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Quick Overview: What We're Building

By the end of this guide, you’ll have a fully functional WordPress site running on Cloudways’ managed cloud infrastructure — with a custom domain, free SSL, a CDN, staging environment, automated backups, and an optimized server stack. The whole process takes about 30 minutes.

What you’ll need:

  • A Cloudways account (signup takes 2 minutes)
  • A domain name (or you can use a temporary Cloudways URL to start)
  • About 30 minutes of focused time

Why Cloudways? Unlike traditional shared hosting where you share resources with hundreds of other sites, Cloudways gives you a dedicated cloud server with a managed stack optimized for WordPress. Your site runs on Nginx, Varnish, Redis, and PHP-FPM — the same stack used by high-traffic production sites — without needing to be a sysadmin.

If you’re comparing your options, check out my Cloudways vs InterServer comparison or the best managed WordPress hosting roundup for 2026.

Step 1: Sign Up for Cloudways

Getting started with Cloudways is straightforward. They offer a 3-day free trial with no credit card required for most plans, which gives you enough time to test the platform before committing.

  1. Go to the Cloudways signup page and click “Start Free” or “Get Started Free.”
  2. Enter your email address and choose a password. You can also sign up with Google or GitHub for faster onboarding.
  3. Check your inbox for a verification email — click the confirmation link to activate your account.
  4. Select your first server — Cloudways will walk you through choosing a cloud provider, server size, and application. Don’t worry about getting this exactly right; you can change everything later.

Start Your Free Cloudways Trial →

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Step 2: Choosing Your Cloud Provider and Server Size

This is the most important decision during setup. Cloudways sits on top of five cloud infrastructure providers:

Provider Starting Price Best For Data Centers
DigitalOcean $14/mo (1GB, 1-core) Best balance of price and performance for most sites 15 global locations
Vultr $14/mo (1GB, 1-core) High-frequency CPU options, good for media-heavy sites 32 global locations
Linode (Akamai) $14/mo (1GB, 1-core) Reliable with simple pricing, good backup options 16 global locations
AWS (EC2) $36.51/mo (2GB, 1-core) Enterprise scale, largest ecosystem 30+ global regions
Google Cloud $36.59/mo (1.75GB, 1-core) Best network infrastructure, premium tier routing 40+ global regions

My recommendation for most sites: Start with DigitalOcean on the $14/mo Standard plan. It’s the most popular option on Cloudways, well-tested, and the 1GB RAM + 1-core CPU handles 5,000–10,000 monthly visitors comfortably for a WordPress site. You can upgrade server size with a few clicks later if you outgrow it.

When to choose a different provider:

  • Vultr High Frequency if your site serves lots of images or video — the faster CPU cores make a noticeable difference in page load times.
  • Google Cloud if your audience is spread across multiple continents — Google’s premium network tier minimizes latency globally.
  • AWS if you’re already in the AWS ecosystem or need specific services like S3 or Route 53.

If you’re on a tight budget, you might also compare Cloudways against InterServer’s price-lock guarantee — see my Cloudways vs InterServer head-to-head for the full breakdown.

Step 3: Launching Your First Server

Once your account is active and you’ve chosen a provider and plan size, launching your first server takes about 15 minutes. Here’s exactly what happens:

  1. Select your application: Choose “WordPress” from the application list. Cloudways offers a standard WordPress installation and a WordPress Multisite option — choose standard for a single site.
  2. Name your server and application: Give them recognizable names. I use format like “mysite-server” and “mysite-app” so they’re easy to find in the dashboard later.
  3. Choose a data center location: Pick the region closest to your target audience. If you’re serving a US audience, choose New York, San Francisco, or Dallas. For European audiences, London, Amsterdam, or Frankfurt.
  4. Review and launch: Double-check your selections and click “Launch Now.”

What happens during provisioning: Cloudways spins up a virtual machine on your chosen provider, installs Ubuntu Linux, configures Nginx + PHP-FPM + MySQL + Varnish + Redis, installs WordPress, and sets up the Cloudways management agent. When the progress bar hits 100%, you’ll see server credentials and a temporary application URL.

Your temporary URL looks like https://xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx.cloudwaysapps.com — you can use this to access your site while your domain DNS propagates. Bookmark this URL.

Step 4: Accessing Your WordPress Admin Dashboard

Once your server is running, you need to log into WordPress to start building your site:

  1. Log into your Cloudways console at platform.cloudways.com.
  2. Click on your application (the name you chose during setup).
  3. Look for “Admin Panel” or “WP Admin URL” in the Application Management section — click it.
  4. Find your credentials: Your WordPress admin username and password are listed in the “Application Access Details” section of the Cloudways dashboard. The default username is usually admin with an auto-generated password.
  5. Log into wp-admin: Navigate to your-temp-url.cloudwaysapps.com/wp-admin and enter the credentials from step 4.

Important first actions inside WordPress:

  • Change the admin password to something strong and memorable. Users → Your Profile → Set New Password.
  • Update your site title and tagline under Settings → General.
  • Set your permalink structure to “Post name” under Settings → Permalinks (this is critical for SEO).
  • Delete default content — remove the sample post, page, and comment that ship with WordPress.
  • Install an SEO plugin — Rank Math or Yoast are the most popular. This helps with on-page SEO optimization.

For more on optimizing your WordPress setup, check out my guide to speeding up your WordPress site.

Step 5: Connecting Your Custom Domain

Your site works on the temporary Cloudways URL, but for a professional site — and for SEO — you need a custom domain. Here’s how:

In Cloudways dashboard:

  1. Go to Application → Domain Management.
  2. Enter your domain (e.g., yoursite.com) and click “Add Domain.”
  3. Note the IP address shown in Cloudways — you’ll need this for DNS.

At your domain registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, etc.):

  1. Create an A record pointing @ to the IP address from step 2.
  2. Create a CNAME record pointing www to your domain (e.g., yoursite.com).
  3. Wait for DNS propagation (5 minutes to 24 hours, usually under an hour).

Inside WordPress (Settings → General):

  1. Update WordPress Address (URL) to https://yoursite.com.
  2. Update Site Address (URL) to https://yoursite.com.

Tip: Make sure you update the WordPress site URL from the Cloudways dashboard or via phpMyAdmin if you can’t access wp-admin after changing the domain. Cloudways has a “Domain Change” helper in Application Settings → Domain Management that handles this automatically.

Free SSL with Let’s Encrypt: Cloudways makes SSL dead simple. In your Application → SSL Certificate section:

  1. Click “Add SSL Certificate.”
  2. Select “Let’s Encrypt.”
  3. Enter your domain email.
  4. Click “Install.”

Cloudways automatically renews Let’s Encrypt certificates, so you never have to think about it again. HTTPS is enabled from day one, which is essential for Google rankings and user trust.

Step 6: Configuring Cloudways' Performance Stack

What separates Cloudways from shared hosting is the managed performance stack. But it needs a little configuration to work optimally for WordPress.

Enable Varnish Cache

Varnish is a reverse proxy cache that sits in front of your Nginx web server. It serves cached pages to visitors without hitting WordPress or the database — this is the single biggest performance improvement you can make.

  1. In Cloudways console, go to Application → Settings & Packages.
  2. Toggle Varnish to ON.
  3. Set the cache timeout. For a blog that updates a few times per week, 1 hour is reasonable. For a news site, 5-15 minutes is better.
  4. Install a Varnish cache purging plugin on WordPress (like “Varnish HTTP Purge”) so changes publish immediately.

Configure Redis for Object Cache

Redis is an in-memory data store that caches database queries. Combined with Varnish, this dramatically reduces server load:

  1. In Cloudways console, go to Server → Settings & Packages.
  2. Toggle Redis to ON.
  3. Install a Redis object cache plugin on WordPress — the most popular is Redis Object Cache by Till Krüss.
  4. Go to WordPress → Settings → Redis and click “Enable Object Cache.”

PHP-FPM Settings for WordPress

Under Server → Settings & Packages → PHP-FPM:

  • Set Max Children based on your RAM. For a 1GB server, 5-8 is a safe starting point.
  • Set Process Idle Timeout to 10-30 seconds.
  • Enable OPcache — it caches compiled PHP scripts and significantly speeds up PHP execution.
Optimization What It Does Speed Impact Easy to Set Up?
Varnish Cache Full page caching for anonymous visitors 🔴 10-50x faster page loads ✅ Toggle on in dashboard
Redis In-memory query cache, reduces database load 🟡 2-5x faster for logged-in users ✅ Toggle + one-click plugin install
OPcache Caches compiled PHP code, avoids recompilation 🟡 2-3x PHP execution speed ✅ Enabled by default on Cloudways
Nginx + Breeze Cloudways' built-in WordPress cache plugin 🟢 3-5x combined improvement ✅ Pre-installed, activate in WordPress
CDN Integration Serves static assets from edge locations 🟢 30-60% global load time reduction ✅ One-click setup with CloudwaysCDN

Stacking these optimizations transforms a default WordPress install from a 2-3 second load time to under 500ms on Cloudways’ infrastructure.

Step 7: Setting Up Automated Backups

Losing your site data is one of the most stressful things that can happen as a site owner. Cloudways handles backups at both the server and application level.

Local Backups (Free)

  1. Go to Application → Backup.
  2. Set a backup frequency (daily is recommended for active sites).
  3. Choose a retention period — keep the last 7-14 daily backups.
  4. Cloudways stores these on the server itself. Restoring is one click from the backup list.

Relying only on server-local backups is risky — if the server fails, both your site and its backups could be lost. Cloudways offers Google Cloud Storage and AWS S3 as off-site backup destinations:

  1. Go to Application → Backup → Off-Site Backup.
  2. Connect your Google Cloud Storage or AWS S3 account.
  3. Set the same schedule as your local backup.
  4. Your encrypted backups are stored off-server in a separate geographic location.

For most sites, daily local backups + weekly off-site backups to Google Cloud Storage is the right balance of cost and safety.

Step 8: Setting Up the Staging Environment

Staging lets you test changes — plugin updates, theme tweaks, new features — without breaking your live site. Cloudways offers one-click staging directly from the dashboard:

  1. Go to Application → Staging Environment.
  2. Click “Create Staging” — Cloudways clones your live site to a subfolder.
  3. The staging URL is usually something like staging-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx.cloudwaysapps.com.
  4. When you’re done testing, use the “Sync” feature to push changed files or database back to the live site.

Best practices for staging:

  • Always test WordPress core, plugin, and theme updates on staging first — especially for ecommerce or membership sites where a broken update means lost revenue.
  • Use staging for content drafts and major redesigns before publishing live.
  • The sync tool lets you push individual changes: files only, database only, or both. For most content updates, pushing files only is safer.

For a full walkthrough of staging best practices, check out my guide to setting up a WordPress staging environment.

Step 9: Choosing a CDN for Faster Global Load Times

A CDN (Content Delivery Network) caches your site’s static files on servers around the world so visitors download them from the nearest location. Cloudways integrates with its own CDN and also supports Cloudflare.

CloudwaysCDN (Built-in, One-Click)

  1. Go to Application → CloudwaysCDN.
  2. Click “Subscribe” — it costs $1 per 25GB of bandwidth.
  3. Select your application from the dropdown.
  4. Click “Enable” — Cloudways pulls your static assets and serves them from 60+ edge locations.

Cloudflare (External, More Features)

Cloudflare offers more features (WAF, rate limiting, bot management) but requires a DNS change:

  1. Create a free Cloudflare account and add your domain.
  2. Update your nameservers at your registrar to Cloudflare’s.
  3. In Cloudflare, set an A record pointing to your Cloudways server IP.
  4. Enable the orange cloud (proxy mode) for security and caching.
Feature CloudwaysCDN Cloudflare (Free)
Setup complexity One click DNS changes needed
Pricing $1/25GB Free tier available
Edge locations 60+ 330+ cities
WAF / Security Basic Advanced (rules, rate limiting)
DDoS protection Limited Enterprise-grade on free tier
DNS management No Full DNS control

For most sites starting out, CloudwaysCDN is the easiest option. As you grow, migrating to Cloudflare gives you more control and better protection.

Step 10: Migrating an Existing WordPress Site to Cloudways

If you already have a WordPress site hosted elsewhere, migrating to Cloudways is straightforward. Cloudways offers a free automated migration plugin called the Cloudways WordPress Migrator.

Method 1: One-click migration (recommended for most sites)

  1. Install the Cloudways WordPress Migrator plugin on your existing site.
  2. Go to Tools → Migrate on Cloudways.
  3. Click “Copy Install Token” — this sends a unique token to your Cloudways console.
  4. In your new Cloudways WordPress site, install the same plugin and click “Migrate Site” → enter the token.
  5. The plugin handles everything: files, database, uploads, plugins, and themes.

The migration runs in the background and typically completes in 15-30 minutes for an average-sized site (1-5GB). You’ll get a notification when it’s done.

Method 2: Manual migration (for large sites, 10GB+)

  1. Export your WordPress database from your old host via phpMyAdmin or WP-CLI.
  2. Download your wp-content/uploads folder via FTP or SCP.
  3. Import the database via Cloudways’ phpMyAdmin (Application → Database Manager).
  4. Upload your files via Cloudways’ Application → File Manager or SFTP.
  5. Update the wp-config.php file with Cloudways’ database credentials.
  6. Test and switch DNS.

The manual method takes more time but is more reliable for very large sites where the automatic plugin might time out.

Need more guidance on migration? My complete guide to migrating a WordPress site covers both methods in detail.

Step 11: Securing Your Cloudways WordPress Site

Security on Cloudways starts strong — the infrastructure is isolated from other customers, and Cloudways handles OS-level security patches. But you still need to secure the WordPress application itself.

Essential security steps:

  1. Enable Cloudways WAF — Application → Security → enable Web Application Firewall. Filters out common attack patterns before they reach WordPress.
  2. Install a WordPress security plugin — Wordfence or iThemes Security. Both offer firewall, malware scanning, and login protection.
  3. Change the default login URL — Most brute force attacks target /wp-admin or /wp-login.php. Use a plugin like WPS Hide Login or Rank Math’s login URL changer.
  4. Enable two-factor authentication for admin accounts — Wordfence and many security plugins offer this for free.
  5. Limit login attempts — Most security plugins include this. Block after 3-5 failed attempts.
  6. Disable XML-RPC if you don’t need it — a common vector for DDoS attacks on WordPress.
  7. Keep everything updated — WordPress core, themes, and plugins. Use Cloudways’ Staging Environment to test updates first, then apply them to the live site.

For a complete security audit of your WordPress site, see my guide to securing WordPress from hackers.

Cloudways Pricing Breakdown — Real Costs Over Time

Cloudways pricing is transparent with no introductory-price gimmicks. What you see on the signup page is what you continue paying.

Plan (DigitalOcean) Monthly Price RAM / CPU / Storage Bandwidth Ideal For
Standard (1GB) $14/mo 1GB / 1-core / 25GB 1TB Personal blog, small portfolio
Standard (2GB) $28/mo 2GB / 1-core / 50GB 2TB Growing blog, small business
Standard (4GB) $52/mo 4GB / 2-core / 80GB 4TB Ecommerce, membership site
Standard (8GB) $98/mo 8GB / 4-core / 160GB 5TB High-traffic news/media site

What’s included in every plan:

  • 24/7/365 live support via chat (legendarily responsive — usually under 2 minutes)
  • Free SSL certificates (Let’s Encrypt, auto-renewed)
  • Automated backups with one-click restore
  • Staging environment
  • Free website migration
  • CloudwaysCDN ($1/25GB, optional)
  • Dedicated firewall
  • OS-level security patches

Note on pay-as-you-go pricing: Cloudways charges by the hour, so if you upgrade mid-month, you’re prorated. If you downgrade, your unused hours are credited. This is much fairer than most hosts’ rigid billing cycles.

Compared to shared hosting plans from InterServer ($2.50/mo with a price-lock guarantee) or SiteGround, Cloudways is premium-priced — but you’re paying for a managed cloud infrastructure rather than a shared cPanel account. The difference in performance, scalability, and support is significant.

Common Questions (FAQ)

How long does the Cloudways free trial last?

Cloudways offers a 3-day free trial with full access to all features. No credit card is required for the trial on standard plans.

Can I host multiple WordPress sites on one Cloudways server?

Yes. A single Cloudways server can host multiple applications. Each application gets its own WordPress installation and database. The 1GB plan comfortably handles 3-5 low-traffic WordPress sites. For five or more sites, I’d recommend starting with the 2GB plan.

Does Cloudways include email hosting?

No — Cloudways does not offer email hosting. Your email on the server goes through the standard PHP mail function, which most providers will flag as spam. I recommend using a dedicated email service like Google Workspace ($6/mo), Outlook Business, or Zoho Mail (free tier available) for professional email.

How does Cloudways compare to managed WordPress hosts like WP Engine and Kinsta?

Cloudways is more affordable than premium managed hosts like WP Engine and Kinsta (which start at $20-35/mo) while offering similar infrastructure quality. The difference is in white-glove support — WP Engine and Kinsta offer managed WordPress support, while Cloudways offers managed server support. You handle more of the WordPress-level management yourself, but you pay significantly less.

Can I install a staging site without extra cost?

Yes — Cloudways includes a staging environment on every plan at no additional charge. You can create, test, and sync back to the live site with one click.

Does Cloudways support WooCommerce?

Absolutely. Cloudways is one of the best platforms for WooCommerce hosting. The Redis + Varnish stack handles WooCommerce’s dynamic content well, and you can scale server resources as your store grows. Check out my best WooCommerce hosting roundup for more options.

What happens if I go over bandwidth?

Cloudways throttles the server (reduces speed) rather than charging overage fees. If you consistently exceed your bandwidth, you’ll get a recommendation to upgrade the plan — but you won’t face surprise bills.

How do I access my server via SSH?

Cloudways provides SSH terminal access from the dashboard. Go to Server → Master Credentials → copy the public IP and SSH password. Then connect via your terminal: ssh -p @. This is useful for WP-CLI commands, log viewing, and advanced troubleshooting.

Final Verdict: Is Cloudways Worth It in 2026?

Cloudways occupies a sweet spot in the hosting market. It’s more affordable than premium managed hosts like WP Engine and Kinsta, but significantly more capable than shared hosting from InterServer or SiteGround. The step-by-step setup I’ve outlined above gets a professional WordPress site live in about 30 minutes — and the managed stack means you don’t need to be a server expert to get production-grade performance.

Choose Cloudways if:

  • You want a site that loads fast without optimization headaches
  • You expect your site to grow and want to scale without migrating providers
  • You value staging environments, automated backups, and one-click CDN
  • You’d rather pay a fair monthly rate than get trapped by renewal price hikes

Consider something else if:

  • You’re on the tightest possible budget — InterServer’s $2.50/mo price lock is unbeatable for cost
  • You want fully managed WordPress support like WP Engine or Kinsta
  • You only need a single-page portfolio that won’t grow

For most people building a serious WordPress site — a blog they want to monetize, a business site, an online store — Cloudways is the best balance of performance, features, and cost in 2026.

Start Your Free Cloudways Trial Today →

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