Cloudways vs Render
- ✦ Managed Hosting
- ✦ 1-Click Install
- ✦ Free SSL
- ✦ Web Services
- ✦ Static Sites
- ✦ PostgreSQL
Cloudways and Render are both Cloud Hosting tools. Cloudways starts at $11/mo, Render at $19/mo. Compare features, pricing, and ratings below to find the best fit for your team.
When to Choose Cloudways vs Render
The question that matters: “In what situation will I regret choosing A over B after 3 months?”
Cloudways' 1-Click Install provisions WordPress with Free SSL pre-enabled and a Staging Environment ready for review - all in under 2 minutes.
Cloudways' Automated Backups run daily, letting hosting resellers roll back corrupted updates in under 5 minutes with a single restore action.
Auto-Deploy from Git provisions a live preview URL for every pull request, letting product teams verify feature branches against real data before merge.
Pricing Comparison & PlansHigh· Verified Jun 2, 2026
Cloudways Plans
Paid plans only
DigitalOcean Standard 1GB
$11/moBest for: This entry-level plan is ideal for small websites or testing environments, offering a cost-effective start on DigitalOcean.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
Vultr Standard 1GB
$14/moBest for: An affordable Vultr option for basic hosting needs, offering a balance of performance and cost for smaller projects.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
Linode 1GB
$14/moBest for: A solid choice for those preferring Linode, providing reliable hosting for small to medium-sized websites at a competitive price.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
Vultr High-Frequency 1GB
$16/moBest for: Recommended for users prioritizing CPU performance, this Vultr plan offers better speed for slightly higher cost than standard.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
AWS Small
$21/moBest for: This plan offers entry into AWS managed hosting, suitable for users who need the AWS ecosystem for their smaller applications.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Enterprise-grade infrastructure
- ✓Higher reliability and uptime
- ✓Advanced security features
- ✓Amazon's global infrastructure network
DigitalOcean Premium 2GB
$22/moBest for: A good mid-range option for growing websites needing more resources and improved performance compared to the standard tier.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
Google Cloud Small
$37/moBest for: Ideal for users seeking Google Cloud's robust infrastructure and global network for their applications, even at a smaller scale.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Enterprise-grade infrastructure
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
DigitalOcean Premium 4GB
$50/moBest for: Suitable for demanding applications or high-traffic sites, providing substantial resources for robust performance on DigitalOcean.
- ✓Managed cloud platform
- ✓Choice of 5 cloud providers
- ✓Built-in caching tools
- ✓Free SSL certificates
- ✓Staging environment
Render Plans
Free tier available
Hobby
Free- ✓Deploy for free
- ✓Web services with HTTP/2 and full TLS
- ✓Support for Node, Python, Go, Rust, Ruby, Elixir
- ✓Private services
- ✓Custom Docker containers
Pro
$19/user/mo- ✓Deploy production-grade apps and agents
- ✓Web services with HTTP/2 and full TLS
- ✓Support for Node, Python, Go, Rust, Ruby, Elixir
- ✓Private services
- ✓Custom Docker containers
Scale
$29/user/mo- ✓Advanced governance and compliance
- ✓Web services with HTTP/2 and full TLS
- ✓Support for Node, Python, Go, Rust, Ruby, Elixir
- ✓Private services
- ✓Custom Docker containers
Enterprise
Contact SalesBest for: Custom pricing for SLA, SSO, Priority support
- ✓Dedicated support and uptime SLAs
- ✓Web services with HTTP/2 and full TLS
- ✓Support for Node, Python, Go, Rust, Ruby, Elixir
- ✓Private services
- ✓Custom Docker containers
Capability Breakdown
5 differences found across 18 standardized features
- •Managed Hosting
- •1-Click Install
- •Free SSL
- •Free Migration
- •Staging Environment
- •CDN
- •Automated Backups
- •Server Monitoring
- •PHP Apps Support
- •WordPress Optimization
- •Team Collaboration
- •SFTP/SSH Access
- •24/7 Support
- •Git Deployment
- •CloudwaysBot
- •Web Services
- •Static Sites
- •PostgreSQL
- •Redis
- •Background Workers
- •Cron Jobs
- •Docker Support
- •Auto-Deploy from Git
- •Custom Domains
- •SSL
- •CDN
- •Private Networking
- •Health Checks
- •Logs & Monitoring
- •Infrastructure as Code
- •Web Services
- •Static Sites
- •REST API
- •CLI
- •Deploy Hooks
- •Preview Environments API
Strengths & Limitations
Evaluative strengths and weaknesses: not feature lists
- +Choice of 3 top IaaS providers (DO, AWS, GCE)
- +Pay-as-you-go pricing with no long-term contracts
- +Built-in advanced caching (Varnish, Memcached, Redis)
- +Free SSL, migrations, and staging for all applications
- +Vertical scaling allows resizing servers with one click
- −No root access, limiting advanced server configurations
- −Email hosting is not included; requires a separate add-on
- −No domain registration service; must use a third-party registrar
- −Support can be slow unless you purchase a premium support plan
- −No cPanel; uses a proprietary, less familiar control panel
- +Zero-config deploys directly from a Git repository
- +Predictable pricing based on instance types, not usage
- +Native support for background workers, cron jobs, and Redis
- +Integrated private networking between services at no extra cost
- +Automatic, free TLS certificates and a global CDN for all services
- −Limited global regions compared to major cloud providers like AWS/GCP
- −Fewer managed database options than platforms like Heroku or AWS RDS
- −No built-in serverless functions for event-driven architectures
- −Autoscaling is based on CPU/memory, lacking request-based scaling
- −Build times can be slower for larger, more complex applications
At a Glance
Recent Price History
Render removed the "Team" plan
Plan removed · Jun 2, 2026
Render removed the "Individual" plan
Plan removed · Jun 2, 2026
Render removed the "Free" plan
Plan removed · Jun 2, 2026
Render added a new "Scale" plan at $29/user/mo
Plan added · Jun 2, 2026
Render added a new "Pro" plan at $19/user/mo
Plan added · Jun 2, 2026
Cloudways added a new "DigitalOcean Premium 4GB" plan at $50/mo
Plan added · May 30, 2026
Cloudways lowered "Google Cloud Small" from $37.45/mo to $37.33/mo (0%)
Price change · May 30, 2026
Cloudways lowered "AWS Small" from $38.56/mo to $20.56/mo (-47%)
Price change · May 30, 2026
Cloudways removed the "DigitalOcean 4GB" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Cloudways removed the "DigitalOcean 1GB" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Comparisons
Sources & Data Trail · Cloudways
- 1.Official Pricing Page·Source of verified tiers(Checked: 2026-05-30)
- 2.Official Website·Official vendor website
- 3.G2·G2 verified reviews · 4.5/5 · 1,127 reviews
- 4.Capterra·Capterra verified reviews · 4.7/5
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Sources & Data Trail · Render
- 1.Official Pricing Page·Source of verified tiers(Checked: 2026-06-02)
- 2.Official Website·Official vendor website
- 3.G2·G2 verified reviews · 4.7/5 · 81 reviews
- 4.Capterra·Capterra verified reviews · 4.5/5
- 5.TrustRadius·TrustRadius verified reviews
- 6.PeerSpot·PeerSpot enterprise peer reviews
- 7.StackShare·StackShare developer community