Cloudways Review: Is It the Best Managed WordPress Hosting in 2026?
Mosster Services Limited
Short answer: Cloudways is a good fit for small businesses and agencies that have outgrown shared hosting and want fast, flexible cloud servers, including a London data centre, without managing a server themselves. It’s less suited to owners who want email hosting or phone support included, or who’d rather not manage hosting at all.
Choosing a hosting provider is one of the decisions that affects your website every day. Speed, uptime, security, and support all depend on who hosts your site. This review examines Cloudways, a managed WordPress hosting platform popular with agencies and growing businesses.
What is Cloudways?
Cloudways is a managed hosting platform that sits on top of cloud infrastructure providers like DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, and Vultr. Instead of managing a server yourself, Cloudways handles the technical stack while you control your applications through a simple dashboard.
For WordPress users, this means one-click staging, free SSL, built-in caching, and server-level backups without touching command lines.
Is Cloudways fast for UK websites?
Cloudways uses a stack built for speed: Nginx or Apache, PHP 8.x, Redis object caching, and a built-in CDN (CloudwaysCDN). With caching enabled and the London data centre, a well-built WordPress site on Cloudways can load quickly for UK visitors.
The platform lets you choose your data centre location. For UK businesses, the London data centre keeps latency low for your primary audience.
Key performance features:
- Built-in Redis caching
- CloudwaysCDN included (25GB free)
- PHP 8.x with OPcache
- One-click vertical scaling (add RAM/CPU without migration)
How much does Cloudways cost?
Cloudways starts at £10/month for a 1GB DigitalOcean server. Realistically, a business website with moderate traffic needs the 2GB plan at £22/month or the 4GB plan at £44/month.
There is no charge for staging sites, and you pay by the hour with no long-term contract. You can scale up during traffic spikes and scale back down after.
What you get for the price:
- Free SSL certificate
- 24/7 chat support
- Automated backups (daily, configurable)
- One-click staging environment
- Team collaboration tools
Is Cloudways easy to use?
The Cloudways dashboard is cleaner than cPanel. You manage applications, not domains and databases separately. Adding a WordPress site takes about five minutes.
For non-technical users, the trade-off is that Cloudways does not include email hosting. You need a separate service like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for business email.
What is Cloudways support like?
Cloudways offers 24/7 live chat and a ticketing system. The support team can help with WordPress-specific issues, server configuration, and migration questions.
There is no phone support, which some UK businesses prefer. All support is chat or ticket-based.
Who should use Cloudways?
Cloudways is a good fit for:
- Small businesses outgrowing shared hosting
- Agencies managing multiple client sites
- E-commerce stores that need reliable uptime
- Businesses that want managed hosting without enterprise pricing
Cloudways may not suit:
- Businesses that need email hosting included
- Users who want a traditional cPanel interface
- Sites with very high database workloads (consider dedicated servers)
Cloudways vs Kinsta, WP Engine, SiteGround and Hostinger
Compared to Kinsta and WP Engine, Cloudways is more affordable at entry level but requires slightly more technical comfort. Compared to SiteGround or Hostinger, Cloudways offers better performance and scalability but costs more.
Related: WordPress vs Astro for business websites | What a small business website should cost
Verdict: is Cloudways worth it?
Cloudways delivers strong performance, flexible pricing, and good support for UK small businesses that have outgrown shared hosting. The lack of email hosting and phone support are minor drawbacks for a platform that otherwise punches above its price point.
Want hosting fully managed for you?
If you’d rather not run hosting yourself, our small business hosting is £39 a month and includes SSL, daily backups, updates, 5 email accounts and 30 minutes of content changes. See our hosting plans. We are not affiliated with Cloudways and earn nothing if you sign up with them.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. You can choose London, which keeps latency low for UK visitors.
No. You need a separate service such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
No. Support is by live chat and tickets.
Yes. Our managed hosting is £39 a month with SSL, daily backups, updates, 5 email accounts and 30 minutes of content changes included.
Need help choosing the right hosting? Book a free consultation and we will recommend the best hosting setup for your specific website and traffic.
