Price checkMonthly
Autonomous - Free TrialFreeAutonomous - Free PlanFreeDigitalOcean - Micro$11/mo
See all 12 plans

All Cloudways (managed cloud) Plans & Pricing

Some prices not re-verified — only plans marked “checked” were confirmed on the vendor’s pricing page

Plan Monthly Annual Best For
Autonomous - Free Trial not re-verified Not specified
Autonomous - Free Plan not re-verified Not specified
DigitalOcean - Micro not re-verified Not published Not specified
Basic checked Oct 27, 2026 Not published Not specified
Small checked Oct 27, 2026 Not published Not specified
Medium checked Oct 27, 2026 Not published Not specified
Autonomous - Growth not re-verified Not published Not specified
Large checked Oct 27, 2026 Not published Not specified
Autonomous - Scale not re-verified Not published Not specified
DigitalOcean - 8XL not re-verified Not published Not specified
Autonomous - Plus not re-verified Not published Not specified
Enterprise not re-verified Contact Sales Contact Sales Not specified
View all features by plan (compare side-by-side)

Autonomous - Free Trial

Autonomous - Free Plan

DigitalOcean - Micro

Basic

Small

Medium

Autonomous - Growth

Large

Autonomous - Scale

DigitalOcean - 8XL

Autonomous - Plus

Enterprise

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At a glance

List price by tier (annualized, per license)

Per-license list price across Cloudways (managed cloud)'s plans, annualized. Custom-priced tiers show a hatched bar.

DigitalOcean - Micro$132/yr
Basic$168/yr
Small$336/yr
Medium$648/yr
Autonomous - Growth$1.2K/yr
Large$1.2K/yr
Autonomous - Scale$2.4K/yr
DigitalOcean - 8XL$4.1K/yr
Autonomous - Plus$4.8K/yr
EnterpriseCustom
Quick Answer
Last verified:
High confidence

Cloudways (managed cloud) costs Free to $399 per month as of November 2026, with 12 plans available including a free tier. Plans: Autonomous - Free Trial (free), Autonomous - Free Plan (free), DigitalOcean - Micro at $11/month, Basic at $14/month, Small at $28/month, Medium at $54/month, Autonomous - Growth at $99/Month, Large at $99/month, Autonomous - Scale at $199/Month, DigitalOcean - 8XL at $342/month, and Autonomous - Plus at $399/Month. Custom pricing is available on request. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: Yes

Cloudways (managed cloud) offers 12 pricing tiers: Autonomous - Free Trial, Autonomous - Free Plan, DigitalOcean - Micro, Basic, Small, Medium, Autonomous - Growth, Large, Autonomous - Scale, DigitalOcean - 8XL, Autonomous - Plus, Enterprise. A free plan is available. Paid plans include DigitalOcean - Micro at $11/month, Basic at $14/month, Small at $28/month.

Compared to other cloud infrastructure software, Cloudways (managed cloud) is positioned at the mid-market price point.

  • 14 documented hidden costs beyond list price
  • Contracts auto-renew
  • G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5 from 1,132 reviews (as of Oct 2026)
Last verified: | Sources: 1 pricing pages and reviews

How much does Cloudways (managed cloud) cost?

Cloudways (managed cloud) has a free plan; its 9 paid plans cost $11–$399/mo. Enterprise is quote-based. Plans include Autonomous - Free Trial (free), Autonomous - Free Plan (free), DigitalOcean - Micro at $11/month, Basic at $14/month, Small at $28/month, Medium at $54/month, Autonomous - Growth at $99/Month, Large at $99/month, Autonomous - Scale at $199/Month, DigitalOcean - 8XL at $342/month, Autonomous - Plus at $399/Month, Enterprise (custom pricing).

Cloudways (managed cloud) Pricing Overview

Cloudways (managed cloud) has 12 pricing plans, including a free tier. Paid plans range from $11 to $399/month. The Autonomous - Free Trial plan is free. The Autonomous - Free Plan plan is free. The DigitalOcean - Micro plan costs $11/month. The Basic plan costs $14/month. The Small plan costs $28/month. The Medium plan costs $54/month. The Autonomous - Growth plan costs $99/Month. The Large plan costs $99/month. The Autonomous - Scale plan costs $199/Month. The DigitalOcean - 8XL plan costs $342/month. The Autonomous - Plus plan costs $399/Month. The Enterprise plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote.

Cloudways (managed cloud) contracts auto-renew, with a Monthly (pay-as-you-go) minimum commitment.

There are at least 14 documented hidden costs beyond Cloudways (managed cloud)'s list price, including implementation, training, and add-on fees.

This pricing was last verified in June 13, 2026 from 1 independent source.

Try Cloudways (managed cloud) Free

Cloudways managed cloud hosting starts at $11/month for DigitalOcean plans (Micro, Small, and Medium configurations), scaling up to $342/month for the DigitalOcean - 8XL tier. The Autonomous product line adds a free plan at $0/month alongside paid tiers — Autonomous Growth at $99/month, Autonomous Scale at $199/month, and Autonomous Plus at $399/month. Enterprise pricing is available on a custom-quote basis; all plans are billed monthly with no annual billing option.

How Cloudways (managed cloud) Pricing Compares

Compare Cloudways (managed cloud) pricing against top alternatives in Cloud Infrastructure.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) $0-$50000/month View pricing → Microsoft Azure Free View pricing → DigitalOcean $4-$84/month View pricing →

Compare Cloudways (managed cloud) vs Alternatives

Before committing to Cloudways (managed cloud), compare pricing with these 3 alternatives in the same category.

VSAmazon Web Services (AWS)
Free

Developers learning AWS, small experiments, and proof-of-concept projects

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VSMicrosoft Azure
Custom

New users evaluating Azure before moving to paid consumption-based usage

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VSDigitalOcean
From $4/month

Personal projects, small websites, and development environments

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All Cloudways (managed cloud) alternatives & migration guides

What Companies Actually Pay for Cloudways (managed cloud)

Review scores
TrustRadius 9.3out of 10 (6)
Trustpilot 2out of 5 (25)
G2 4.7out of 5 (1,132)
Third-party review aggregates, as of Oct 2026

Score gap reflects platform demographics — G2 surveys verified business users; Trustpilot is open to all, skewing toward support complaints.

How Cloudways (managed cloud) Pricing Compares

Software Starting Price Top Price
Cloudways (managed cloud) Free $399/month
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Free $50000/month
Microsoft Azure Custom Custom
DigitalOcean Free $15/month
Fly.io $29/month $2500/month
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Custom Custom

Browse all Cloud Infrastructure pricing →

14 Cloudways (managed cloud) Hidden Costs Beyond the List Price

Beyond the listed price, Cloudways (managed cloud) has at least 14 documented hidden costs that can significantly increase total cost of ownership.

Watch for 14 hidden costs
  • Offsite Backup Storage $0.033/GB per server
    high 1 source
    Grounded summary While Cloudways generally promotes transparent pricing, several optional add-ons and usage-based fees can contribute to the overall cost: * Offsite Backup Storage: This is an additional cost, typically charged at $0.033/GB per server
  • Extra Bandwidth $0.12/GB
    medium 1 source
    Grounded summary Extra Bandwidth: If a user exceeds their plan's allocated bandwidth, additional charges apply, often around $0.12/GB
  • Additional Storage $0.17/GB
    medium 1 source
    Grounded summary Additional Storage: Beyond the plan's included disk space, extra storage is billed, for example, at $0.17/GB
  • Email Add-on $1/month per email
    low 1 source
    Grounded summary Email Add-on (Rackspace & Elastic Email): Cloudways does not offer email hosting directly on its servers; it's outsourced and comes with an additional cost, starting at $1/month per email
  • Cloudflare Enterprise CDN $4.99/month
    low 1 source
    Grounded summary Cloudflare Enterprise CDN: While a basic CDN is included, the enterprise-grade Cloudflare CDN is an optional add-on, starting at $4.99/month
  • Cloudways SafeUpdates $3/month
    medium 1 source
    Grounded summary Cloudways SafeUpdates: This feature for automated WordPress updates is a paid add-on, starting at $3/month
  • Premium Support
    low 1 source
    Grounded summary Premium Support: While 24/7 support is included, premium support options may incur extra costs
  • GCE Disk Sizing
    low 1 source
    Grounded summary GCE Disk Sizing: For Google Cloud, disk sizes are flexible and billed on a pay-as-you-go basis for actual usage
  • Application Migration
    medium 1 source
    Grounded summary Application Migration: Some users have reported complaints about Cloudways' onboarding and suggest that the first migration may not always be free
  • Management Premium Over Direct Cloud Provider Pricing 20-50% of license costs
    medium 3 sources
    TrustRadius “Costly - Adds up additional cost over same servers that u can buy directly from Linode, AWS, Google etc.”
    Trustpilot “Prices are too high for what they are providing. Wouldn't suggest it for websites who have require a lot of resources, you can find better for the same price.”
    Trustpilot “we move to a host who charges a third of what Cloudways prices we get better performance, no downtime and the backend of the site runs smoothly.”
  • CDN Not Included in Server Plans 5-15% of license costs
    low 1 source
    TrustRadius “CDN isn't free, but reasonably priced”
  • Enhanced / Premium Support Package Add-on $100-$200
    high 2 sources
    Trustpilot “after the first month i was encouraged to use an enhanced support package for an expensive fee to get access to advanced features on my website (just installing n8n) I was told that I can later cancel this. So later i canceled.”
    Trustpilot “Even on paid monthly premium support their support consists out of passing you from one agent until another until hours later it times out.”
  • Opaque Bandwidth / Traffic Overage Billing 5-20% of license costs
    high 1 source
    Trustpilot “started billing for traffic they will not provide details about”
  • Billing Continues After Failed Cancellation Attempts $11-$342
    critical 2 sources
    Trustpilot “Every time I log in and navigate to the billing section, I'm redirected back to the login page in an endless loop.”
    Trustpilot “Deleted everything related to my account - applications, servers, email setup - everything. Said it's their policy, and they cannot help. And they call themselves 'managed hosting'.”
Tip

Ask your Cloudways (managed cloud) sales rep about these costs upfront. Getting them in writing before signing can save you from surprise charges later.

Full hidden costs breakdown →

Intelligence sourced from 4 independent sources
industry TrustRadius Enterprise reviews Trustpilot Consumer reviews G2 B2B reviews
Key claims include inline source attribution. Data verified against multiple independent sources. 27 source citations total.

Cloudways (managed cloud) Contract Terms

Cloudways (managed cloud) contracts auto-renew. Changes require advance notice. These terms are sourced from verified buyer experiences.

Contract Terms
Auto-Renewal Yes
Minimum Commitment Monthly (pay-as-you-go)
Mid-Term Downgrade Allowed
Payment Terms Monthly post-pay; user reports indicate charges cover the previous month's usage rather than the upcoming period
Price Escalation No published schedule; users report unexpected charges, disputed invoices, and refund requests rejected on grounds that prior-period service was already consumed
Note

Monthly billing allows plan changes, but multiple users report difficulty accessing the billing section to make changes or initiate cancellation due to account login issues

Based on 2 verified sources

How to Negotiate Cloudways (managed cloud) Pricing

Cloudways (managed cloud) contracts are negotiable. These 7 tactics are sourced from real buyer experiences and procurement specialists.

Negotiation Playbook 7 tactics
Start on the Smallest Plan to Validate Performance high success

Cloudways is month-to-month with no minimum commitment. Start on the DigitalOcean - Micro plan at $11/month to test whether the platform performs adequately for your workload before committing to a larger server. Multiple users report being sold on larger plans by support that did not resolve their underlying performance issues.

Trustpilot reviews (2026)
Confirm Stack Compatibility in Writing Before Migrating high success

Before paying for a migration project, request written confirmation that your specific technology stack (PHP version, CMS version, database version) is supported. At least one user had to dispute charges through PayPal after Cloudways accepted a Magento migration they could not complete due to platform compatibility limitations.

Trustpilot review (Jun 2026)
Download or Export All Data Before Attempting Account Cancellation high success

Multiple users report losing sites and data during the cancellation process — either from automated deletion due to billing failures or from inability to access the billing section. Before canceling, download all backups and site files independently. Do not rely on Cloudways' backup recovery after account closure.

Trustpilot reviews (Jun–Aug 2026)
Leverage and Preparation medium success

Smart buyers ask for more than just lower unit pricing, aiming to extract training, migration funding, consulting hours, architectural reviews, and executive escalation paths.

https://youtube.com
Understand Contract Language medium success

Standard cloud contracts are often written to the provider's advantage, so buyers should negotiate.

https://cloudways.discount
Verify Promo Code Application Before First Billing Cycle medium success

Cloudways offers promotional discount codes (e.g., 30% off), but at least one user reports the discount was not applied despite being confirmed multiple times. Before your first invoice, confirm in writing via a support ticket that the promo code is active on your account, and verify the discounted amount appears on your first invoice before the dispute window closes.

Trustpilot review (Aug 2026)
Get All Add-on Commitments Documented in a Support Ticket medium success

Before agreeing to any add-on service — particularly enhanced or premium support packages — insist that the included features, pricing, and cancellation terms be captured in writing in a support ticket. At least one user lost approximately 100 GBP when a verbally agreed cancellation was not honored and billing continued.

Trustpilot review (Jun 2026)
High success Medium Low / difficult

Full negotiation guide →

Cloudways (managed cloud) Pricing FAQ

01 Is there a free plan available?

Yes, Cloudways offers an Autonomous - Free Plan at $0.0 per month.

02 What is the cheapest paid plan?

The DigitalOcean - Micro, DigitalOcean - Small, and DigitalOcean - Medium plans are the cheapest paid plans at $11.0 per month.

03 Do any plans offer annual discounts?

Based on the provided data, no annual pricing options or discounts are listed for any of the plans.

04 Does Cloudways include CDN in the server price?

No. CDN is not included in any Cloudways server plan and must be purchased as a paid add-on. Standard managed cloud plans start at $11/month (DigitalOcean - Micro), but CDN costs are additional.

05 How does Cloudways billing work — is it prepaid or post-pay?

Cloudways billing is monthly and post-pay. Based on user reports, charges cover the previous month's actual usage rather than prepaying for an upcoming service period. This has caused confusion among customers who expected renewal charges to unlock the next billing period.

06 Does Cloudways provide root access to servers?

Root access is not provided to customers. Cloudways operates as a fully managed platform, meaning Cloudways staff have administrative access to customer servers. One reviewer noted that server logs record a shared jump server user rather than the individual engineer, meaning access is not individually audited per-customer.

07 How does Cloudways pricing compare to using a cloud provider directly?

Cloudways charges a management premium on top of the underlying cloud infrastructure cost. Equivalent servers can be purchased directly from DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS, or Google Cloud at lower base prices. The Cloudways markup covers the managed control panel, automated backups, and support layer. At least one user reported finding a comparable host for roughly one-third of what Cloudways charged.

08 What is Cloudways Autonomous and how does it differ from the standard managed cloud plans?

Cloudways offers two distinct product lines. The standard managed cloud plans are priced per server size, starting at $11/month (DigitalOcean - Micro) up to $342/month (DigitalOcean - 8XL), and give you direct control over cloud server infrastructure. Cloudways Autonomous is a separate, more hands-off managed hosting tier with its own pricing: Free Plan ($0/month), Growth ($99/month), Scale ($199/month), and Plus ($399/month). Enterprise pricing is custom-quoted for both lines.

09 What should I do if I want to cancel my Cloudways account?

Multiple users report difficulty canceling — including a login loop that blocks access to the billing section and charges continuing after servers are deleted. Before initiating cancellation, download all site files and backups independently. If you cannot access the billing section, open a support ticket immediately and document the date and content of your cancellation request. Several users have had to initiate payment disputes through their bank or PayPal to stop billing when support was unresponsive.

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