Cloudways
Managed cloud hosting for WordPress, PHP, Magento and WooCommerce. Powered by DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS and Google Cloud. No server management required.
Start Free Trial at Cloudways →Cloudways Deals & Offers
Loading…
About Cloudways in South Africa
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that removes the complexity of running a web server while giving you the performance and scalability of enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure. Instead of configuring LAMP stacks, patching security vulnerabilities, or manually managing server resources, Cloudways handles all of that behind the scenes — leaving you to focus entirely on your website or application. It occupies the ideal space between budget shared hosting (too limited) and fully self-managed VPS hosting (too technical), making it a popular choice for WordPress developers, WooCommerce store owners, and digital agencies globally, including South Africa. Use our Cloudways deal to start your free trial and test the platform before paying anything.
You choose your preferred cloud infrastructure provider from DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode (Akamai), AWS, or Google Cloud, and Cloudways deploys and manages the server on your behalf through a clean, intuitive dashboard. Every application gets free SSL, automated daily backups, a one-click staging environment, and a Cloudflare Enterprise CDN integration for faster load times worldwide. For South African businesses targeting both local and international audiences, the ability to select a nearby cloud region (such as DigitalOcean’s Amsterdam or Johannesburg via Vultr) can significantly improve page speed. Compare Cloudways with Hostinger, Host Africa, and ChemiCloud using our best web hosting SA 2026 guide.
Cloudways pairs especially well with Elementor for WordPress page building — a combination that many South African web designers and agencies use to deliver high-performance sites to their clients. You can browse all active hosting deals on our coupons page to find the best current offer across all major hosting providers.
How to Start a Cloudways Free Trial
Getting started on Cloudways takes about five minutes. Follow these steps:
- Click the Start Free Trial button on our Cloudways deal page — no credit card is required to activate the trial.
- Create your Cloudways account using your email address and choose a password.
- Select your preferred cloud provider (DigitalOcean and Vultr offer the most affordable entry plans), choose a server size, and pick the server region closest to your target audience.
- Deploy your application — choose WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Laravel, PHP, or another supported platform and Cloudways configures the optimised stack automatically.
- Access your application through the Cloudways dashboard, install your theme and plugins, point your domain, and add a free SSL certificate with one click.
Tip: During the free trial, test your site’s page speed using Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix and compare it to your current host. The Cloudflare CDN and Varnish caching built into Cloudways typically deliver a measurable performance improvement over standard shared hosting. Our best web hosting SA guide includes performance benchmarks to help you evaluate the difference.
Cloudways Plan Selection Guide
Cloudways prices depend on the cloud provider and server size you choose. Here is a practical guide for South African users:
- DigitalOcean 1GB / Vultr 1GB — best entry point for small WordPress sites, personal blogs, or development projects. Around $11–$14/month (approximately R200–R260/month).
- DigitalOcean 2GB / Vultr 2GB — suitable for small-to-medium WooCommerce stores and business websites with regular traffic. Around $22–$28/month.
- AWS / Google Cloud plans — for high-traffic sites, enterprise applications, or workloads that require the reliability and global reach of the world’s largest cloud platforms. Higher starting price, but premium performance and redundancy.
- Agency/Teams plans — Cloudways offers team collaboration features and agency pricing for professionals managing multiple client accounts from a single dashboard.
All plans include free SSL, automated backups, 24/7 expert live chat support, staging environments, and the Cloudflare CDN add-on. There are no contracts — you pay monthly and can scale or cancel at any time.
Frequently Asked Questions — Cloudways South Africa
Does Cloudways offer a free trial?
Yes. Cloudways offers a free trial that lets you launch a server and test the platform without entering a credit card. The trial gives you full access to the dashboard so you can evaluate performance and features before committing to a paid plan. Start your trial via our Cloudways deal page.
Which cloud providers does Cloudways support?
Cloudways supports DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode (Akamai), AWS, and Google Cloud. You select your preferred provider and server size during setup, and Cloudways manages the server infrastructure on your behalf.
How much does Cloudways cost for South African users?
Cloudways uses pay-as-you-go pricing starting from around $11–$14/month for a DigitalOcean or Vultr server, which converts to roughly R200–R260/month at current exchange rates. There are no long-term contracts — you can cancel or scale at any time.
Is Cloudways suitable for WordPress and WooCommerce?
Yes. Cloudways is widely regarded as one of the best managed hosting platforms for WordPress and WooCommerce. It uses an optimised stack with Nginx, PHP, MySQL, Redis and Varnish for fast page load times, plus one-click staging environments and automated backups.
How does Cloudways compare to Hostinger for a growing SA website?
Cloudways is better suited to sites that have outgrown shared hosting and need scalable cloud resources with no server management overhead. Hostinger offers more affordable entry-level plans for smaller sites. For a growing South African e-commerce or agency site, Cloudways typically delivers better performance and more flexibility. Our best web hosting SA 2026 guide compares both in detail.