Side by side · Managed WordPress hosting
Cloudways vs Kinsta
Who should pick which, from each company’s own pricing pages and terms.
We check it out so you don’t have to.
How we researched this page: we read each company’s own pricing pages and terms, independent tests, and customer reviews. We did not use these products ourselves. Prices change often, so each one shows the date we checked it.
Cloudways rents you a managed cloud server you can fill with sites. Kinsta charges per site and handles the server decisions for you.
| Item | Cloudways | Kinsta |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Several sites on one server, pay by the hour | One business site, all-inclusive |
| Starting price | $11/mo (DigitalOcean, billed hourly); Autonomous $99/mo, checked October 24, 2026 | $35/mo or $30/mo billed yearly, first month $0, checked October 24, 2026 |
| Extra sites | Add them to the same server | $30/mo each |
| Refund / trial | 3-day free trial; no money-back | 30-day money-back |
Pick Cloudways if you…
- want the lower bill. Cloudways starts at $11 a month; Kinsta starts at $30 to $35 a month.
- run several sites. One Cloudways server can hold many sites, while Kinsta prices by the site.
- want to pick your cloud provider and server size, and pay by the hour with no yearly commitment.
Pick Kinsta if you…
- run one WordPress site and want one simple price with CDN and backups already included.
- want a money-back guarantee. Kinsta offers 30 days; Cloudways doesn’t offer one.
- don’t want to think about servers at all and are happy to pay more for that.
Quick verdict
Cloudways is a solid step up when a site needs more speed and room than shared hosting gives, and you don’t want to manage a server yourself. It costs a lot less than Kinsta, especially if you run more than one site. Add up the add-ons before you choose a size. If you run a single WordPress site and want everything in one price plus a refund window, Kinsta costs more but is simpler.
Visit Cloudways’s official site
More on each: our full Cloudways review · our full Kinsta review
See every option in Best Managed WordPress Hosting, including companies not covered here.
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