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Cloudways review: $11 a month billed by the hour, extras cost more
Updated Oct 15, 2026 · scored under rubric v1
Cloudways suits a buyer comfortable choosing a cloud server who wants one price every month and no prepaid term: $11 a month on its smallest server. The catch: backup storage, email and the Enterprise CDN are paid extras, and there is no refund window.
Cloudways' cheapest server, Flexible Micro on DigitalOcean Standard, costs $11 a month ($0.0164 an hour), billed in arrears with no introductory price and no term, so there is no renewal jump. It allows unlimited websites and includes free SSL and staging. Offsite backup storage is $0.033 per GB per server, mailboxes are $1.5 each a month, and there is no money-back guarantee or phone support.
What it does well
- $11 a month, the same every month: no introductory price or renewal jump
- Billed by the hour in arrears, with no prepaid term
- Free staging and SSL; unlimited websites on the smallest server
- A server can be moved to a client's account
Where it falls short
- Offsite backup storage costs $0.033 per GB per server
- Its pages don't offer a domain; mailboxes cost $1.5 each a month
- No money-back guarantee
- No phone support: 24/7 chat and tickets
What Cloudways costs
| Server | Price | Then | Billing | The limit that matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flexible Micro, DigitalOcean Standard | $11/mo ($0.0164/hour) | $11/mo, no introductory rate | Hourly, invoiced monthly in arrears | 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB SSD, 1TB bandwidth |
| Flexible Micro, DigitalOcean Premium | $14/mo ($0.0208/hour) | $14/mo | Hourly | 1GB RAM, 25GB NVMe |
| Add-on | Price |
|---|---|
| Offsite backup storage | $0.033 per GB per server |
| Rackspace email | $1.5 per mailbox a month |
| Cloudflare Enterprise CDN | From $4.99 per domain a month |
| Client Billing & Reporting, Growth (up to 10 clients) | $0 for the first month, then $4.99 a month; Scale $13.99 for unlimited clients |
Prices from its pricing page and its client billing page, read Sep 25, 2026. Prices exclude taxes. The pricing page opens on the Premium server ($14); the $11 Standard server shows only after you choose DigitalOcean, Basic, then Standard.
Over time
Total = monthly price × 12 × years, or yearly price × years, or a one-time price once. Only current plan prices; fees are listed separately. Taxes, add-ons and promotional prices are not included.
Current prices
| Plan | Price | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Flexible Micro (DigitalOcean Standard, 1GB) 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB SSD, 1TB bandwidth, unlimited websites; billed hourly ($0.0164/hour), invoiced monthly in arrears; no introductory rate or term. Cheapest Flexible server across all five cloud providers. Shown after selecting DigitalOcean > Basic > Standard on the pricing page (the page opens on Premium); not in the page until clicked. | $11 per month | Sep 25, 2026 |
| Flexible Micro (DigitalOcean Premium, 1GB) 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB NVMe; the card the pricing page shows by default. | $14 per month | Oct 9, 2026 |
Fees and other costs
| Cost | Kind | Amount | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offsite backup storage per GB per server; automated backups are stored offsite at this rate | Fee | $0.03 per month | Oct 9, 2026 |
| Rackspace email mailbox per mailbox; optional add-on | Fee | $1.50 per month | Oct 9, 2026 |
| Client Billing & Reporting (Growth, up to 10 clients) separate subscription; first month $0; Free plan covers 1 client; Scale $13.99/month for unlimited clients | Fee | $4.99 per month | Sep 25, 2026 |
| Cloudflare Enterprise CDN per domain, starting price; optional add-on | Fee | $4.99 per month | Oct 9, 2026 |
What you get on Flexible Micro
- Unlimited websites, limited only by the server: 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU and 25GB of SSD storage.
- Free Let's Encrypt SSL certificates.
- Free staging environments you can push live "with just one click".
- Automated or on-demand backups. The backups themselves are a feature, but their offsite storage is billed per GB, so they are not free.
Its pages don't offer domain registration or a free domain. It includes no mailboxes: email is the paid Rackspace add-on.
Catches and fine print
- No money-back guarantee. Cloudways says "We use post-billing method and charge in arrears", so nothing is prepaid; it publishes no refund window.
- Budget for the extras. A site with backups, a mailbox or two and the Enterprise CDN costs more than $11. The offsite backup rate is per GB per server, so the bill grows with your backup size.
- Discounts we don't count. The page's search metadata mentions 30% off for the first 5 months, and a promo code ended 16 September 2026. None is shown as a price on the pricing page, so none is in our table.
- White-label invoices cost extra. The Client Billing & Reporting add-on covers one client free; 10 clients need Growth at $4.99 a month after the first month.
Support
"Every cloud hosting plan on Cloudways includes 24/7/365 support via Live Chat and our ticketing system" (source). It publishes no phone support.
Who it suits
Cloudways suits a developer, freelancer or agency that wants to pay only for the hours a server runs, host several sites on one server, and hand a server to a client: its agencies FAQ says "you can move one server from your account to your client's account" (source). It is on our agencies list and, because WooCommerce launches in one click on any server, our WooCommerce list.
Look elsewhere if you want domain, email and backup storage in one price, a phone line, or a refund window.
See the full web hosting ranking and how we score hosts.
Alternatives in Web hosting
| Alternative | Score | Best for | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|
| IONOS | 8.0/10Very goodOur score | Shared hosting with 24/7 phone support and unlimited websites, renewing at $8 a month No affiliate relationship | Visit IONOSOn ionos.com |
| Namecheap | 7.7/10GoodOur score | Shared hosting that starts with a 30-day free trial and renews at $4.66 a month No affiliate relationship | Visit NamecheapOn namecheap.com |
| Liquid Web | 7.3/10GoodOur score | One managed WordPress site at $9 a month, the same price at renewal No affiliate relationship | Visit Liquid WebOn liquidweb.com |