Cloudways – Managed Cloud Hosting Excellence

Every online business or blog owner needs to make this critical decision. Which web hosting service is best suited for its needs? Should you hire an IT team instead? The answer is different for different people depending on their requirements and the scope of their online venture. Whether they want to target a huge audience or it is a limited website for a private business catering to a concrete user base. 

Cloudways is a choice of more than 100,000 businesses from around the world. In this review, let us look into various aspects of this hosting service and decide on the merits and demerits that can govern your decision to use it.

Cloud-based Managed Hosting

It is a cloud-based infrastructure offering lightning-fast servers in a managed environment. Being a managed hosting service means that you do not have to worry about technical management issues. Cloudways takes care of backend-related tasks like server management, Firewalls, security updates, and patches etc. It has an array of addons and services which we would look into in the coming sections.

In short, the users are free to use their time in developing the business without worrying about the technical stuff. 

Main Features of Cloudways

These are some of the main features of Cloudways hosting service.

Choice of Different Providers

Cloudways is offering cloud services from a group of world-renowned companies among cloud providers. You can select cloud infrastructure from DigitalOcean, Amazon Web Services and Google Compute Engine. When you are using the cloud from such resources the cloud experience provided by Cloudways is inevitably seamless. Also, there is a wide variety of different pricing tiers also because of this multi-cloud benefit. 

Security – (Built-in & Addons)

Cloudways provides several security features to its clients. Apart from Firewalls and security patches, it provides security addons like Cloudflare Enterprise to protect against Bots and DDoS attacks. Also, addons like Safeupdates help in updating the website without any glitches and ensure that the website runs smoothly after the updates. Free SSL certificate and Malware protection is also provided.

Scalability with Cloudways Autonomous

As the website grows, Cloudways servers with scale up with you. The recently launched product Autonomous ensure this. Upgrade with a few clicks, ensuring smooth transitions and avoiding performance bottlenecks. For unpredictable traffic spikes, Cloudways Autonomous takes the stage, adding servers during peak hours and removing them when things calm down, optimizing both performance and cost.

Speed and Performance

Cloudways conducts this magic with SSD storage, the NGINX web server, and PHP 7.4 to 8.2 support. Plus, Varnish caching stores frequently accessed content, ensuring it’s delivered instantly, like a well-rehearsed encore. Varnish and Redis both caching solutions are available with Cloudways hosting.

For global audiences, the Content Delivery Network (CDN) distributes your content across geographically diverse servers, minimizing latency and ensuring a flawless performance wherever your visitors may be.

24/7/365 Live Human Support

Top-notch support service is offered by Cloudways. There are 2 types of supporting options available. First is generating a ticket which is responded by relevant members. Other is live human chat where your issues can be resolved ASAP. apart from these generally available support services, there is also dedicated slack channel support available for premium users only. Technical support from engineers is also available on critical tasks like migration.

Knowledge Base & Blog Repository

Cloudways has a huge knowledge base and blog repository. It has detailed tutorials about the platform’s functionality and features. Apart from the platform, there is a huge collection of guides on general topics related to hosting as well as applications like WordPress, PHP, Magento and Laravel. It is freely available online for everyone. Before choosing the hosting service you can easily browse through the knowledge base section and learn about the nitty gritties and then make an informed decision.

WordPress-Specific hosting is also available

Managed WordPress hosting by Cloudways is counted among the best. It comes with servers optimized for WP-based websites. With Cloudways, you’re never managing your websites alone. It comes with

• One-click installation
• Optimized servers for WordPress websites
• 24/7 support that is always available to answer your questions
• Built-in cache plugin
• Automatic backups and updates

Our managed hosting platform is built to run WordPress optimally, ensuring your websites perform well and deliver an unmatchable experience to your users.

Multisite hosting 

The multisite option is also available for the WordPress platform. The simple-to-use dashboard allows you to create a multisite network easily without having to manage them the sites from individual dashboards. The ease of use of the dashboard makes it one of the best hosting for WordPress multisite.

Pricing Plans 

Pay-as-you-go pricing plans make it an attractive deal suitable for a variety of audience. It means that you do not have to pay for any extra resources. The starting price for cloudways is from $11/month for a DO server, however, it is higher for GCP and AWS. It has a pay-as-you-go pricing model so your money and resources are not wasted. Here is a table highlighting the various Cloudways pricing options available. You can choose whichever you require.

Cloudways charges you hourly. This means you are charged only for what you use. As soon as you change your cloud hosting pricing plans, it will be reflected immediately on your invoice. There is also a 3-day free trial, which does not require a credit card to activate.

Who is Cloudways best for?

As the list of features indicates, Cloudways is for a wide range of users. They specialize for SMBs and agency users however it is equally efficient for other businesses too. These are some of the customer personas being catered to by Cloudways.

SMBs and Ecommerce Stores

Are you an SMB or an eCommerce store experiencing growth spurts?

Cloudways scales seamlessly, handling traffic spikes and future expansion with ease. Plus, its budget-friendly pay-as-you-go model aligns perfectly with your cost-conscious needs. Freeing up your time is a bonus, thanks to the user-friendly interface that simplifies server management.

Developers and Agencies

Flexibility and control are your middle names, and Cloudways speaks your language.

Choose from various cloud providers and server configurations, crafting the ideal environment for your project. One-click deployments and built-in caching plugins streamline your workflow, while team collaboration features empower agencies to manage multiple client websites efficiently.

Bloggers, & Content Creators

Speed matters and Cloudways delivers.

Ensure your blog loads like lightning, keeping your audience engaged even during high-traffic times. Security is paramount, too, and Cloudways offers robust features like firewalls and regular updates to protect your content and audience data. All while letting you focus on what you do best – creating captivating content.

Pros and Cons of Cloudways

There are many managed hosting providers in the market so sometimes it becomes difficult to make the choice. Here are some pros and cons of Cloudways hosting at a glance, which can help you make the final decision.

Pros:

• Three different cloud providers (AWS, DigitalOcean & Google Cloud)
• Scalable hosting solution
• 1-click install for WordPress websites
• Cloudways Autonomous for fully-managed product
• Pay as you go pricing plan

Cons:

• Domain registration is not available on the platform
• 1-click is for WordPress and Woocommerce sites only, it is not available for other applications yet

Conclusion

Remember, the ideal hosting solution depends on your specific needs and budget. Weigh the features, pricing, and user experience against your website’s current and future requirements.

If Cloudways resonates with your goals and offers the features you crave, don’t hesitate to try it. You might discover a hosting experience that’s both powerful and delightful, like a perfectly composed symphony for your online presence.