Cloudways is managed cloud hosting. You choose a cloud provider (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google Cloud) and a server size, and Cloudways sets up and manages the server software, caching, security and WordPress tools on top. You pay by the hour for the server, can run as many sites as the server can handle, and add services such as a CDN, malware protection and email as you need them. Cloudways has been part of DigitalOcean since September 8, 2022.
This review covers what Cloudways costs in practice, how its hourly billing works, what every server includes, what the add-ons cost, and how support, refunds and unpaid invoices work. The If you're in Canada section covers data centres in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary, USD billing and sales tax. Cloudways is fourth in the best managed WordPress hosting, where we rate it best for flexibility, developers and agencies.
How we evaluated
This is a research-based review. We did not host a site with Cloudways. Every price, limit, fee and policy below comes from Cloudways' pricing page, product pages and help centre, DigitalOcean's tax documentation and terms of service, and DigitalOcean's acquisition announcement, checked in October 2026.
We judged Cloudways on what matters to a small business or the web person running its sites:
- Cost: server prices, how hourly billing works, and the add-ons most sites need
- Limits: server memory, storage and bandwidth, and what each size suits
- What's included: security, staging, caching, backups and migrations
- Support and policies: channels, response times, refunds and unpaid invoices
- Canadian fit: data centre locations, currency and sales tax
We compared Cloudways with other hosts using the figures in our managed WordPress hosting, Canadian web hosting and Kinsta reviews.
Cloudways pricing
Cloudways' main product is called Flexible: you pay for a server, and every server lists unlimited visits and unlimited websites, limited by what the server can handle. Prices are in US dollars, exclude tax, and are shown as a monthly price with an hourly rate.
The cheapest server is on DigitalOcean. Its Basic tab has two versions: Standard (SSD storage) and Premium (NVMe storage). The pricing page opens on Premium, where the smallest server is $14 a month; switch to Standard and it is $11. Cloudways' own FAQ says its servers start "at $11/month."
| Feature | Micro | Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memory / vCPU | 1GB / 1 | 2GB / 1 | 4GB / 2 | 8GB / 4 |
| Storage | 25GB | 50GB | 80GB | 160GB |
| Bandwidth | 1TB | 2TB | 4TB | 5TB |
| DigitalOcean Standard (SSD) | $11/mo ($0.0164/hr) | $24/mo ($0.0357/hr) | $46/mo ($0.0685/hr) | $88/mo ($0.131/hr) |
| DigitalOcean Premium (NVMe) | $14/mo ($0.0208/hr) | $28/mo ($0.0417/hr) | $54/mo ($0.0804/hr) | $99/mo ($0.1473/hr) |
The realistic starting point is 2GB. Cloudways' getting-started FAQ says "Servers with 1GB are primarily intended for testing and staging purposes." For a live business site, plan on the 2GB Small server: $24 a month on DigitalOcean Standard or $28 on Premium. Over 12 months, that is $288 or $336 before tax and add-ons. The 1GB servers are a low-cost way to run a staging copy or try a build.
Halloween offer. Cloudways is offering NorthVetted readers 40% off for their first 4 months, plus unlimited free migrations, with the code TREAT26. The offer is for new customers (checked October 20, 2026). On the 2GB DigitalOcean Standard server, 40% off $24 is about $14.40 a month for those 4 months. The link below opens Cloudways' signup page with the code applied.
Get the Cloudways offer (affiliate link, opens NorthVetted redirect)Other providers. The same sizes on other clouds, from Cloudways' pricing page:
| Provider and server type | 1GB server | 2GB server |
|---|---|---|
| Vultr Standard (SSD) | $14/mo | $28/mo |
| Vultr High Frequency (NVMe) | $16/mo | $30/mo |
| Linode Standard (SSD) | $14/mo | $28/mo |
| AWS Standard | $20.56/mo | $38.56/mo |
| Google Cloud Standard | n/a | $37.33/mo (1.7GB) |
AWS and Google Cloud servers come with less included bandwidth (2GB on the smallest AWS server and 1GB on the smallest Google Cloud server) and charge for more: $0.12 per GB of bandwidth and $0.10 per GB of disk on AWS, and $0.14 per GB of bandwidth and $0.17 per GB of disk on Google Cloud. Cloudways' FAQ says AWS and Google Cloud prices differ by region, so check the price for the Montreal or Calgary region when you set up the server. Larger General Purpose and CPU Optimized servers are also available, with starting prices from $57 a month (Vultr CPU Optimized) to $255.37 a month (Google Cloud Compute Optimized).
How hourly billing works
Cloudways' billing guide explains how the hourly rate turns into a monthly bill:
- DigitalOcean, Linode and Vultr: billed hourly if the server is not active all month, and capped at the monthly price if it runs the entire month.
- AWS and Google Cloud: always billed hourly, with no monthly cap.
- Stopped servers: "Stopping a server does NOT pause billing for DigitalOcean, Linode, or Vultr." To stop paying for a server, back it up and delete it.
- Add-ons: billed for the full month when you activate them, rather than by the hour.
Cloudways bills in arrears: invoices are issued between the 1st and 6th of each month for the previous month's use. Adding a card places a temporary $1 pre-authorization charge, and adding PayPal charges $5, which is credited to your account.
Cloudways Autonomous
Cloudways also sells Autonomous, a fully managed plan that scales automatically using Kubernetes. Growth is $99 a month for 1 site with 150GB of bandwidth and 20GB of disk, Scale is $199 a month and Plus is $399 a month, with charges for extra disk, bandwidth and autoscaling beyond the baseline servers. Every Autonomous plan includes the Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, malware protection, unlimited offsite backups and a managed migration. Autonomous also has a 3-day free trial. Cloudways does not list which regions Autonomous runs in, so ask Cloudways if you need it hosted in Canada. Most small business sites will start on a Flexible server.
What every server includes
Cloudways lists the following on its Flexible servers.
Security. Free Let's Encrypt SSL certificates, a server-level firewall (Imunify360) and a built-in firewall with IP blocking, plus a free WordPress vulnerability scanner.
Staging and cloning. Free staging and cloning, which Cloudways values at $20, so you can test changes on a copy before they go live.
Caching and speed. Cloudways' Lightning Stack, free Redis cache, and Object Cache Pro free on servers with 4GB or more. The WordPress and WooCommerce pages also list Cloudways' Breeze caching plugin and one-click server cloning.
Unlimited sites. Cloudways says there is no restriction on the number of applications you can launch on one server, which is why agencies often run many client sites on one larger server.
Backups. By default, Cloudways backs up your server daily and keeps each backup for a week. You can set backups anywhere from every hour to every seven days, and keep them from one to four weeks. These are offsite backups, billed at $0.033 per GB of storage on any provider, rounded up in $0.50 steps. Cloudways' help centre says backups for every provider are stored on Amazon infrastructure.
Migrations. Cloudways' pages describe free migration in different ways. The pricing page offers to "migrate your first website to Cloudways for free." The migration service page offers "Unlimited WordPress Site Migrations – All for Free," with non-WordPress sites after the first at $99 per site. The getting-started FAQ describes one free migration, then paid. If you are moving several sites, confirm with Cloudways what your account includes before you start.
Add-ons
Cloudways sells these add-ons, in USD per month:
| Add-on | Price |
|---|---|
| Rackspace email | From $1.50 per mailbox |
| Cloudflare Enterprise CDN | From $4.99 per domain for 1 to 5 domains, down to $1.99 per domain for 25 or more; 100GB of bandwidth per domain, then $0.02/GB |
| Malware protection | $4 per app for 1 to 5 apps, $3 for 6 to 15, $2 for more than 15 |
| Offsite backup storage | $0.033 per GB |
| DNS Made Easy | $0.50 per domain, including 500,000 queries; $0.10 per extra 100,000 |
| Site Manager Pro and SafeUpdates | $3 per app for up to 5 apps, $2 for 6 or more |
| Advanced support | $100/mo or 10% of your invoice, whichever is higher |
| Premium support | $500/mo or 10% of your invoice, whichever is higher |
The Cloudflare CDN has a 30-day free trial for new and existing customers, which converts to a paid subscription automatically. Cloudways says Cloudflare's edge page caching works with WordPress and WooCommerce sites.
As an example from those prices, a 2GB DigitalOcean Standard server ($24), the CDN for one domain ($4.99), malware protection for one site ($4) and two mailboxes ($3) comes to about $36 a month before backup storage and tax.
Support
Standard support is free and runs 24/7 by live chat and tickets. Cloudways' support page states a 90-second average response time. The paid Advanced and Premium support add-ons are priced above; phone support and a private Slack channel come with Premium support. Cloudways does not state whether support is offered in French, so ask before you sign up if you need it.
Free trial, refunds and unpaid invoices
Free trial. Cloudways' Flexible trial is "completely free for three days, no credit card required," and starts when you create your trial server. It runs on DigitalOcean, Vultr or Linode; the pricing page says the trial is not available on AWS or Google Cloud. When you upgrade and add a card, a temporary charge of $1 to $10 may appear for verification.
Refunds. Cloudways uses the free trial in place of a money-back guarantee. Its billing guide says there are no refunds for unused hours, and DigitalOcean's terms of service, which Cloudways' terms link to, say fees paid are non-refundable. If you have prepaid funds on your account that you have not used, Cloudways says you can request a refund within three months of the original payment date.
Unpaid invoices. Cloudways' billing guide sets out the timeline after an invoice goes unpaid:
- Day 7: dashboard access is restricted
- Day 10: applications and servers are stopped
- Day 13: applications and servers are deleted
- Day 28: server backups and all associated data are permanently deleted
Keep a current card on file and a copy of your own backups.
If you're in Canada
Data centres in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. Where your server sits depends on the cloud provider you choose:
| Provider | Canadian locations |
|---|---|
| DigitalOcean | Toronto |
| Vultr | Toronto |
| Linode | Toronto |
| AWS | Montreal and Calgary |
| Google Cloud | Montreal |
The lowest-cost Canadian option is a DigitalOcean server in Toronto. If your business is in Quebec and wants its site hosted in Quebec, the Montreal options are on AWS or Google Cloud, which are billed hourly with no monthly cap and start on a paid plan rather than the free trial. Our managed WordPress hosting review covers what Quebec's privacy law asks of businesses that host data outside the province. Backups are stored on Amazon infrastructure with no region named, so ask Cloudways where yours are kept if that matters to you.
You pay in US dollars. Cloudways says all transactions are processed in USD, and it accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and PayPal (PayPal once you have upgraded from a trial). Your card issuer converts the charge and may add a conversion fee; check your card agreement for the rate.
Sales tax. Cloudways' prices exclude tax, and it collects tax as part of DigitalOcean, shown as a separate line on your invoice. DigitalOcean's Canadian tax page says it charges GST, HST, QST, PST and RST, at these combined rates:
| Province | Rate |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 13% HST |
| Quebec | 14.975% |
| British Columbia | 12% |
| Alberta | 5% |
| Manitoba | 12% (RST since February 1, 2026) |
| Saskatchewan | 11% |
| Nova Scotia | 14% HST |
| New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI | 15% HST |
| Territories | 5% |
In Ontario, for example, a $24 server comes to $27.12 with 13% HST. DigitalOcean says a registered business can enter its GST/HST number for an exemption on future invoices; tax already charged is not refunded, so add the number when you open the account. Ask your accountant how this applies to your business, and see GST, HST and PST rates by province.
Domains. If you want a .ca address for your site, our how to register a .ca domain guide covers where to buy one and who is eligible.
What we like and what to know
Cloudways' strengths are choice and cost control: five cloud providers, Canadian locations in three cities, unlimited sites per server, a price that follows the hours you use, and staging, Redis and a server firewall included. Keep in mind that you choose and size the server yourself, that Cloudways recommends 2GB or more for live sites, that the CDN, malware protection and email are paid add-ons, and that billing is in US dollars.
Cloudways
Strengths
- Servers from $11 a month, billed by the hour
- Toronto, Montreal and Calgary options across five cloud providers
- Unlimited sites on one server
- Free staging and cloning, Redis cache and Imunify360 firewall
- 3-day free trial with no credit card
- 24/7 chat and ticket support included
Good to know
- Cloudways recommends 2GB servers ($24 to $28 a month on DigitalOcean) for live sites
- Email mailboxes are a $1.50/month add-on
- The CDN and malware protection are paid add-ons
- Offsite backups are billed at $0.033 per GB
- Stopped servers on DigitalOcean, Linode and Vultr continue to bill
- Phone support comes with the Premium support add-on
- Billed in US dollars, with GST/HST or provincial tax added
Who Cloudways is for (and when another host fits better)
Cloudways is a good fit if you:
- Are a developer, agency or web person running several sites and want them on one server
- Want a cloud server in Toronto, Montreal or Calgary without managing the server software yourself
- Like paying for the hours you use, for example spinning up a staging server for a few days
- Are comfortable choosing a server size and adding a CDN, malware protection and email as needed
Another host may fit better if you:
- Want one WordPress site fully looked after, with malware cleanup, a CDN and unlimited migrations included: see our Kinsta review
- Want to pay in Canadian dollars, or want email included in your hosting bill: see the best web hosting in Canada
- Prefer a money-back guarantee over a free trial, or need phone support with a standard plan
Alternatives
Our best managed WordPress hosting review compares Cloudways with SiteGround, Kinsta and WP Engine:
- Kinsta: fully managed WordPress from $35 a month or $350 a year, with data centres in Montreal and Toronto, and malware removal, unlimited migrations, a Cloudflare CDN and staging included. See our Kinsta review and Cloudways vs Kinsta.
- WP Engine: managed WordPress from $35 a month for one site, with a Canadian dollar price option and a Montreal data centre on shared plans. See Kinsta vs WP Engine for the side-by-side.
- SiteGround: shared managed WordPress hosting with email accounts included, priced in our managed WordPress review.
Our best web hosting in Canada review covers Canadian hosts that bill in CAD and include email, such as Web Hosting Canada, CanSpace and HostPapa, which suit a small brochure site that needs mailboxes on the same bill.
Our verdict
4.0Cloudways is a strong choice for developers, agencies and hands-on business owners who want managed cloud servers in Toronto, Montreal or Calgary and like paying by the hour. Servers start at USD $11 a month, and a 2GB server for a live site is $24 to $28 a month on DigitalOcean, with unlimited sites, staging, Redis and a server firewall included. It rates 4.0 because you size the server yourself, the CDN, malware protection and email are paid add-ons, billing is in US dollars, and the Montreal options on AWS and Google Cloud are billed hourly without a monthly cap. For a business site, budget for a 2GB server, the add-ons you need and sales tax.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Cloudways cost?
Cloudways servers start at USD $11 a month for a 1GB DigitalOcean Standard (SSD) server, or $14 for the Premium (NVMe) version. Cloudways says 1GB servers are mainly for testing and staging and recommends 2GB or more; a 2GB DigitalOcean server is $24 (Standard) or $28 (Premium) a month. Prices exclude tax, and add-ons such as email, the CDN and malware protection are billed separately (checked October 2026).
Does Cloudways have data centres in Canada?
Yes, depending on the cloud provider you pick. DigitalOcean, Vultr and Linode offer Toronto; AWS offers Montreal and Calgary; Google Cloud offers Montreal. Cloudways' help centre says backups for servers on every provider are stored on Amazon infrastructure, without naming a region, so ask Cloudways where your backups are kept if that matters to you.
Does Cloudways charge GST/HST to Canadian customers?
Yes. Cloudways bills as part of DigitalOcean, and DigitalOcean's Canadian tax page says it charges GST, HST, QST, PST and RST depending on your province, for example 13% HST in Ontario and 14.975% in Quebec. Tax appears as a separate line on your invoice. A registered business can add its GST/HST number to its account, which applies to future invoices.
Does Cloudways have a free trial or money-back guarantee?
Cloudways offers a 3-day free trial with no credit card required, on DigitalOcean, Vultr and Linode servers; the trial is not available on AWS or Google Cloud. We did not find a money-back guarantee. Billing is hourly with no refunds for unused hours, and unused prepaid funds can be refunded within three months of the original payment date.
Does Cloudways include email hosting?
Email is an add-on. Cloudways sells Rackspace mailboxes from USD $1.50 per mailbox a month. You can also use a separate service such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or Zoho Mail.
Does stopping a Cloudways server stop billing?
Not on DigitalOcean, Linode or Vultr. Cloudways' billing guide says stopping a server does not pause billing on those providers, so delete a server you no longer need, after taking a backup. Add-ons are billed for the full month when you activate them.
Can I pay for Cloudways in Canadian dollars?
No. Cloudways says all transactions are processed in US dollars, and DigitalOcean's Canadian tax page says USD is the currency it accepts. Cloudways takes Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and PayPal; PayPal is available once you upgrade from a trial account.
Sources
- Cloudways pricing (server prices and hourly rates, AWS and Google Cloud extras, trial availability, included features, migration, tax and billing FAQs; checked October 2026)
- Cloudways Autonomous (plans, inclusions and autoscaling; checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: how the payment system works (invoices, payment methods, USD, stopped servers, unpaid invoices, DNS queries; checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: monthly vs hourly billing (monthly cap, add-on billing, unused hours; checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: which infrastructure provider do I have to choose? (data centre locations and backup storage; checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: getting started FAQs (1GB servers for testing and staging, trial start, migrations; checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: subscribing to the Flexible trial (checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: managing your payments (refund of unused prepaid funds; checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: configuring server-level backups (checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: charges for offsite backups (checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: free website migration service (checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: Cloudflare Enterprise add-on (checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: malware protection (checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: Rackspace email (checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: DNS Made Easy (checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: support (standard, Advanced and Premium support; checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: WordPress hosting and WooCommerce hosting (checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: terms (checked October 2026)
- Cloudways: fiscal taxes handling (checked October 2026)
- DigitalOcean: taxes in Canada (GST, HST, QST, PST and RST rates, USD, tax ID; checked October 2026)
- DigitalOcean terms of service (fees non-refundable; checked October 2026)
- DigitalOcean: DigitalOcean completes acquisition of Cloudways (September 8, 2022; checked October 2026)