Key Takeaways:
- Cloudways significantly improved website speed: Speed tests with GTmetrix, PageSpeed Insights, and Pingdom showed marked improvement after migrating to Cloudways, even without a caching plugin or CDN.
- Cloudways + Astra Pro delivers even better results: The combination of Cloudways hosting and the Astra Pro theme resulted in even faster load times, especially for resource-heavy content.
- 99.9% uptime guarantee holds true: You experienced minimal downtime with Cloudways, confirming their commitment to reliability.
- Managed hosting simplifies complex tasks: Cloudways makes using premium cloud providers like DigitalOcean and Google Cloud more accessible, even for those without extensive technical knowledge.
- Excellent customer support: Cloudways’ 24/7 support team proved responsive and reliable in resolving technical issues.
Additional Considerations
- Cloudways is ideal for those who want fast, reliable hosting with less technical overhead. It’s a great fit for publishers and webmasters who don’t want to spend excessive time on server management.
- Cloudways offers flexible pricing and vertical scaling: Pay-as-you-go pricing and the ability to adjust server resources as needed make it adaptable to your website’s growth.
I’ve been using Cloudways for several years. I started switching to Cloudways when my website encountered errors while hosted with my previous web hosting provider. With my website’s traffic on the rise, my previous hosting plan proved inadequate in handling the increased number of visitors.
During my quest for new hosting options, I came across the well-known cloud web hosting solution, Cloudways. Conducting a Cloudways review to learn more about this managed hosting platform, I encountered lots of commendations for Cloudways. This piqued my curiosity, prompting me to personally experiment with it by migrating my website to Cloudways.
Throughout this article, I aim to recount my personal journey with Cloudways. Drawing from my own experiences as a user, I extensively evaluated the speed of Cloudways and had ample opportunity to gauge its performance.
Cloudways Server Update: Vultr and Linode are no longer available in Cloudways.
- Key Takeaways:
- How do I test Cloudways Hosting?
- Cloudways Review: Performance Speed Test
- Cloudways Uptime
- Is Cloudways For Beginners?
- What Is Cloudways?
- How Does Cloudways Work?
- Cloudways Memory Limit
- Cloudways WordPress Installation Video Tutorial
- Cloudways Promo Code
- Cloudways Pricing
- Vertical Scaling
- Cloudways Features
- Cloudways Server Location
- Cloudways Servers- Cloud Servers Location
- Things That I Don’t Like In Cloudways/ Cloudways Cons
- Host Your Website On Cloudways
- Best Alternatives To Cloudways
- Pros and Cons Of Cloudways
- Frequently Ask Questions For Cloudways
How do I test Cloudways Hosting?
In this hosting review, I use three kinds of popular speed tests to check its real-time performance GTmetrix, Pingdom Speed Test, and most importantly the PageSpeed Insight.
Note that the website that I’ve been testing was the same website that you reading this article. It was loaded with articles, videos, real-world website traffic, and ads which are perfect in a real-world test. The ad that I have been using is Ezoic, which a lot of publishers are complaining slows down their websites.
In this kind of setup, it will be more challenging for Cloudways and more accurate compared to when testing a dummy site.
I also included in the speed test when I changed my theme to Astra Pro since Cloudways gives a free Astra Pro for one year to all of their users.
Astra theme is known as one of the fastest themes. I will also show you the result of Cloudways and Astra Pro theme in the speed test result below.
Tools used for a testing hosting environment
I also use my own Cloudways account on my money site to accurately test the performance of what it’s like for a website to be hosted on Cloudways.
Why this Review Is DIfferent from other Reviews?
Our Cloudways review is different from other web hosting reviews since I’m using actual data from a real money site. Other reviews just use a dummy site or testing site, while in our case I’m using my own money site that has 15K monthly pageview.
If you’re not aware a website’s performance will also be affected by traffic, the more traffic your site has –the slower your server can perform, which is why we will need to adjust our site resources when our web traffic increases, but when testing a dummy site they cannot test the real-time performance of the server in a real environment.
In this review, I will test an actual website with actual organic traffic so you will have an idea of how Cloudways performs in an actual environment.
Cloudways Review: Performance Speed Test
Below is the speed test result from my website after I moved to Cloudways web hosting.
GTmetrix Speed Test Result
Below is the screenshot of the speed test result in GTmetrix in Cloudways. My website speed changed significantly after hosting my website in Cloudways. At the time of that testing, I hadn’t used any caching tools, and I also deactivated the ads.
The result that you’ve seen is based only on the Cloudways performance, with no caching tools, no CDN, and no ads. I will show you the speed test result after I activate the Ezoic ads later.
PageSpeed Insight Result
Below are speed test results for mobile using PageSpeed Insight. I have not also activated the ads on this result as I did in the GTmetrix test.
Those two results are based on Cloudways performance with no ads and using my old theme. I redesigned my website using Astra Pro, which Is why you will notice that my website looks a bit different compared to the two screenshots.
Now I will show you the result of the speed test with ads and without ads using GTmetrix, PageSpeed Insight, and Pingdom when using Cloudways Plus Astra Pro.
GTmetrix Result With Cloudways And Astra Pro
Homepage Test Result With Ezoic Ads
Homepage Test Result Without Ezoic Ads
Article Speed Test Result With Ads
Article Speed Test Result Without Ads
You can see from the test that on the homepage there is a little bit of difference from the result. It is because I didn’t allow any ads on my homepage. But compared to the homepage, you can see the difference in the article, since it’s quite heavy— a 5000+ word article loaded with images, video, and ads.
PageSpeed Insight Test With Cloudways and Astra Pro
Homepage Test Mobile
Homepage Test Desktop
Article Test With Ads Mobile
Article Test With Ads Desktop
Article Test Without Ads Mobile
Article Test Without Ads Desktop
You can see from the image that I only tested the homepage once on mobile and desktop. It is because I didn’t enable ads on my homepage, even if I test the homepage with Ezoic ads on and off the results are almost the same.
In our second test, I used a 5000+ word article with a 15-plus image and a video. Compared to my previous hosting, my website truly improves using Cloudways. Although the result doesn’t get a perfect score, it can still be improved with some optimization.
If you’re using a faster ad provider the result can be much higher, it just happens that I’m using Ezoic, and it’s hard to get a perfect score in page speed insight using Ezoic ads. I just can’t leave Ezoic right now since they provide higher earnings compared to AdSense.
Pingdom Speed Test With Cloudways And Astra Pro
Homepage Test
Article Test
The screenshot above is from our last speed test using Pingdom. You will notice that I only have two screenshots, one from the homepage and one from the article. It was because Pingdom automatically blocked ads from their speed test. Doing a separate test with or without ads is unnecessary.
Based on the three separate speed tests, I can conclude that Cloudways improved my website speed compared to my previous host provider. Although It falls short of the result by not hitting at least a 90+ score in PageSpeed Insight with the article, this can still be improved by switching to a faster ad provider.
Overall I’m really impressed with how my website speed improved. Cloudways performs really well in terms of speed performance.
Cloudways Uptime
Cloudways is an excellent cloud hosting service known for its managed cloud approach. Just like other web hosting providers, Cloudways promises to ensure your website is online about 99.9% of the time, which is really good. I tried Cloudways for my website, and there was only one time when my site went down. That happened on June 21, 2022, because of a problem with Cloudflare and not Cloudway’s fault.
Based on my own experience, Cloudways is true to its word and it can really provide a 99.9% uptime.
How is Cloudways Able to Provide 99.9% Uptime?
Cloudways has earned its reputation for delivering an exceptional 99.9% uptime through a combination of advanced technology and proactive strategies.
Unlike traditional hosting, Cloudways harnesses the power of multiple interconnected servers spread across various data centers. This distributed architecture ensures that even if one server encounters an issue, the workload seamlessly shifts to others, preventing downtime.
Behind the scenes, Cloudways employs vigilant monitoring and rapid response mechanisms. Their team of experts continually oversees server and network performance, swiftly identifying and addressing potential concerns before they escalate.
This meticulous approach, combined with 24/7 support, guarantees minimal disruptions. Cloudways’ commitment to high availability empowers businesses with the assurance of a stable online presence, allowing them to focus on growth and customer engagement.
Is Cloudways For Beginners?
Cloud-based web hosting might not be the easiest choice for beginners. Hosting a website on a different cloud involves a big learning curve, and many things can seem complicated at first.
Personally, I’m a publisher and webmaster, and I handle everything for my website all by myself – from writing to editing.
Every part of this website is my own creation. But handling all the complex tasks of moving my website to another cloud-based hosting, especially one with a more complicated setup, would take up too much of my time.
This is where Cloudways is a great option. It offers managed hosting, which means it takes care of a lot of the technical details for you.
Instead of attempting to host my website directly with providers like DigitalOcean or Google Cloud, I choose to go with Cloudways, known for its best-managed hosting services.
Setting up my website on premium cloud platforms like DigitalOcean or Google Cloud within Cloudways was surprisingly easy, requiring just a few clicks.
One really user-friendly feature they have is their managed one-time free website migration service. When you decide to move your website to Cloudways, you have two options: either migrate it yourself or take advantage of their free managed migration service.
For the managed migration, all you need to do is request it, provide the necessary information, and then wait for the process to be completed.
Even if you’re looking to start a website on Cloudways, it’s as simple as clicking a button. You can follow a short video tutorial to learn how to easily install WordPress on Cloudways.
In a nutshell, Cloudways is one of the best-managed hosting solutions that not only simplifies the process but also ensures a smooth experience, especially for someone like me who wants to focus on content creation rather than technical complexities.
What Is Cloudways?
Some people mistake Cloudways as a cloud provider but they are not. Cloudways is a managed cloud web hosting technology and one of the best web hosting services today that gives a solution to eliminating the complexity of cloud-based hosting.
Instead of hiring a developer or learning some commands in traditional cloud-powered hosting, Cloudways makes everything easy with just a few clicks.
How Does Cloudways Work?
Cloudways works by featuring top-of-the-line cloud providers like DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud in their platform.
Instead of going directly to each cloud provider and learning all the complex stuff just to host your website. Cloudways makes it much easier for all users, All you need to do is go to Cloudways >> choose from premium cloud providers >> set up the server and Wordpres with just a few clicks.
Cloudways Memory Limit
I know some of the users want to know about its memory limit. I have personally asked Cloudways representatives what are the memory limit of their hosting service.
They gave me some information and a link to their article guide about memory limits.
They also told me that the default memory limit is 256MB but you can adjust it depending on your server. If you have a 1GB of RAM server the recommended value is less than 512MB, for a 2GB of RAM server the recommended value is less than 1024MB, and for the 4GB of RAM server and above the recommended server is 2048MB.
If you are a beginner and you want to know more about memory limits, Consider reading the article: PHP Memory Limit and Why Do You Need Them?
Cloudways WordPress Installation Video Tutorial
Installing WordPress in Cloudways was easy. All the processes can be done within just a few clicks. Watch the video tutorial below to learn more about its installation in Cloudways.
Cloudways Promo Code
You can use the special promo code that Cloudways gave to me. By using this Cloudways promo code you can have 10% OFF on your first three months of using Cloudways.
Just click activate deal and type “MIRAGE10” in the Coupon box in Cloudways.
Cloudways Pricing
When it comes to pricing Cloudways offers flexible pricing plans, In traditional cloud-based hosting it is hard to calculate exactly how much you gonna pay per month. They offer a pricing calculator but it’s confusing for beginners.
There are also some complaints that other users were surprised by the hosting bill that they received. It commonly happens if you are not fully aware of how traditional cloud-powered hosting works.
The good thing about the pricing on Cloudways is more straightforward, Cloudways offers pay-as-you-go, but you can choose a web hosting plan that will serve as a ceiling for your hosting cost.
Almost all the time your hosting cost will not exceed your choosing plan unless your website site increases exponentially like one of your posts goes viral, or when there is an algorithm update that lots of your content suddenly ranks number on search engines.
Vertical Scaling
One of the key features of Cloudways is their “vertical scaling”, It is the most efficient way to scale up your budget based on how many resources you’ll need, You choose your resources like RAM and storage and you will pay what you consume every month.
Vertical scaling gives freedom to adjust your resources whenever you need to, Cloudways is truly one of the most flexible pricing that you can find in hosting.
Their hosting plans start at $10/month to $274.33/month based on the cloud provider that you choose. A bit of advice if you are a beginner and your site is not that huge yet, always consider choosing a lower plan at first to save some money.
Besides, you can just easily adjust the vertical scaling when you’re site starts to grow its traffic and you need more resources.
I asked one of Cloudway’s representatives how much monthly traffic their lowest plan can cater to, and they said that it is good for a website with 20,000 monthly traffic, so if you are just started a website It doesn’t need to go all in their most expensive plan, beside you can easily adjust the resources that you’ll need as your visitors started to grow.
In terms of pricing, Cloudways is one of the best hosts that can give you fair pricing for their excellent service.
Cloudways Features
1 Click Fast Server and WordPress Installation
If you are planning to start a WordPress Website on Cloudways and if you’re new to website hosting, you will surely like these features.
In some cloud providers, setting up a server and installing a WordPress Application is frustrating for beginners, there is a lot of technical stuff that you need to do, but in Cloudways everything can be done with just 1 Click of a button.
If you don’t, believe me, you can try it for yourself, but honestly, everything can be set up in just one click, all you need to do is choose a plan and click the button, and you are done, the server and WordPress will be installed.
Cloudways also has Free Astra Pro For 1 Year
This is a feature that I was surprised about in Cloudways, I hosted the website Mirageportal on Cloudways a year ago and honestly, I didn’t even know about Cloudways and Astra partnership.
Just one of Cloudway’s representatives sent me an email and informed me that Astra and Cloudways have a partnership and all Cloudways users can use the Astra Pro theme for free for a whole year. If you are new and you are not aware of Astra, it is one of the fastest WordPress themes that you can use today.
If you are not aware, there is the free version of Astra which is already good for a free theme, even for a free Astra theme you will benefit from its speedy performance, but a free version offers fewer features, especially in customization.
You can create a basic-looking website from the free version but a pro version of Astra enables you to use all of its features to create a stunning and professional-looking website which you can use for free when you host your website in Cloudways.
The free Astra pro version can be used not just for one website but for unlimited websites for free in one year, a truly useful feature especially if you planning to create multiple websites. This website Mirageportal was not using an Astra theme when I first migrated it to Cloudways, but when I heard about it I tried to change my theme to Astra, You can see it on the speed test screenshot above.
If you want to try Cloudways and Astra Pro on your website, just visit their website using the button below.
Cloudways Customer Support
Another thing that I truly appreciate about this company is the Cloudways support team. Since Cloudways is a fully managed cloud-powered hosting platform, there is always 24/7 customer support that you can ask for help anytime.
As a web owner, I have made some mistakes on my website that cause some errors, but their support staff never failed to fix those errors on my site. Cloudways offers excellent support that usually responds in just 3 minutes, but if you want a faster response time for all our queries you can purchase their premium support add-ons.
These add-ons will give you a dedicated account manager, a private Slack channel, direct phone support, and faster response time. It is like you have your own technical team that will manage your cloud server in Cloudways.
For me the standard 24/7 support is enough, it is fast and fixes all the issues when I need help. Advanced and premium support is for those with a huge website that every minute is critical for their business, but for most users’ standard 24/7 support is enough.
1 Click Free SSL
Not all web hosting company offers free SSL in all their plans, In Cloudways all their plans have a free SSL, although this is not recommended If you already have one when you migrate your site to Cloudways, for others that are just starting up, a free SSL is a good option.
In comparison to my previous hosting, they also offer free SSL, but installation is really hard for beginners and causes some mixed HTTPS results on my website, some of my pages are HTTPS and some are not, which forces me to use a third-party software just to convert all my page to HTTPS.
What is good about Cloudway’s free SSL is how easy to use it, You can convert all your pages into HTTPS with just 1 click of a button, all you need to do is place your domain names click save and you’re done.
My previous hosting, gave me a lot of headaches since I was a beginner back then and I couldn’t find a solution on how to properly install SSL on my website, which can be done in just one click in Cloudways, I wish I’m using Cloudways when I was just a beginner, It will save me a lot of time.
Block Storage
Another unique feature of their hosting service was the block storage, in some other hosting— what plan you choose is what you will get, in case you want to add some storage you will need to change to the other plans, but thanks to Block Storage you can add storage without the need to change without changing other server parameters.
1 Click Backup and Restore
Cloudways provides a one-click backup and restore in case you need a backup for your website, in some other cases if you need to get some backups on your website it might give you an extra cost by purchasing premium backups for your website, which you can get for free in Cloudways.
The backup that you will create will allocate the storage of your server so always make sure that you always monitor your storage when creating a backup.
Free Premium Caching Plugin
In case you’re using WordPress you might need to get a premium speed optimization plugin like WP Rocket which will cost some extra bucks, In the Cloudways platform you can use a free tool that works like WP Rocket. The speed optimization plugin that they provide is called “Breeze”.
Cloudways Breeze has a lot of features that you will need for your websites like file compression which gives you the option to minify HTML, Javascript, and CS.
It also features image compression, Gzip compression, and more, thus the kind of features that you can usually get on a paid premium plugin.
If you want to see its full features you can visit its official website.
Premium Cloud Provider
As I often emphasize, cloud-based hosting presents a substantial learning curve and isn’t tailored for beginners. Setting up a website directly on cloud hosting platforms such as DigitalOcean, Google Cloud, and Amazon Cloud can be challenging, particularly if you’re new to this environment.
However, the situation differs with Cloudways—thanks to their innovative technology, hosting your website with this premier cloud provider becomes remarkably straightforward.
Related Content: Amazon (AWS) VS Cloudways
Cloudways Server Location
Cloudways is headquartered in Mosta, Malta, in Europe. The company boasts a workforce of over 280 employees representing more than 20 different countries.
While the primary headquarters is situated in Europe, Cloudways operates a global network of 65+ data centers in various parts of the world through its cloud partners.
Cloudways Servers- Cloud Servers Location
Below is the list of their data centers’ locations based on their cloud provider.
DigitalOcean Data Center Location in Cloudways hosting
| America | Europe | Australia | Asia |
| USA: San Francisco | Netherlands: Amsterdam | N/A | Singapore: Singapore |
| USA: New York | Germany: Frankfurt | India: Banglore | |
| Canada: Toronto |
AWS Data Center Location In Cloudways
| America | Europe | Australia | Asia |
| USA: Oregon | Germany: Frankfurt | Australia: Sydney | Singapore: Singapore |
| Canada: Montreal | Sweden: Stockholm | Japan: Tokyo | |
| Brazil: Sao Paulo | Ireland: Ireland | India: Mumbai | |
| Canda: Paris | Italy: Milan | China: Hongkong | |
| USA: US N.Virginia | South Korea: Seoul | ||
| USA: California | Bahrain: Bahrain | ||
| USA: Ohio |
Google Cloud Data Center Location In Cloudways
| America | Europe | Australia | Asia |
| USA: Oregon | Germany: Frankfurt | Australia: Sydney | Japan: Tokyo |
| Canada: Montreal | Belgium: Belgium | Singapore: Singapore | |
| Brazil: Sao Paolo | Netherlands: Netherlands | India: Mumbai | |
| USA: Iowa | Finland: Finland | China: Hong Kong | |
| USA: South Carolina | China: Taiwan | ||
| USA: N.Virginia | |||
| USA: Las Vegas |
Things That I Don’t Like In Cloudways/ Cloudways Cons
Cloudways is an excellent web hosting because of its speed, and flexibility, and almost all that it offers are great, but there are a few things that I didn’t like about it and let me elaborate on them for you.
No Free Webmail
Honestly, this was my main concern about Cloudways. I need webmail to create a professional-looking email rather than an email address that is provided by Gmail for free.
I use it for my contact and for those inquiries on my website like sponsorship, affiliate, or any concern with my website.
In my previous hosting provider even though their plan was cheaper compared to Cloudways they still included free webmail on which I could create a professional-looking email address together with a mailbox at no extra cost.
But in this Cloudways if you want to have webmail, you can include it on your Cloudways add-on, which is cheap enough, but still, an extra cost is an extra cost no matter how cheap it is, it was still additional cost which you can get for free in some web hosting.
They don’t offer email hosting, instead, they really add third-party companies for their Emails and SMTP.
No File Manager
Another thing that I don’t like was the lack of a file manager, in the five years of managing my own website, there have been some instances where I needed to delete, modify, or add some files on my website which is why having a dedicated file manager on hosting is important for me.
Sadly Cloudways doesn’t have a file manager, if you want to access your file you can use FileZilla which is not convenient for me because you need to set it up first before you can use it. FileZilla is another learning curve, especially for beginners.
If you are a WP user, you can use a plugin called File Manager, but a plugin is not as secure compared to a file manager that is directly into hosting, which is why It is a disappointing factor for me, I need a file manager right out of the box without using third party software or a plugin.
Cloudways doesn’t offer Domain Hosting
Another con of using Cloudways was they dont have domain hosting, honestly for me this is not a big deal since having a domain and host in a separate location or company has some added security features, but for some, they dont like it since pointing a domain to a host from different platform are confusing to beginners.
Host Your Website On Cloudways
Best Alternatives To Cloudways
If you are still not convinced and you dont want to choose Cloudways, or you find it a bit expensive. Here is the list of Cloudways alternatives that you can try.
SpidyHost
- Affordable Cloud web hosting
- Pricing Starts at $1.3 a month
- A lot of features
- Free CDN
- 7 Data Centers World Wide
More Cloudways Alternatives? Check our separate article.
Cloudways Affiliate: Earn Extra Cash Through Their Affiliate
Another extra feature of using Cloudways was their affiliate program. You can earn extra cash by promoting or referring Cloudways to your friends, clients, or audience. But wait, before you apply to their affiliate program, just make sure that you enjoy their services.
I’m also an affiliate of theirs but I will never promote or recommend a product or service that I’m not satisfied with. I’m promoting Cloudways not just because of their commission but because of their excellent services. So only applies if you already use Cloudways and are satisfied with their hosting.
If you love their cloud hosting service and want to promote their service. There are two ways to earn as an affiliate, you can choose either slab or hybrid affiliate.
- Slab Cloudways Affiliate– Slab is a performance-based commission. You can earn instantly every time you refer a new customer.
- Hybrid Cloudways Affiliate– A hybrid is a unique form of earning. By choosing Hybrid you can have flexible earnings. You can earn an instant commission from every referred customer, plus a lifetime monthly commission as long as the one that you refer stays in Cloudways.
Pros and Cons Of Cloudways
Here are some of the pros and cons of these managed WordPress hosting platforms.
Cloudways Pros
- Fast Server
- Cloudways uses a premium cloud provider
- Affordable plans
- One of the popular hosting in the market
- Cloudways allows staging environment
- Cloudways lets you scale your resources
Cloudways Cons
- No file manager
- No cPanel
- No Email Hosting
Frequently Ask Questions For Cloudways
Is Cloudways worth it?
I’ve been hosting my website in Cloudways for a year and It was excellent, it was fast on WordPress and had no downtime. The price is worth the performance and the service is truly one of the best managed hosting.
How much is Cloudways monthly?
Cloudways offers managed cloud hosting for as low as $11/month to $274.33 a month depending on the cloud hosting provider that you choose.
Is Cloudways good for beginners?
Cloudways is a managed hosting that has a very simple interface, it is the simplest dashboard that I have ever used. Almost everything in Cloudways can be done in just a few clicks. You don’t need to have some technical knowledge to manage your website in their hosting. Cloudways is the most beginner-friendly Cloud hosting.
Is Cloudways a VPS?
No, Cloudways manages cloud-based hosting which is faster than a VPS, they also have premium cloud providers like DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud.
Is Cloudways a managed WordPress hosting?
Cloudways is not a managed WordPress hosting provider. They are a managed cloud hosting platform where you can host your WordPress websites.
Does Cloudways Email Hosting?
No, Cloudways does not provide email hosting, instead, they offer an add- ons if you want an SMTP and webmail features.
Are there any hosting providers like Cloudways
There are some cloud-based web hosting providers out there, but only Cloudways has this kind of unique platform, The only one that comes close is Nestify which also offers premium cloud providers but it is more expensive except on their AWS cloud which is cheaper compared to Cloudways.
