Cloudways Review: 12 Pros and 3 Cons of Cloudways WordPress Host Found!

In this Cloudways review, you will learn that setting up a new website is super smooth and fast. I like their concept of paying a lot of attention to the user's experience.

Managed cloud hosting is now a very popular choice for a lot of website owners especially for those who manage medium to large businesses with a lot of room for growth and fast.

Simply because this type of hosting is very flexible, scalable, and powerful.

One such managed cloud hosting platform that has been on top of the game for quite some time now is Cloudways.

Cloudways make a lot of complicated stuff especially for non-techie users simple.

Gives you 5 cloud server options, 24/7 support, and a platform that is ready to take on your growth as a company or brand. 

Excited? We sure are, let us discuss this amazing platform more in this comprehensive Cloudways review.

Cloudways Review 2024

In this article we will be discussing the pros and cons of Cloudways in detail, here’s a quick rundown of them:

What we like about Cloudways

We’ve researched and done some tests on Cloudways to turn this Cloudways review into a comprehensive guide.

Here are the reasons why we think it’s one of the best WordPress hosting solutions out there.

1. Cloud-Based Infrastructure Designed For Speed

There’s not a doubt, Cloudways offers one of the most flexible and powerful cloud-based infrastructures amongst all platforms available today.

If you choose to go with Cloudways you will have 5 highly reputable cloud service providers to choose from.

You get to choose between, DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS, and Google Cloud.

As a website owner and a business owner, you get to choose which one best fits your situation and current needs.

What’s best is that this also entails a flexibility in terms of what you’ll be paying especially since Cloudways goes by the pay as you go pricing model (this will be discussed in details at a later section).

With just a few clicks and under a few minutes to get to launch your website without all the usual complexities.

Cloudways have tremendous uptime and average response time of 299ms with the most consistency compared to all of its competitors. 

With Cloudways, you can try out different providers that employ tons of data centers, settings, and server specs with the fastest speed available.

2. Scalability

What comes with the platform's flexibility is its capacity to accommodate you when your needs grow and if it grows fast.

You will have on-demand resources as you utilize the platforms upwards scalability.

Cloudways’ vertical scaling allows for easy ways to increase your server size using their user-friendly panel.

It’s so simple and devoid of any hassle that otherwise you would encounter if you don’t employ a managed cloud hosting platform.

As your business grows, you will have the option to increase your server as well as the important attributes involved like the RAM, Core processors, and SSD disk space.

What’s even more convenient is the ability to downsize them (for Amazon and Google Cloud) giving you the chance to go with the flow of traffic. 

Sudden spike during holiday seasons? Don’t worry, Cloudways has got you covered.

3. Fast servers

For the fastest servers and enhanced website performance Cloudways uses CDN or content delivery networks.

It’s not only fast and reliable speeds when it comes to your website but this system enables Cloudways powered sites to cater to a wide audience.

This network is a geographically segregated server system that then stores copies of the static assets of your websites.

This means that the page traffic and load times will be significantly reduced. 

And how does Kinsta fare? To find out, I set up my personal ecommerce site on Cloudways ’s servers and ran it through bitcatcha.com server speed checker:
 

The results?

Another test I run for my listing blog, I got the these results using gtmetrix tool : 

And take note, Cloudways’ CDN (CloudwaysCDN), paired up with several caching mechanisms then result in reliability and speed. ( PS. for above results, I did not activate the CDN).

What’s great is that this feature is available even to the lowest costing plans ad can be added easily with just one click under the Application Management section.

With advanced caching and CloudwaysCDN, your websites will be accessible at the fastest rate, anytime, anywhere.

4. Incredible 24/7 Support & Live Chat

Cloudways Support is probably one of the most valuable features a cloud hosting platform can give to their clients.

In the past cloud hosting platforms don’t offer any support at all. That’s why cloud hosting isn’t something for non-techie users and just for programmers almost exclusively.

You’ll have a lot of options or avenues for help with Cloudways. While using the platform itself is pretty simple and straightforward you’re going to have to take a peek at its manual now and then.

There’s a “need a hand” tab that will give you access to its Help Center.

This includes a Getting Started guide that contains user-friendly articles that are understandable even for non-techie users.

Minimum jargon, concise sentences, and a lot of screenshots to guide you all the way through are provided.

There are tons of guides and simple to read instructions on how to go about your WordPress site on their knowledge base.

If you want a more personal approach in acquiring answers to your queries then try the Cloudways Forum.

There are a lot of candid and insightful discussions on this platform too. Also, check their social media and blogs. 

If none of that works, then you always have the 24/7 support plus live chat. You can even schedule a call, or send an email for any problem.

Cloudways has one of the most impressive 24/7 support we’ve seen so far.

5. Custom Control Panel

Cloudways won’t get as far as it has today if it wasn’t for their ingenuity and drive to create a user-friendly custom control panel.

We are not kidding when we say that almost anybody can just subscribe and use Cloudways right away. 

In Cloudways cPanel you can access and setup Applications, servers, teams, and projects. You can add an application like WordPress any time and get it up and running in minutes.

Even better, if you don’t have a domain name yet then Cloudways will provide you a temporary one so that you can run your website right away.

You can even install a free SSL certificate with just one-click. There’s also a recovery option under the restore tab.

The cPanel also allows you to monitor and make changes in your server settings as well as PHP and MySQL settings.

Block IP addresses and toughen up your security too or maybe use the free malware protection you have to fight against attacks.

Lastly, you can also change the backup settings using the custom control panel and change team access as you may please.

6. The ThunderStack Formula

One other reason why the infrastructure of Cloudways is solid is because of ThunderStack.

This PHP stack consists of the best server and cache technology. The components of ThunderStack are Varnish Cache, NGINX, Redis, MariaDB, MySQL, Memcached, and Apache. 

These components result in the fastest hosting stack across all platforms.

Varnish in itself is an HTTP accelerator which is essential for content-heavy or multi-media rich sites because it boosts their performance.

Pair that up with Cloudways’ security then you have one of the most reliable, blazing-fast, and secure hosting services to date.

7. Automatic Backups

Backups are like health insurance, you never want to use them but they are a must-have.

And since we’re talking about gigabytes of data for your website(s) then you must back them up and back them up regularly.

Cloudways will back up your server and application data at their various and safe data centers so in case there are any unforeseen failures then you don’t have any risk of losing any of your data. 

You can even automate the frequency of your backups on the user-friendly cPanel at an hourly frequency.

You also have the option to enable or disable your local backups and if you think you’d need an immediate backup of your data then simply select the Take Server Backup Now option.

8. Security

We may touch on this topic briefly above when we talked about ThunderStack Cloudways’ PHP stack technology. Well, ThuderStack makes it formidable and a lot more flexible.

Cloudways’ security measures include multiple platform-level firewalls on the servers as well as continuous monitoring.

It also has two-factor authentication which is recommended. API keys are then utilized based on OAuth restrict access for the Cloudways API.

SSL certificates as we also already discussed are free to install through the user interface. 

Additional Cloudways security feature also allows you to blacklist or whitelist IP addresses so that they may be blocked or safely given access across your SFTP and SSH servers.

9. Developer-friendliness

Versatility comes in different forms and Cloudways isn’t only a platform that is user-friendly but is also developer-friendly.

We mentioned that it’s great for both non-techie and techie users and here are a few reasons why.

PHP developers will be able to choose from a lot of frameworks and they can set up a deployment from a Git Repository.

Cloudways then provide an API that will pull the latest version of the application for the said repository, clone it, and then restart the server.

This built-in staging system helps developers to better move code to a desirable and accessible testing environment.

A granular team is then assigned to help developers as well as testers to coordinate their work.

Furthermore, a command line which is accessible through an SSH is readily available for the developers.

It’s a developer’s dream platform, and if you are one then you should give it a go.

10. Team Collaboration Tools

Cloudways is also a great platform for collaborations. It allows users to seamlessly work together with valuable tools and powerful infrastructure.

You will have an accessible way through the custom control panel to add or assign team members or to limit or give access to them.

That means the account owner will have the option to give full or just allow certain access to the console per team member where their access can be restricted in certain applications.

You will also have the option to set intermittent users or team members such as a consultant as inactive if they are not involved in any current project.

11. Simple Configuration and Migration

As if it’s not user-friendly enough, there are still a lot of aspects of Cloudways that make it a space for almost everyone.

And we tell you, migration of your data from one platform to Cloudways is one of the easiest things you’d do in your digital journey.

We already know that the interface or the custom control panel of Cloudways is super simplistic and easy to understand and that’s the same thing if you want to migrate to their service.

Cloudways has a Migration Tool which is located under the Account Management tab that allows you to migrate your WordPress websites easily.

It wouldn’t matter if it’s an old website too, Cloudways should be able to accommodate that. 

Cloudways allows E-commerce sites to have one free migration from a previous website.

12. Lower Costs

I wouldn’t say that Cloudways is the cheapest way to go about your business but it is cost-effective and will give you the best value for your money.

Cloudways or any managed cloud hosting platform should be taken into consideration when you plan to invest in a business.

Especially nowadays that a website is almost always integral for someone putting up shop.

Cloudways will cost a bit more but the convenience, power, and peace of mind that it offers make it a worthy investment for anyone. You must carefully analyse the enterprise hybrid clouds before investing in them.

Whether you are starting a small business or already have a large following this platform is for you.

With its 5 cloud providers, you will have a wide range of choices that will cater to your current needs.

And when the time comes to expand, switch up to another, and Cloudways’ pay as you go, business model, makes it flexible and in essence a frugal way to go about your websites.

What we don’t like about Cloudways

With all those benefits and awesome features, our research and tests also revealed a few weaknesses on Cloudways’ hosting infrastructure.

After all, there is no such thing as a perfect program.

1. Doesn't Include Email Hosting

Email is important for our day to day transactions and documentations.

It is also quite valuable if you are trying to expand your business or spread the word about your brand.

Some hosting platforms offer email applications but unfortunately, Cloudways does not at the moment.

It would be nice if Cloudways can just give us an all-in-one platform and that we don’t have to outsource to another email hosting platform for our needs.

2. Can't Register a Domain Name

While Cloudways gives you a temporary domain when you create an application for you to put up your website it does not however have its own domain name registration.

This is aligned to their lacking of email hosting capability as well.

Again, it would add to their flexibility should they have the capability to generate domain names for their users and we don’t have to look elsewhere.

3. A Bit Complex Set Up

What? You’ve been telling us that Cloudways is the ultimate user-friendly platform and now tells us that it is a bit complex to set up?

Well, what we mean by this is when you get started and if you don’t have any experience at all with hosting.

It is complex in a sense you will have 5 cloud service providers to choose from at first and so that’s 5 different configurations that you need to figure out.

But once you get used to it then there is no turning back, you’ll get the hang of it really fast.

Also, even advanced users and developers will have issues with it if you use another programming language as it solely supports PHP.

Cloudways Pricing 2024

There are a lot of hosting services that you can go for and it is important to know what type of platform you need or can afford.

Also, it is important to know when to switch when the needs arise. Your options are a dedicated server, a virtual private server, cloud hosting, or the usual shared hosting.

All of these platforms offer a lot of different options and flexibility for you as a website and business owner. So let’s discuss how Cloudways’ pricing looks like and is it the right platform for you?

Cloudways offers very flexible plans on top of a pay as you go pricing model.

It may be a bit complicated at first when you look at it given that they have five cloud provider partners and each of them offers their rates depending on your needs.

As you already know, they are partners with some of the leading cloud providers namely DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS, Vutlr, and Google Cloud. Here are their various rates:

DigitalOcean

Linode

Vultr

AWS

Google Cloud

If you notice, you’ll pay a little bit of premium for AWS and Good Cloud but that’s because they pack a lot of power and are suitable for larger websites. 

And please do take note that all plans come with the coveted Cloudways 24/7 support, unlimited application installation, free SSL certificates, free migration, and a ton of other features and benefits that you surely need.

Also, Cloudways offers a 3 day, no credit card needed trial that’s unheard of before. The Cloudways free trial period applies to DigitalOcean, Linode, and Vultr services.

As you can see, you may qualify DigitalOcean’s, Linode’s, and even Vultr’s services and rates as a starter pack.

They don’t cost as much and at the same time, they provide enough capacity and power for small to medium-sized businesses.

If you have heavy traffic websites or already have large businesses then AWS and Google Cloud are your top choices.

However, you may find yourself asking why I need Cloudways that I can just go directly to these providers myself?

Well, that’s actually a very good question.

While you may even get lower deals if you go directly to the providers Cloudways partners up with, take note Cloudways as your managed hosting platform will alleviate all of the cumbersome steps and complexities that you would otherwise have to deal with yourself. 

In short, you may be left out in the cold right on the get-go up until you’ll encounter some issues with your service. Not very ideal for businesses on either level.

When you’re starting you want reliable servers so that you won’t experience downtimes and lose potential clients.

If you have a high traffic website, then you also don’t want any downtime because it will mean trouble for a large number of existing and potential clients as well.

Cloudways offers the ultimate flexibility for you as a website and business owner and will be ready to accommodate you when the time comes for you to scale.

Also, the pay as you go business model would be wise for any entrepreneur both new and experienced. 

Cloudways accepts both PayPal and any major credit card for payments.

How Does Cloudways Hold Up Against Competition

To give you a better perspective on how Cloudways fare with some of its leading competitors then we’ve considered Flywheel.

Here is a brief comparison of the two as a bonus section in our Cloudways review.

Cloudways versus Flywheel

It is sometimes important to do the math when it comes to comparisons. The first aspect we want to tackle is strength and flexibility when it comes to cloud provider partners.

Cloudways and Flywheel work similarly in the sense that they don’t host your websites the same way traditional hosting platforms do.

They partner with some of the largest cloud providers instead. But Cloudways has 5 very powerful cloud provider partners in Digital Ocean, Linode, Vultr, AWS, and Google Cloud.

While Flywheel has established a very strong partnership with Google Cloud that doesn’t really compare with what Cloudways offer so they clearly take a huge lead in this category.

The next aspect we want to look at is overall reliability and performance. PHP ready fast servers – CHECK for both.

Utilizes content delivery network or CDN – both CHECK. 99.99% uptime – Check and check for both.

So where do they differ and who takes the point this time?

We all know how the caching system works, right? Flywheel utilizes FlyCache an in-house engine that works alongside CDN for super fast and reliable loading time for your websites.

It also works with a lot of plug-ins and themes that are commonly used.

But again, like what we did above, we did the math. Cloudways does not only have one but four caching systems like Memcache, Nginx, Redis, and Varnish. So they take this round again.

Lastly, we look at the user experience. Right on the get-go, we like to say that this should be a draw.

Both platforms are user-friendly and have gone out of a limb to make their services available and reliable to their clientele. Especially when you talk about customer support.

The user-friendly cPanel these two platforms use are superb. Both platforms are also quite secure, flexible, and have sought after features that you as a user would greatly benefit from. 

While Flywheel is a well-managed cloud hosting platform, Cloudways has been the top choice for years now for a lot of good reasons. Experts and clients agree. You May also check our Cloudways alternative Here. 

In Summary: Should You Host With Cloudways?

Do you have a few extra funds to spare for a worry-free, stress-free, and powerful hosting platform for your business?

If your answer is yes to that question, then we highly recommended that you give Cloudways ago.

We can’t emphasize enough how Cloudways has done wonders for a lot of website owners both techie and non-techie.

It is versatile, reliable, and will always be there for you when you need assistance. 

Even seasoned programmers recommend Cloudways simply because it has made their work super easy.

The platform is just flexible enough to accommodate small to large business operations and will scale with you all the way. 

It’s one of the best managed cloud hosting platform out there as we’ve proven on our Cloudways review and we promise you that it won’t let you down.

Disclaimer : This review is based on personal expericience and  may contain affiliate links: means , if you click on one of  these links and make a purchase ( which we appreciated ), then I'll receive a small commission without affecting the original price

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