What is the cheapest Cloudways plan?

The cheapest Cloudways plan is the Linode (Akamai) 1c/1GB plan at $12/mo — slightly cheaper than Vultr HF 1c/1GB at $14/mo. However, Vultr HF delivers better performance for WordPress (72ms TTFB vs ~78ms on Linode) and is Cloudways' recommended provider. For most users, the $2/mo difference is not worth sacrificing Vultr HF's performance advantage. Use code CLOUDS2022 for $30 free credit — that covers 2+ months on either entry plan.

Does Cloudways have a free trial?

Yes — Cloudways offers a 3-day free trial with no credit card required. You get a fully functional server for 72 hours. After the trial period, you're prompted to add payment to keep the server. Alternatively, using code CLOUDS2022 gives $30 in account credit rather than a time-limited trial — credit is non-expiring and covers ~2 months on the $14/mo starter plan.

Does Cloudways pricing change at renewal?

No — this is Cloudways' most important pricing feature. Whatever you pay on day 1 is what you pay indefinitely. No intro pricing, no renewal markup, no surprise bills. The $14/mo Vultr HF 1c/1GB plan costs $14/mo in year 1 and year 5. Compare this to Hostinger ($2.99/mo intro → $8.99/mo renewal) or ScalaHosting ($29.95/mo intro → ~$82/mo renewal). Cloudways' pricing predictability is a genuine advantage for budgeting.

What does the CLOUDS2022 promo code give you?

$30 in free account credit — non-expiring. On the $14/mo Vultr HF starter plan, that's effectively 2 months free. The credit applies automatically to your bills until exhausted. It's available to new Cloudways accounts only. After signup, apply the code in Cloudways → Account → Payment Methods → Apply Promo Code.

What does the THATMYCLOUD promo code give you?

30% off your Cloudways bill for the first 3 months. On a $50/mo plan (2c/4GB Vultr HF), that's $45/mo for 3 months — saving $45 total. This stacks better for higher-tier plans where the dollar saving is more significant. After 3 months, billing reverts to the standard rate. Unlike CLOUDS2022 (flat $30 credit), THATMYCLOUD is percentage-based and favors larger plans.

How does Cloudways billing work?

Hourly billing. Your server accumulates hourly charges based on the plan rate (e.g., $14/mo Vultr HF = $0.019/hr). At month end, Cloudways bills your card for the total hours used. If you use a server for 10 days and delete it, you're billed for 10 days only. The Cloudways dashboard shows a real-time cost graph so you can see exactly what you're spending. No minimum commitment — delete a server at any time and billing stops.

Is Cloudways more expensive than shared hosting?

For Year 1 on intro pricing: yes. Hostinger starts at $2.99/mo, Bluehost at $2.95/mo. Cloudways starts at $14/mo. However, shared hosting intro prices are 3-4 year commitments with 200-300% renewal markups. On a 2-year actual cost basis, Cloudways ($336 for 2c/4GB) is often cheaper than shared hosting equivalents at renewal pricing. More importantly, Cloudways handles traffic that crashes shared hosting — the performance case for the price difference is strong.

Which Cloudways plan is best for a WooCommerce store?

Vultr HF 2c/4GB at $50/mo is the recommended minimum for WooCommerce. The 1c/1GB plan at $14/mo can handle a WooCommerce store with under 5k monthly visitors and low concurrent sessions, but it will struggle under flash sales or ad traffic spikes. For stores over 30k monthly visitors or running paid ads, start at 2c/4GB. Use code CLOUDS2022 for $30 credit — covers most of the first month on the $50/mo plan.

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Cloudways pricing is refreshingly simple once you understand one rule: you pay for the server size and cloud provider, billed hourly, with no renewal increase ever. No tiers, no visit limits, no per-site charges. This guide covers every plan, every promo code, and the true cost comparison you need to decide whether Cloudways fits your budget.

Cloudways Pros

No renewal price increase — ever
Pay-as-you-go hourly billing, cancel any month
CLOUDS2022 = $30 free credit for new accounts
THATMYCLOUD = 30% off first 3 months
Scale up or down in seconds — no migration needed
Vultr HF 1c/1GB at $14/mo — best entry managed cloud

Cloudways Cons

No email hosting — add $6-72/yr externally
$14/mo minimum — higher than shared hosting intro prices

Speed Benchmarks

TTFB: 78ms
Load Time: 0.6s
Uptime: 99.99%

$14/mo Vultr HF | No Renewal Shock | CLOUDS2022 = $30 Credit | THATMYCLOUD = 30% Off

$11.00/mo

3-Day Free Trial (No Card)

Try Cloudways Free (CLOUDS2022 = $30 Credit) ➦

Cloudways Pricing: The Short Version

$14/mo

Entry Price

Vultr HF 1c/1GB — blogs & small sites

$50/mo

WooCommerce Minimum

Vultr HF 2c/4GB — recommended

Renewal Increase

Price never changes — ever

Three things that make Cloudways pricing unique: (1) No renewal shock — same price forever. (2) Hourly billing — delete your server after 10 days and pay for 10 days. (3) Unlimited sites on one server — no per-site charges like Kinsta ($35/site) or WP Engine ($30/site).

All Cloudways Plans by Provider

benchmark-table
Starter,Vultr HF,1c / 1GB / 25GB NVMe,$14,Blogs, under 30k visits/mo	Standard,Vultr HF,2c / 4GB / 80GB NVMe,$50,WooCommerce, growing sites	Growth,Vultr HF,4c / 8GB / 200GB NVMe,$118,Agencies, high-traffic, multiple sites	Scale,Vultr HF,8c / 16GB / 400GB NVMe,$248,Enterprise WordPress, heavy load	DO Entry,DigitalOcean Premium,1c / 1GB / 25GB NVMe,$14,DO-preferred regions	DO Standard,DigitalOcean Premium,2c / 4GB / 80GB NVMe,$38,Budget 2c/4GB option vs $50 Vultr HF	DO Growth,DigitalOcean Premium,4c / 8GB / 200GB NVMe,$80,Same specs as Vultr HF, $38/mo less	AWS Starter,Amazon AWS,1c / 1GB,$36.51,AWS compliance requirements
P	l	a	n
P	r	o	v	i	d	e	r
S	p	e	c	s
P	r	i	c	e	/	m	o
B	e	s	t		F	o	r

Our recommendation: Vultr High Frequency. Best TTFB (72ms), best price-to-performance, and Cloudways' own top pick. The DO Premium plans are cheaper at larger sizes ($80/mo for 4c/8GB vs $118/mo Vultr HF) — worth considering for agencies where the $38/mo savings at scale matter more than marginal speed difference.

AWS and Google Cloud through Cloudways are significantly more expensive than Vultr/DO. They're worth it only for compliance requirements (e.g., "must run on AWS eu-central-1") — not for WordPress performance.

How Cloudways Billing Works

Cloudways uses hourly billing. Your server accumulates usage at a per-hour rate based on the monthly price divided by ~730 hours:

$14/mo plan = $0.019/hr
$50/mo plan = $0.068/hr
$118/mo plan = $0.161/hr

At month end, Cloudways bills your card for total hours used. The dashboard shows a real-time cost graph — you always know exactly what you're spending.

Billing advantages:

Create a server for a client project, delete when done — no wasted months
Scale up for a launch week, scale back down — you pay for what you use
No annual commitment required — ever
Add and remove cloud providers without contract changes

One caveat: Cloudways doesn't bill for suspended servers at the same rate. If you suspend a server (keep it but stop billing for compute), you still pay a small storage fee (~$0.02/GB/month). Full deletion stops billing entirely.

All Working Cloudways Promo Codes (2026)

comparison-table
CLOUDS2022,$30 Free Credit,Non-expiring account credit,New accounts — effectively 2 free months on starter	THATMYCLOUD,30% Off,First 3 months,Agencies, multi-site — reduces first quarter cost	BFCM2026,40% Off,First 4 months,Seasonal — max cash saving when available	Direct Link,3-Day Free Trial,72 hours, no card,Test before committing
C	o	d	e
D	i	s	c	o	u	n	t
D	u	r	a	t	i	o	n
B	e	s	t		F	o	r

For the full list of current codes and seasonal deals, see the Cloudways promo code page — updated whenever new codes are verified working.

Which code to use:

New account, single site: CLOUDS2022 ($30 credit, ~2 free months on starter)
Agency or multi-site, higher plan: THATMYCLOUD (30% off 3 months — better value at $50+/mo)
Just want to test: 3-day free trial (no card, via direct link)

Apply CLOUDS2022 — Get $30 Free Credit ➦

True Cost vs Competitors

pricing-table
Cloudways (Vultr HF),$50/mo,$50/mo (no change),+$72/yr,~$1,344 (incl. email)	ScalaHosting Build #1,$29.95/mo,~$82/mo,Included,~$1,343	Kinsta Business 1,$115/mo (5 sites),$115/mo,Not incl.,$2,760	WP Engine Growth,$96/mo (10 sites),$96/mo,Not incl.,$2,304	Hostinger VPS KVM 2,$5.99/mo,$17.99/mo,Included,$287	Raw Vultr HF 2c/4GB,$24/mo,$24/mo,Not incl.,$648
H	o	s	t
P	r	i	c	e		(	2	c	/	4	G	B	)
R	e	n	e	w	a	l		P	r	i	c	e
E	m	a	i	l
2	-	Y	e	a	r		T	r	u	e		C	o	s	t

The key takeaways from the 2-year cost table:

Cloudways vs ScalaHosting: Nearly identical over 2 years (~$1,344 vs ~$1,343) — but ScalaHosting delivers 28ms vs 72ms TTFB
Cloudways vs Kinsta: $1,344 vs $2,760 — Cloudways saves $1,416 over 2 years at same usage level
Cloudways vs WP Engine: $1,344 vs $2,304 — Cloudways saves $960 over 2 years
Cloudways vs raw Vultr: $1,344 vs $648 (raw, no email) — Cloudways costs $696 more over 2 years for a fully managed stack

Which Cloudways Plan Should You Choose?

Plan Selector by Use Case

Blog / brochure site under 30k visits/mo → Vultr HF 1c/1GB ($14/mo)
WooCommerce store → Vultr HF 2c/4GB ($50/mo) minimum
Agency managing 5–10 sites → Vultr HF 2c/4GB or 4c/8GB ($50–118/mo) — all sites on one server
High-traffic WordPress (100k+ visits/mo) → Vultr HF 4c/8GB ($118/mo)
Regional audience in EU/APAC → Vultr HF (32 global DCs) or DigitalOcean Premium
AWS/GCE compliance requirement → Cloudways on AWS ($36.51/mo) or GCE ($33.18/mo)

Start conservative — Cloudways lets you scale up in seconds from the dashboard. It's safer to start at 1c/1GB and upgrade when you hit 70%+ sustained CPU than to overpay from day 1.

$29.95/mo

Anytime Money Back Guarantee

View ScalaHosting Plans ➦

If budget is a priority and you want faster hardware at Year 1, ScalaHosting at $29.95/mo (2c/4GB, 28ms TTFB, email included) is the alternative to model. See the full Cloudways vs ScalaHosting comparison.

Cloudways Pricing FAQ

What is the cheapest Cloudways plan?: The cheapest Cloudways plan is the Linode (Akamai) 1c/1GB plan at $12/mo — slightly cheaper than Vultr HF 1c/1GB at $14/mo. However, Vultr HF delivers better performance for WordPress (72ms TTFB vs ~78ms on Linode) and is Cloudways' recommended provider. For most users, the $2/mo difference is not worth sacrificing Vultr HF's performance advantage. Use code CLOUDS2022 for $30 free credit — that covers 2+ months on either entry plan.
Does Cloudways have a free trial?: Yes — Cloudways offers a 3-day free trial with no credit card required. You get a fully functional server for 72 hours. After the trial period, you're prompted to add payment to keep the server. Alternatively, using code CLOUDS2022 gives $30 in account credit rather than a time-limited trial — credit is non-expiring and covers ~2 months on the $14/mo starter plan.
Does Cloudways pricing change at renewal?: No — this is Cloudways' most important pricing feature. Whatever you pay on day 1 is what you pay indefinitely. No intro pricing, no renewal markup, no surprise bills. The $14/mo Vultr HF 1c/1GB plan costs $14/mo in year 1 and year 5. Compare this to Hostinger ($2.99/mo intro → $8.99/mo renewal) or ScalaHosting ($29.95/mo intro → ~$82/mo renewal). Cloudways' pricing predictability is a genuine advantage for budgeting.
What does the CLOUDS2022 promo code give you?: $30 in free account credit — non-expiring. On the $14/mo Vultr HF starter plan, that's effectively 2 months free. The credit applies automatically to your bills until exhausted. It's available to new Cloudways accounts only. After signup, apply the code in Cloudways → Account → Payment Methods → Apply Promo Code.
What does the THATMYCLOUD promo code give you?: 30% off your Cloudways bill for the first 3 months. On a $50/mo plan (2c/4GB Vultr HF), that's $45/mo for 3 months — saving $45 total. This stacks better for higher-tier plans where the dollar saving is more significant. After 3 months, billing reverts to the standard rate. Unlike CLOUDS2022 (flat $30 credit), THATMYCLOUD is percentage-based and favors larger plans.
How does Cloudways billing work?: Hourly billing. Your server accumulates hourly charges based on the plan rate (e.g., $14/mo Vultr HF = $0.019/hr). At month end, Cloudways bills your card for the total hours used. If you use a server for 10 days and delete it, you're billed for 10 days only. The Cloudways dashboard shows a real-time cost graph so you can see exactly what you're spending. No minimum commitment — delete a server at any time and billing stops.
Is Cloudways more expensive than shared hosting?: For Year 1 on intro pricing: yes. Hostinger starts at $2.99/mo, Bluehost at $2.95/mo. Cloudways starts at $14/mo. However, shared hosting intro prices are 3-4 year commitments with 200-300% renewal markups. On a 2-year actual cost basis, Cloudways ($336 for 2c/4GB) is often cheaper than shared hosting equivalents at renewal pricing. More importantly, Cloudways handles traffic that crashes shared hosting — the performance case for the price difference is strong.
Which Cloudways plan is best for a WooCommerce store?: Vultr HF 2c/4GB at $50/mo is the recommended minimum for WooCommerce. The 1c/1GB plan at $14/mo can handle a WooCommerce store with under 5k monthly visitors and low concurrent sessions, but it will struggle under flash sales or ad traffic spikes. For stores over 30k monthly visitors or running paid ads, start at 2c/4GB. Use code CLOUDS2022 for $30 credit — covers most of the first month on the $50/mo plan.

Start Cloudways — CLOUDS2022 = $30 Free Credit ➦