Cloudways and WP Engine are both premium ways to host WordPress, but they aim at different buyers. Cloudways gives you managed cloud hosting with flexible, pay-as-you-go pricing and the freedom to pick your provider. WP Engine is the polished, fully managed WordPress specialist with premium tooling and a price to match. Choosing between them comes down to whether you value flexibility and value or a hands-off premium experience. This comparison breaks it down.
Quick verdict
Cloudways is the better pick for most people, offering cloud performance, flexible pay-as-you-go pricing, and provider choice at a fraction of WP Engine’s cost. Choose WP Engine if you want a fully managed, WordPress-only premium experience with deep tooling and you can absorb the higher price.
At a glance
| Cloudways | WP Engine | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Managed cloud, multiple providers | Fully managed WordPress only |
| Pricing | From around $11/mo, pay as you go | From around $50/mo, plan tiers |
| Flexibility | High, host anything PHP | WordPress only |
| Tooling | Solid | Premium WordPress tooling |
| Best for | Flexibility and value | Premium hands-off WordPress |
Try Cloudways
Managed cloud hosting on DigitalOcean, Vultr, AWS, or Google Cloud, with pay-as-you-go pricing and a free trial. The flexible, better-value WordPress host.
How we compared them
We weighed the factors that decide a managed WordPress host: raw performance and how it holds up under load, the pricing model and what it costs as you grow, how much flexibility and control you have, the quality of the WordPress-specific tooling like staging and backups, and the support experience. Both are strong premium hosts, so this is about matching the right one to your budget and how hands-off you want to be.
Cloudways
Cloudways sits as a managed layer on top of major cloud providers, giving you cloud-grade performance without administering servers, and that blend of power and value is why it is our default recommendation for most people.
Performance and flexibility
You choose the underlying provider, DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, or Google Cloud, and the data center nearest your users, which gives you real control over speed and cost. Built-in caching through Varnish, Redis, and Memcached plus a stack tuned for PHP and WordPress means fast load times out of the box, and you can scale the server up or down whenever you need. Because it is not WordPress-only, you can also host Laravel or other PHP apps on the same account, which WP Engine cannot do.
Pricing and tooling
The pay-as-you-go model is the big draw. You pay for the server size you actually use, starting low and scaling as needed, which keeps small and mid-size sites far cheaper than WP Engine. You also get free staging, automated backups, one-click SSL, team collaboration, and SSH and Git access. The trade-offs are that the dashboard, while good, is less polished than WP Engine’s WordPress-specific tooling, and email hosting is not bundled. For most people, the value and flexibility win out.
Pros
- Choose your cloud provider and data center
- Pay-as-you-go pricing, far cheaper at entry
- Free staging, backups, SSH and Git
- Can host non-WordPress PHP apps too
Cons
- Dashboard less polished than WP Engine
- No bundled email hosting
- WordPress tooling less specialized
WP Engine
WP Engine is the premium managed WordPress specialist, built to do one thing extremely well. It is more expensive and WordPress-only, but in return you get deep, tailored tooling and a genuinely hands-off experience.
The premium WordPress experience
WP Engine runs on top-tier cloud infrastructure with its own EverCache technology and a global CDN, so sites are fast and stable. The WordPress-specific tooling is the draw: one-click staging and production environments, automatic daily backups, automated core updates with visual regression testing, robust security with managed patching, and premium themes included. The platform is built around WordPress best practices, so a lot of decisions are made well for you. For agencies and businesses that want WordPress to simply work at a high level, it is excellent.
Pricing and limits
That specialization comes at a price. WP Engine’s plans start several times higher than Cloudways and are structured around monthly visit limits and a set number of sites, so costs climb as you grow or add installs. It is strictly WordPress, so there is no hosting a Laravel app or anything non-WordPress. If your needs fit its plan structure and you value premium, tailored WordPress tooling with strong support, the cost is justifiable. If you want flexibility or lower entry pricing, it is harder to justify.
Pros
- Premium, WordPress-specific tooling
- Automated updates with regression testing
- Strong security and managed patching
- Polished staging and dashboard, premium themes included
Cons
- Several times more expensive than Cloudways
- Visit and site limits on each plan
- WordPress only, no other workloads
Head to head
Performance
Effectively a tie. Both deliver excellent speed on strong cloud infrastructure with their own caching. WP Engine’s EverCache is superb, and Cloudways matches it when you pick a comparable provider and use its caching stack.
Pricing
Cloudways wins clearly. Pay-as-you-go starts at a fraction of WP Engine’s entry price and scales with actual usage, while WP Engine’s plans start high and are bounded by visit limits.
Flexibility
Cloudways wins. Provider choice, server sizing, and the ability to host non-WordPress PHP apps give it far more range. WP Engine is deliberately WordPress-only.
WordPress tooling and support
WP Engine wins. Its WordPress-specific features, automated updates with regression testing, and tailored support are more specialized than Cloudways’ more general managed cloud approach.
Which should you choose?
For most people, Cloudways is the smarter choice, pairing cloud performance with flexible pricing, provider choice, and the freedom to host more than just WordPress, all at a fraction of WP Engine’s cost. Choose WP Engine if you want a fully managed, WordPress-only premium experience with deep tooling and automated maintenance, and your budget can absorb the higher price. Both are excellent, so it comes down to flexibility and value versus premium, specialized WordPress hosting. For more options, see our guides to the best managed WordPress hosting, and our Cloudways vs Kinsta comparison.
Get started with Cloudways
Cloud performance, your choice of provider, and pay-as-you-go pricing with a free trial. The flexible, better-value WordPress host.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cloudways or WP Engine cheaper? Cloudways, by a wide margin. Its pay-as-you-go plans start at around a fifth of WP Engine’s entry price and scale with usage, while WP Engine starts high and is bounded by visit limits.
Which is faster? They are closely matched. Both use strong cloud infrastructure and their own caching. WP Engine’s EverCache is excellent, and Cloudways matches it with a comparable provider and its caching stack.
Can I host non-WordPress sites? On Cloudways, yes, including Laravel and other PHP apps. WP Engine is strictly WordPress only.
Which has better WordPress tooling? WP Engine. Its automated updates with visual regression testing, managed patching, and WordPress-specific features are more specialized than Cloudways’ general managed cloud tooling.
Which is better for an agency? Both work well. WP Engine suits agencies that want premium, hands-off WordPress management and will use its tooling, while Cloudways suits those who want flexibility and much lower per-site costs.
The bottom line
Cloudways and WP Engine are both excellent ways to host WordPress, and the right one depends on your priorities. For most people, Cloudways is the better buy, offering cloud performance, flexibility, and pay-as-you-go pricing at a fraction of the cost. WP Engine is worth the premium if you want a fully managed, WordPress-only experience with deep tooling and automated maintenance, and your budget allows. Decide whether flexibility and value or premium specialization matters more, and the right host becomes clear.
