Cloudways Review 2026
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform acquired by DigitalOcean in October 2022 for $350 million. Rather than owning its own data centres, Cloudways sits on top of five major cloud providers — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, and Google Cloud — handling all the server management, security, and optimisation so you don't have to. This unique multi-cloud approach gives users access to 65+ data centre locations worldwide (including London for UK audiences) with the flexibility to pick the right provider for their budget and performance needs. The platform stands out for its performance stack: a custom-built combination of NGINX, Apache, Varnish cache, Redis, Memcached, and PHP-FPM delivers consistently fast TTFB under 200ms. Independent testing shows 99.99% uptime reliability, backed by self-healing servers that automatically restart during rare issues. The pay-as-you-go model means no surprise renewal hikes — the price you pay in month one is the same in month twelve. The main trade-offs are the absence of cPanel, email hosting, and domain registration. Cloudways uses its own custom panel which, while modern and capable, requires adjustment for users coming from traditional shared hosting. For developers, agencies, and growing WooCommerce stores that need cloud-grade performance without the complexity of managing their own servers, Cloudways represents excellent value. Just be aware that the 3-day free trial is very short for a proper evaluation.
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Quick Overview
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The Verdict
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform acquired by DigitalOcean in October 2022 for $350 million. Rather than owning its own data centres, Cloudways sits on top of five major cloud providers — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, and Google Cloud — handling all the server management, security, and optimisation so you don't have to. This unique multi-cloud approach gives users access to 65+ data centre locations worldwide (including London for UK audiences) with the flexibility to pick the right provider for their budget and performance needs. The platform stands out for its performance stack: a custom-built combination of NGINX, Apache, Varnish cache, Redis, Memcached, and PHP-FPM delivers consistently fast TTFB under 200ms. Independent testing shows 99.99% uptime reliability, backed by self-healing servers that automatically restart during rare issues. The pay-as-you-go model means no surprise renewal hikes — the price you pay in month one is the same in month twelve. The main trade-offs are the absence of cPanel, email hosting, and domain registration. Cloudways uses its own custom panel which, while modern and capable, requires adjustment for users coming from traditional shared hosting. For developers, agencies, and growing WooCommerce stores that need cloud-grade performance without the complexity of managing their own servers, Cloudways represents excellent value. Just be aware that the 3-day free trial is very short for a proper evaluation.
Developers, agencies, and growing businesses that want managed cloud hosting with a choice of five infrastructure providers (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Google Cloud) and pay-as-you-go pricing
You want cheap shared hosting, need cPanel, or require built-in email hosting and domain registration
Cloudways Hosting Reviews by Type
Explore our detailed reviews for each type of hosting Cloudways offers.
Performance & Reliability
Speed Test Results
Time to First Byte (TTFB)
Excellent speed - faster than 80% of hosts tested.
Uptime Guarantee
Guaranteed Uptime
Cloudways guarantees 99.99% uptime, with service credits available if they fall below this threshold.
Pricing & Value
£11.00
/month£11.00
/month+0%
at renewal0
daysAdditional Fees to Consider
- No email hosting included — third-party email service required (e.g. Google Workspace, Zoho)
- Offsite backups cost an additional $0.033/GB per server
- Advanced Support add-on costs $25–$100/month
- Cloudflare Enterprise CDN only included on Autonomous plans — extra on Flexible
- All prices exclude applicable taxes
Features
Customer Support
Available Channels
Support Quality
Clicks to reach a human agent
Easy access to human support - minimal friction.
Security
Free SSL
Included
Uptime SLA
99.99%
Money-Back
0 days
Storage
NVMe SSD
Pros & Cons
What We Like
- Choose from 5 cloud providers (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Google Cloud) with 65+ data centre locations worldwide — including London
- Pay-as-you-go pricing with no long-term contracts — pay hourly, billed monthly, with no renewal price hikes
- Optimised performance stack with NGINX, Varnish cache, Redis, Memcached, and PHP-FPM — delivers sub-200ms TTFB
- Free SSL certificates, free website migration, staging environments, and built-in Git deployment on all plans
- Vertical scaling — upgrade server RAM, CPU, and storage with a single click without migrating
- Excellent 99.99% uptime track record with self-healing servers — consistently outperforms shared hosting providers
What Could Be Better
- No cPanel or Plesk — uses a custom control panel that requires a learning curve for traditional hosting users
- No email hosting included — you must use a third-party email provider like Google Workspace or Zoho Mail
- No domain registration service — domains must be purchased from a separate registrar
- Entry-level pricing (~£11/month) is higher than basic shared hosting — not ideal for simple personal sites
- No traditional money-back guarantee — uses a 3-day free trial instead, which is very short for evaluation
- Phone support not available — limited to live chat and ticket system only
Our Rating Breakdown
Overall Score
Based on our comprehensive testing
Cloudways vs Alternatives
| Provider | Intro Price | Renewal | TTFB | Rating | Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudways | £11.00/mo | £11.00/mo | 180ms | 8.5 | This Review |
| SiteGround | £2.99/mo | £14.99/mo | 142ms | 9.1 | Read Review |
| Bluehost | £2.95/mo | £10.99/mo | 245ms | 7.8 | Read Review |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cloudways owned by DigitalOcean?
Does Cloudways use cPanel?
Which Cloudways cloud provider should I choose?
Does Cloudways include email hosting?
Is Cloudways good for WooCommerce?
Does Cloudways have UK data centres?
Ready to Get Started with Cloudways?
Developers, agencies, and growing businesses that want managed cloud hosting with a choice of five infrastructure providers (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Google Cloud) and pay-as-you-go pricing
Editorial Policy
Last updated: 2026-03-26. This review was written by the Compare UK Hosting editorial team. Our ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.Learn more about our methodology.