56 | $38.56 | $91.84 | $183.22 |
| Google Cloud Standard | 1.7GB: $37.33 | None listed | 3.75GB: $84.00 | 7.5GB: $152.02 |
The smallest DigitalOcean, Vultr and Linode servers include 25GB of SSD storage (32GB of NVMe on Vultr High Frequency) and 1TB of transfer. On AWS and Google Cloud, disk size is configurable, bandwidth is billed as you use it, and Cloudways passes on regional price differences, so your price depends on the data center. DigitalOcean, Vultr and Linode also offer General Purpose and CPU Optimized lines, and AWS and Google offer Compute Optimized servers, all priced above the entry lines.
How Cloudways billing works
- Hourly. A server costs its hourly rate for the hours it runs, so a 1GB DigitalOcean test server deleted after a day costs about 39 cents. Plan changes show on your invoice right away.
- Monthly caps. On DigitalOcean, Linode and Vultr, the listed monthly price is a cap: a server that runs all month never costs more. AWS and Google Cloud have no cap and bill every hour. A stopped server still counts as active and keeps billing, so delete servers you no longer need (Cloudways help center).
- In arrears. Invoices go out in the first week of each month for the previous month’s usage.
- Taxes. VAT, GST or sales tax appears as a separate line, based on your billing address.
- Bandwidth overage. Past the included transfer: $0.02 per GB on DigitalOcean, $0.12 per GB on AWS, and $0.10 to $0.17 per GB on Google Cloud, by region.
- Backup storage. Backups are included, but offsite backup storage is billed at $0.033 per GB per server.
What every Flexible server includes
- Free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates and unlimited applications per server
- Free staging environments with one-click push to live
- A server-level firewall (Imunify360) and automated or on-demand backups
- 24/7 support by live chat and tickets
- Object Cache Pro free on servers with 4GB of RAM or more (Cloudways values it at $95 a month)
- Free migration of your first website
- Free Copilot AI credits on the server plans that list them (see our Cloudways Copilot guide)
Cloudways Autonomous plans
Autonomous is a separate, fully managed WordPress product built on Kubernetes that adds servers automatically when traffic rises. Each plan covers 1 website.
| Plan | Price | Baseline servers | Bandwidth | Disk | Autoscaling beyond baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free trial | $0 for 3 days | 1 | 150GB | 20GB | n/a |
| Growth | $99/mo | 1 | 150GB | 20GB | $0.07 per server-hour |
| Scale | $199/mo | 2 | 250GB | 50GB | $0.10 per server-hour |
| Plus | $399/mo | 3 | 1,000GB | 100GB | $0.12 per server-hour |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Paid plans list unmetered visits, 100 PHP workers per server, Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, Redis, Object Cache Pro with Relay, and a free managed migration. Extra disk costs $1 per GB and extra bandwidth $0.04 per GB.
Add-ons and support tiers
| Add-on | Price |
|---|---|
| Cloudflare Enterprise CDN | $4.99 per domain/mo under 5 domains, $2.99 at 10 to 24, $1.99 at 25 or more; 100GB per domain, then $0.02/GB |
| Rackspace email | $1.50 per mailbox/mo |
| Site Manager | From $3 per app/mo |
| Malware Protection | From $4 per app/mo |
| SafeUpdates | From $3/mo |
| DNS Made Easy | $0.50 per domain/mo |
| Advanced Support | $100/mo or 10% of your invoice, whichever is higher; 6-month minimum. |
| Premium Support | $500/mo or 10% of your invoice, whichever is higher; adds a private Slack channel and phone support |
Standard support is free: 24/7 live chat and tickets, with a first ticket response within 12 hours, or 3 hours for high priority. Advanced cuts that to 6 hours (30 minutes for high priority) and covers plugin and theme troubleshooting; Premium cuts it to 2 hours (10 minutes). Support add-ons apply to the whole account and are not available during the free trial. Cloudflare Enterprise has its own 30-day free trial per domain.
Realistic monthly costs
These examples use list prices. Server size is the judgment call: how many sites fit on a server depends on traffic and plugins, and Cloudways shows the exact price before you launch.
| Scenario | Setup | About per month |
|---|---|---|
| Small business site | DigitalOcean Standard 2GB ($24, the smallest size Cloudways recommends for a live site), Cloudflare Enterprise ($4.99), 1 Rackspace mailbox ($1.50), 10GB of offsite backups ($0.33) | $30.82 |
| Agency with 10 sites | DigitalOcean Premium 4GB ($54), Cloudflare Enterprise for 10 domains ($29.90), Site Manager for 10 apps (from $30) | $113.90, about $11.39 per site ($213.90 with Advanced Support) |
| Small WooCommerce store | DigitalOcean Premium 4GB ($54), Cloudflare Enterprise ($4.99), Malware Protection (from $4) | $62.99 |
| Store with traffic spikes | Autonomous Growth ($99), plus $0.04 per GB past 150GB and $0.07 per extra server-hour | From $99 |
The 4GB size in the agency and store examples is the smallest that gets Object Cache Pro free. For store hosting picks, see Best WooCommerce Hosting for Small Stores.
Cloudways vs Kinsta and WP Engine
Entry plans from the Web Hosting Price Index, checked against each host’s own page:
| Host | Entry price | Prepay needed | Sites | Trial or refund |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudways | $11/mo, billed hourly | None | Unlimited on the server | 3-day free trial |
| Kinsta | $35/mo or $350/yr | None | 1 | First month free, then 30-day money-back |
| WP Engine | $35/mo or $336 first year | None | 1 | Not stated on plans page |
Kinsta and WP Engine charge per site and meter visits or bandwidth; Cloudways charges for the server and leaves sizing to you. The server is cheap, but add-ons close the gap: the 10-site agency example above (about $114, or $214 with Advanced Support) brackets WP Engine’s 10-site plan ($130 a month) and well below Kinsta’s WP 10 ($225). Detailed matchups: Cloudways vs Kinsta, Cloudways vs WP Engine, and Hostinger vs Cloudways if you are moving up from shared hosting.
Bottom line
- One small site on a budget: DigitalOcean Standard 2GB at $24 a month. The 1GB server ($11) is cheaper, but Cloudways says 1GB servers are “primarily intended for testing and staging purposes” and advises 2GB or more for live sites (Cloudways help center).
- An agency: one DigitalOcean Premium or Vultr server of 4GB or more, with Cloudflare Enterprise at the volume rate.
- A store: a 4GB Premium server to start, or Autonomous Growth ($99) if traffic arrives in spikes.
- AWS or Google Cloud: only if you need that provider; prices start higher and there is no free trial.
- No interest in sizing servers: Kinsta or WP Engine charge more per site but make that choice for you.
Start with the 3-day trial on Cloudways to see the exact price for your region before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Cloudways cost per month?
From $11 a month for a 1GB DigitalOcean server. A small live site on the 2GB server Cloudways recommends, with Cloudflare Enterprise, one mailbox and offsite backups, comes to about $31, and the 10-site agency setup above to about $114.
Does Cloudways have a free trial?
Yes, 3 days with no credit card, on DigitalOcean, Vultr and Linode servers and on Autonomous. AWS and Google Cloud servers are not part of the trial. The pricing page does not mention a money-back guarantee.
Does Cloudways charge per website?
Not on Flexible: you pay for the server and can launch unlimited applications on it. Autonomous plans each cover 1 website.
Is Cloudways billed hourly or monthly?
Hourly. Each server has an hourly rate ($0.0164 for the 1GB DigitalOcean server), and Cloudways invoices in arrears in the first week of the following month.
Sources
- Cloudways pricing
- Cloudways Cloudflare Enterprise add-on
- Cloudways support add-ons
- Kinsta pricing
- WP Engine plans and pricing
Prices checked against the vendors’ own pages on October 9, 2026.