Is Cloudways Still Good For 2023? - W2D Review
May 18, 2023
The Answer is Yes! Cloudways is Still in the Top among Cloud Hosting in 2023
Cloudways is one of the Highly-rated managed cloud hosting solution for all PHP-based apps such as WordPress, Magento, Laravel & more. Most of the web developers, agencies, freelancers, and bloggers use Cloudways to host their websites.
From 2020 Cloudways became the most popular Web Hosting Provider with positive feedback because of its easy-to-use UI Design, with flexible server scaling and outstanding features such as Redis cache, Server Monitoring, Team Collaboration and more.
You can host your website on any of the five leading cloud providers:
DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS, and Google Cloud.
Note: From 2nd May 2023, Cloudways stopped providing integration with Vultr and Linode cloud services for new customers, so as of now they only have DigitalOcean, AWS and Google Cloud.
You get access to various features that can enhance your website experiences, such as unlimited domains, free SSL or Wildcard SSL certificates, 24/7 live chat support, and more.
In this article, we will get a full review of the advantages and disadvantages of Cloudways and help you determine if it fits your requirements and budget for your business.
Here are some of the benefits of using Cloudways as your hosting provider: Scalability: Cloudways lets you adjust your server resources up or down depending on your traffic needs.
You can also switch between different cloud providers anytime you want.
You only pay for what you consume, as Cloudways has a usage-based pricing model.
Cloudways provides fast and consistent hosting performance, thanks to its optimized stack of technologies, such as Nginx, Apache, PHP-FPM, Redis, Varnish and more.
It also has a built-in cache plugin that boosts your site speed and reduces server load.
Cloudways takes care of the security of your site by providing free SSL certificates, firewall protection, regular backups, malware scanning and more.
You can also enable two-factor authentication and IP whitelisting for extra security.
Cloudways has a user-friendly and intuitive control panel that lets you manage your server and applications with ease.
You can add your team members to provide access to your server without exposing your master credentials in that way you can restrict the team members with certain actions.
Cloudways provides robust monitoring resources that allow users to keep track of their website or application's performance. The platform offers real-time monitoring of server metrics, including CPU usage, RAM utilization, storage, and bandwidth. This feature enables users to proactively identify any resource bottlenecks or performance issues and take necessary actions to optimize their website or application.
Cloudways offers seamless and hassle-free WordPress migration tools, making it easy for users to migrate their existing WordPress websites to the Cloudways platform. The migration process is simplified with the help of a user-friendly plugin or an automated migration tool provided by Cloudways.
Cloudways offers integration with Cloudflare Enterprise, a powerful content delivery network (CDN) and security solution. This integration provides users with enhanced website performance, scalability, and security features.
You can also access various tools and features from the dashboard, such as domain management, email hosting add-ons, staging environment, and more.
Cloudways offers 24/7 live chat support for all customers.
You can also access their knowledge base, blog, community forum and webinars for more information and guidance.
If you need premium support, you can opt for their add-on services that include phone support, priority ticketing, and a dedicated account manager.
Here are some of the challenges of using Cloudways as your hosting provider:
Cloudways does not provide email hosting with their hosting package.
You have to use a third-party service like SMTP, SMTP Plugins or Rackspace Email Hosting for your email needs.
This can be a hassle and an additional expense for some users.
Cloudways does not offer domain registration either.
You have to buy your domain name from another provider and point it to your Cloudways server.
Even though it is not a major feature and personally i don't feel it as a problem, but few users would like to manage everything under one dashboard.
Cloudways does not rely on common/popular control panels like cPanel or Plesk. Instead, it has its own custom Cloudways panel that may require some learning.
Some users may miss the features and functionality of cPanel or Plesk.
Cloudways offers limited storage space compared to some other hosting providers.
For example, the entry-level plan for DigitalOcean only gives you 25 GB of storage space. If you want more storage space, you have to switch to a higher plan or pick a different cloud provider.
Cloudways charges extra fees for premium support services.
For instance, if you need phone support or priority ticketing, you have to pay $100 per month or $500 per month accordingly.
This can be expensive for some users who need more assistance.
Personally for me i have been using Cloudways since 2019 and i have seen massive growth on the User Interface and features. Eventhough the pricing are a bit expensive, it provides a seemless and effective website experience with great performance compared to the popular shared hosting providers.
I am hosting 60+ websites in cloudways and websites from simple one-page business websites to full-fledged Real Estate Websites with More Complex features and heavy programs running on it.
It had Zero Downtime and haven't experienced any major issues from the server.
I have used cloudways with DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode & AWS servers.
Cloudways is a great hosting option for website owners who want flexibility, performance, and security in their hosting solution. This can also be trouble for some users who like to manage everything under the same dashboard. It delivers a range of features and benefits that can help you enhance your online presence.
However, Cloudways also has some drawbacks that may not suit everyone’s needs and preferences. It does not offer email hosting or domain registration, it has limited storage space and it charges extra fees for premium support.
Therefore, before you pick Cloudways as your hosting provider, you should consider the pros and cons thoroughly and see if it suits your needs and budget.