Cloudways managed hosting: trial, pay-as-you-go billing, refunds and cashback
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform. Instead of renting a whole server from one hosting company, you pick a cloud provider and a server size, and Cloudways looks after the setup and the support. A hosting account is not a parcel, so the questions here are different from a shop: how are you billed, can you test it first, what comes back if you stop, and who can use it at all. The answers below come from the pricing page and the terms of service of cloudways.com.
Trying it first
The site advertises a 3-day free trial without a credit card. You can start it from the home page or the pricing page, build a first server and test your site before you commit. Cloudways also lists free migration, so existing websites can be moved over, and 24/7 chat and ticket support. The service runs on pay-as-you-go terms.
Plans and cloud providers
Two product lines are on the pricing page. Cloudways Flexible gives you full control over server resources and the choice of cloud provider, for WordPress, Magento, Laravel and PHP apps. Cloudways Autonomous is fully managed hosting for WordPress that scales on its own for busy shops and learning sites. For Flexible you choose among DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS and Google Cloud. Vultr is listed with 30 locations, Linode with 25, and AWS and Google Cloud with 28 each. The entry server shown on the page is DigitalOcean Micro with 2 GB RAM, billed per hour and listed in USD.
How billing works
The terms describe Cloudways as pay as you go. You pay for the resources you used and for the time you used them, and the smallest billing step is one hour. Cloudways charges in arrears: during the first week of every month you get an invoice for the previous month. Billing is recurring and the payment method linked to your account is charged automatically when an invoice is issued. Prices are in US dollars, and taxes such as VAT or GST are not included unless stated. If a tax applies, it is added to the invoice or collected at purchase. Duties and customs fees are your responsibility. The pricing page also shows a discount for the first three months on all plans, so look at the offer on the day you sign up.
| At a glance | Cloudways |
|---|---|
| Trial | 3 days, no credit card |
| Billing | Pay as you go, hourly, invoice monthly in arrears |
| Currency | US dollars |
| Migration | Free managed migration |
| Support | 24/7 chat and tickets |
Refunds and cancellation
Unused prepaid account funds can be refunded if you ask within three months of adding them. What the service already used is deducted. If Cloudways ends your access, for example for a policy breach or for nonpayment, the fees already paid are not refunded under the terms, and data tied to the account can be lost. Because billing follows real usage, the sensible way to limit cost is to remove servers you no longer need in the account and to export your data first.
Where you can use it
The terms say that Cloudways follows US trade sanctions. You may not use the service from a country under OFAC sanctions, which the terms currently name as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and the Crimea region of Ukraine. Anyone on the US lists of prohibited parties is also excluded. Price and any local tax are shown in the sign-up flow.
Using cashback
Open the Cloudways page at daily cashback, where the current rate (up to $25) and the offers are listed with the date of the last check. Press the shop button, then sign up and pay as you normally would. In your free account the cashback shows as open and turns confirmed once Cloudways has reported the order. A refunded amount reduces the cashback again.
Practical tips
- Start the trial from the daily cashback button, because a sign-up made earlier through another link is not tracked for us.
- Keep other cashback and voucher sites closed while you sign up. A later click can replace the first one, and a code from another site can cost you the cashback.
- Open the pricing page before you pay to see which offer is active that day.
As of October 2026.