Cloudways
Worth it
Confidence: High
Buy if you run multiple WordPress/PHP sites and want managed cloud without hiring a sysadmin.
Comparison
Cloudways vs ServerAvatar
Cloudways lands on Worth it, and ServerAvatar lands on Depends.
ServerAvatar
Depends
Confidence: Medium
A reasonable fit for agencies and freelancers running many WordPress/PHP sites across their own cloud accounts from one panel.
| Compare | Cloudways | ServerAvatar |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Worth it | Depends |
| Best for | Agencies hosting many client WordPress sites | Agencies managing many client sites |
| Who it's not for | Single low-traffic hobby sites . shared hosting is far cheaper | Enterprise or compliance workloads . no security page, thin reviews |
| Privacy | One CVE found in Cloudways' Breeze plugin (authorization bypass); malware scanning sold as a paid add-on.⁹ | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed; notably, no security page was found on the official site. |
| Support quality | G2 users praise top-notch technical support | One Trustpilot review; no real signal |
| Public sentiment | Users mostly rate it highly for support and value, with a minority complaining about learning curve and add-on costs.¹ | Independent reviews are scarce (1 G2, 1 Trustpilot); blog reviews praise how it simplifies server management for bloggers, developers, and agencies.12 |
| Biggest gotcha | Malware scanning costs extra; some users call its upsell tactics a 'scare tactic' | No security page on the site . ask about hardening, patching, and backups before hosting client work. |
Pick Cloudways when
- Agencies hosting many client WordPress sites
- Freelancers wanting managed cloud without sysadmin work
- Small businesses needing scalable WP/e-commerce hosting
- Teams wanting cloud provider choice (DO, AWS, Vultr)
When Cloudways is not a fit
- Single low-traffic hobby sites . shared hosting is far cheaper
- Devs comfortable managing raw DigitalOcean directly
- Anyone needing root-level server control or custom stacks
- Budget hunters unwilling to pay markup over raw cloud prices
Pick ServerAvatar when
- Agencies managing many client sites
- WordPress/PHP site owners
- Non-DevOps founders using own cloud accounts
When ServerAvatar is not a fit
- Enterprise or compliance workloads . no security page, thin reviews
- Non-PHP stacks like Node, Python, or Go
- Single-site owners . shared or managed WP hosting is simpler
- Buyers wanting a proven track record (1 G2 review)
Sources
review
- Companies Using Cloudways in 2026technologychecker.ioreview
- Cloudways customer reviews on Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
- Cloudways Review 2026: Managed Cloud Hosting Testedcatswhocode.comreview
review
- Cloudways Review 2026: Caveats You Should Be Aware Ofonlinemediamasters.comreview
- Cloudways Pricing & Planscloudways.comofficial
- Ultimate Malware Security Add-oncloudways.comofficial
- CVE-2025-69364: Cloudways Breeze Auth Bypass Vulnerabilitysentinelone.comsecurity
- Cloudways Alternative . ServerAvatarserveravatar.comreview
- Cloudways . Crunchbase Company Profilecrunchbase.comnews
- ServerAvatar Review: WordPress & PHP Cloud Hostingprofilepress.comreview
- Compare RunCloud vs. ServerAvatar in 2026slashdot.orgreview
- RunCloud vs. ServerAvatar Comparisonsourceforge.netreview
- ServerAvatar Black Friday 2025 Deal . Lifetime Offersaaspirate.comnews
- serveravatar.com . Website Informationwmtips.comnews