01 · The quick answer
Two good hosts, two different deals.
Cloudways sells you a managed cloud server and lets you put as many sites on it as it can carry. Kinsta sells managed WordPress plans priced per site, with more of the work bundled in. Neither is “better” in general; they fit different buyers.
You want value and control
- You run several sites, or expect to add more
- You are comfortable choosing a server size and upgrading it
- You want to pick the cloud provider and data center
- You also host Laravel, Magento, or other PHP apps
- You prefer hourly billing with no contract
You want it bundled and hands-off
- You run one or two important WordPress sites
- You want CDN, migrations, and monitoring included in one price
- You would rather never think about server sizes
- You want support in several languages
- You value a money-back guarantee over a free trial
This is a document-based comparison of official pricing and help pages, checked November 9, 2026. We did not run speed tests on either host.
02 · Side by side
The entry plans, line by line.
| CloudwaysFlexible, DigitalOcean 1GB | KinstaSingle 20GB | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | A managed cloud server | A managed WordPress plan |
| Entry price | $11/mo (Standard) or $14/mo (Premium NVMe), billed hourly | $35/mo, or $350/year ($30/mo equivalent) |
| Sites included | Unlimited, limited by server resources | 1 (extra sites $30/mo each) |
| Storage | 25GB | 10GB (extra 20GB for $20/mo) |
| Bandwidth | 1TB server transfer | 20GB server + 125GB CDN |
| CDN | Paid add-on, from $4.99/domain/mo | Included |
| Backups | Automated; off-site storage $0.033/GB | Daily, 14-day retention |
| Free migrations | 1 managed + unlimited via plugin | Unlimited |
| Support | 24/7 chat & tickets; paid upgrades | 24/7 human support in 8 languages |
| Try before paying | 5-day trial, no card | First month free on select plans; 30-day money-back |
| Choose your cloud | 5 providers | No |
Sources: Cloudways pricing, Cloudways migrator guide, Kinsta pricing. Cloudways prices are regular list prices; promotions change often.
03 · How the bills work
Per server versus per site.
This is the single biggest difference, and it decides most comparisons.
Cloudways: you rent capacity
You pay for a server by the hour. For DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode, the hourly rate is the monthly price divided by 672 hours, and a full month never costs more than the listed monthly price. One server can hold as many applications as its CPU and memory allow. The invoice arrives on the 1st for the month you used.
Kinsta: you buy a plan per site count
You pay a fixed monthly or annual price for a plan with a set number of WordPress installs, storage, server bandwidth, and CDN bandwidth. Paying annually costs ten months’ worth ($350 instead of $420 for Single 20GB). Extra sites cost $30 a month each, and extra disk is $20 per 20GB per month.
Kinsta’s multi-site plans show how the per-site model scales. On November 9, 2026 its pricing page listed:
| Plan | Price | Installs | Storage | Server bandwidth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WP 2 | $70/mo ($59) | 2 | 20GB | 40GB |
| WP 5 | $115/mo ($96) | 5 | 30GB | 65GB |
| WP 10 | $225/mo ($188) | 10 | 40GB | 125GB |
| WP 20 | $340/mo ($284) | 20 | 50GB | 250GB |
Source: Kinsta pricing. Prices exclude tax.
04 · Real-world bills
What three typical setups might cost.
These are simple arithmetic from list prices, not quotes. Your real needs depend on traffic, plugins, and how heavy each site is, so treat the server sizes as starting points.
One business site
Low-to-moderate traffic, no store
- Cloudways
- 2GB Standard server: $24/mo, plus off-site backup storage and an optional $4.99 CDN
- Kinsta
- Single 20GB: $35/mo, or $30/mo billed annually, CDN included
Close. Kinsta bundles more; Cloudways leaves room to grow.
Five client sites
A freelancer or small agency
- Cloudways
- 4GB Standard server: $46/mo, plus backups and up to $24.95 if every site gets the CDN add-on
- Kinsta
- WP 5: $115/mo, or $96/mo billed annually
Cloudways is usually the cheaper bill here.
A busy WooCommerce store
Logged-in shoppers, checkouts
- Cloudways
- 4GB or larger; Object Cache Pro is included free on 4GB+ servers
- Kinsta
- Its pricing table marks WP 5 and larger plans as recommended for ecommerce; Redis caching is a $100/site/mo add-on
Ask both for a written estimate for your traffic.
05 · Add-ons
The extras that change the math.
| Need | Cloudways | Kinsta |
|---|---|---|
| Object/Redis caching | Object Cache Pro included on 4GB+ servers | Redis add-on, $100 per site per month |
| More frequent backups | Backup schedule set per server; storage $0.033/GB | Every 6 hours $20, hourly $100 per site per month |
| CDN | Cloudflare Enterprise add-on from $4.99 per domain per month | Included on every plan |
| Extra storage | Upgrade the server, or block storage at $1 per 10GB | $20 per 20GB per month |
| Another site | No charge while the server has capacity | $30 per site per month on Single plans |
| Automatic plugin updates | SafeUpdates from $3 per month | Automatic Updates from $3 per site per month |
| Deeper support | Advanced Support add-on, $100/mo list | 24/7 human support included on every plan |
Sources: Cloudways pricing, Kinsta pricing.
The pattern is consistent: Cloudways keeps the base price low and charges for extras, while Kinsta bundles more and charges a premium for advanced features. If you need Redis caching on one busy store, a 4GB Cloudways server can work out far cheaper. If you need nothing beyond a CDN and backups for one site, Kinsta’s bundle is simpler and the price gap is modest.
06 · Strengths
Where each one pulls ahead.
Where Cloudways wins
- Lower cost once you host more than one or two sites
- Choice of DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, or Google Cloud
- Object Cache Pro included on 4GB+ servers
- Runs non-WordPress PHP apps too
- No contract; delete a server and billing stops
Where Kinsta wins
- CDN, daily backups, and monitoring included in every plan
- Unlimited free migrations handled for you
- No server sizing decisions
- Support offered in 8 languages
- 30-day money-back guarantee after any free period
The trade-offs to accept
- Cloudways: no email or domain included, add-ons billed separately, and public reviews describe uneven support (Capterra shows 4.2 overall and 3.9 for customer service from 93 reviews).
- Kinsta: a higher price per site, tighter storage and bandwidth allowances, and paid add-ons for extras such as Redis ($100/site/mo) or hourly backups ($100/site/mo).
07 · Support and day-to-day work
Who helps when something breaks?
Cloudways support
Live chat and tickets 24/7 on every plan. A paid Advanced Support add-on ($100/mo list price) extends help to plugin and theme troubleshooting and performance work.
Kinsta support
24/7 human support in 8 languages, according to Kinsta’s plan card.
What neither does
Rewrite your theme or debug custom code for free. Hosting support covers the platform.
Public reviews are mixed on Cloudways support: Capterra users rate customer service 3.9 out of 5 across 93 reviews, below the 4.2 overall score. Kinsta’s own pricing page cites a 4.8 rating on G2 from more than 1,600 reviews, which is a vendor claim rather than our finding. We cannot measure response times ourselves, so read recent reviews before you choose.
08 · Switching between them
Moving from Kinsta to Cloudways, or back.
Kinsta → Cloudways
Install the free Cloudways WordPress Migrator plugin on the Kinsta site, or request the one free managed migration included with every Cloudways account.
Cloudways → Kinsta
Kinsta advertises unlimited free migrations on its plans, handled by its team.
Either way
Test on a temporary URL, keep email records unchanged, and keep the old host until the new site has run cleanly.
Our step-by-step migration guide covers the Cloudways side in detail.
09 · Questions
Cloudways vs Kinsta: quick answers.
Is Kinsta faster than Cloudways?
We have no independent benchmark to answer that honestly. Both offer caching and modern stacks; Kinsta includes a CDN by default, while Cloudways charges for its Cloudflare Enterprise add-on on Flexible. Your theme, plugins, and server size matter at least as much.
Which is cheaper for one site?
On list prices, a 2GB Cloudways server ($24/mo) is cheaper than Kinsta’s Single 20GB ($35/mo, or $30/mo billed annually), but Kinsta includes the CDN and more management. The gap is small for one site and grows with each extra site.
Can I try both before paying?
Cloudways offers a 5-day free trial on Flexible without a credit card. Kinsta advertises a first month free on select plans for new customers, followed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Does either include email hosting?
Cloudways does not include mailboxes; Rackspace email is a paid add-on at $1.5 per mailbox per month. Plan to use a separate email provider with either host.
Sources
Where these facts come from.
All pages checked November 9, 2026. Vendor statements are not independent performance findings.
- Cloudways — pricing & billing FAQsServer prices, billing, extras, trial
- Cloudways — WordPress Migrator guideFree plugin migrations; one free managed migration per account
- Kinsta — pricingSingle 20GB and WP plans, add-ons, guarantee
- TechRadar — Cloudways reviewIndependent hands-on review, October 2026
- Capterra — Cloudways reviews4.2 overall, 3.9 customer service, 93 reviews
Editorial independence & affiliate disclosure
The Steady Stack is independent of Cloudways, DigitalOcean, and every other host mentioned. Some Cloudways links on this site are affiliate links: if you buy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Links to Kinsta, WP Engine, Rocket.net, SiteGround, and other providers are ordinary links with no affiliation. No company paid for placement, and we do not offer coupons or rewards for signing up. This is a document-based guide: we did not run lab benchmarks, and we do not present vendor claims as test results.