WP Engine vs Cloudways: Honest Comparison (2026)
WP Engine packages WordPress management; Cloudways gives you a managed cloud-VPS layer with more infrastructure choice. If neither operating model fits, there is a more hands-on managed path worth considering after the direct comparison.
Quick Verdict
- Choose WP Engine for a more opinionated, WordPress-specific managed experience.
- Choose Cloudways for provider choice, pay-as-you-go billing, and multiple apps per server.
- WP Engine bundles CDN and WordPress tooling; Cloudways separates several services into metered add-ons.
- Cloudways avoids visit caps, while WP Engine places visit and bandwidth limits on every Essential plan.
Pricing
WP Engine Essential plans list Startup at $30, Professional at $55, Growth at $109, Scale at $276, and Core from $400 per month. Those Essential prices are first-year promotions for new customers; renewal pricing may be higher and is not disclosed as a fixed rate.
Cloudways Flexible starts at $11 per month for a DigitalOcean Micro server, billed in arrears at $0.0357 per hour. Its separate Autonomous product starts at $99 per month for Growth and $199 for Scale. CDN starts at $4.99 per domain, email at $1 per mailbox, backup storage at $0.033 per GB per server, and Advanced Support costs $100 per month.
Competitor details as of July 2026 — verify current terms on their site.
For deeper single-provider breakdowns, see our WP Engine comparison and Cloudways comparison.
Limits & Overages
WP Engine Startup includes one site, 25,000 visits, 10GB storage, and 75GB bandwidth per month. Every Essential plan has both visit and bandwidth caps; Scale reaches 400,000 visits and 550GB bandwidth. Additional sites cost $20 per month each, so growth can mean upgrading or adding site fees.
Cloudways Micro includes 2GB RAM, one vCPU, 50GB storage, and 2TB transfer, with unlimited visits and apps per server. Transfer beyond the allowance costs $0.02–$0.12 per GB depending on the chosen cloud provider.
Support
WP Engine Startup support is chat-only. Phone support begins with Professional at $55 per month. This favors teams that want a WordPress-specific support path and are comfortable choosing a higher tier for phone access.
Cloudways includes 24/7 chat, email, and ticket support on all plans. Advanced Support adds $100 per month. Its free migration covers the first website only, and the free trial lasts three days without a credit card.
Infrastructure
WP Engine is a managed WordPress platform. All plans include Cloudflare-powered global CDN, SSL, SSH, daily and on-demand backups, and staging. Managed WAF, advanced DDoS, APM, NitroPack, multisite, and AI plugin updates are paid add-ons on Essential tiers and bundled only with Core at $400 or more per month.
Cloudways manages the server and stack while you select DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, or Google Cloud. That flexibility suits infrastructure-aware teams, but CDN, email, and offsite backup storage remain separate decisions.
Nova: The Third Option
Nova is managed hosting for teams that want tenant-level Kubernetes isolation without visit-count billing or bandwidth-overage metering. It is not the cheapest option here; it pairs published resource allowances with managed change requests and built-in growth tooling. Explore the broader model on our managed WordPress hosting page.
| Feature | WP Engine | Cloudways | Nova |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | From $30/mo promotional; renewal may be higher | From $11/mo; hourly pay-as-you-go | $349/mo + $1,499 setup for Scale |
| Traffic / bandwidth limits | Visit and bandwidth caps on every plan | Unlimited visits; transfer allowance plus overages | No visit cap; 500GB/mo on Scale |
| Backups | Daily + on-demand; 30–60 day retention | Offsite storage billed at $0.033/GB/server | Daily; 7-day retention on Scale |
| Support | Startup chat-only; phone from Professional | 24/7 chat, email, tickets; Advanced is $100/mo | Email support; 24hr response on Scale |
| Migration | Free automated migration plugin | First website migrated free | Free zero-downtime migration, typically 24–48h |
| Infrastructure isolation | Managed WordPress platform | Managed VPS across five cloud providers | Dedicated containers in a tenant Kubernetes namespace |
| SEO tooling | Not listed as a bundled SEO platform | Not bundled | Keyword research, briefs, rank tracking, AI drafts |
Scale is $349 per month with a $1,499 setup fee. It includes one site, 50GB storage, 500GB monthly bandwidth, daily backups with seven-day retention, global CDN, SSL, analytics, and email support with a 24-hour response target.
Momentum at $1,199 per month and Infinite at $2,499 per month add higher resource allowances and support levels. Every tenant runs in its own Kubernetes namespace with dedicated containers, and managed plans include unlimited change requests through the client dashboard.
Plan the Move Before You Commit
Nova includes free zero-downtime migration, typically completed in 24–48 hours. Start with a tailored growth plan or review the published plan details.
WP Engine vs Cloudways FAQs
Is Cloudways actually cheaper than WP Engine?
At entry level, yes: Cloudways’ DigitalOcean Micro starts at $11 per month on pay-as-you-go billing, while WP Engine Startup is $30 per month as first-year promotional pricing. The total Cloudways bill can rise when you add Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, email, offsite backup storage, premium support, or bandwidth overages.
Does Cloudways fully manage my WordPress site the way WP Engine does?
Cloudways manages the cloud server and software stack while letting you choose the underlying provider. WP Engine is a more opinionated managed WordPress platform with WordPress-specific backups, staging, migration tooling, CDN, and support. Cloudways gives you more infrastructure choice, but you should expect to make more server-level decisions.
What happens if I exceed WP Engine's visit or bandwidth limits?
Every WP Engine Essential plan has visit and bandwidth caps. Growing beyond a plan’s allowance can force a plan upgrade; for example, Scale includes 400,000 visits and 550GB of bandwidth. Review current overage and upgrade terms directly with WP Engine.
Does Cloudways include a CDN and email hosting?
Not on the entry Flexible plan. Cloudflare Enterprise CDN starts at $4.99 per domain per month, and Rackspace Email costs $1 per mailbox per month. Both are separate add-ons rather than bundled services.
What's a fully managed alternative if I don't want to configure a VPS myself or hit visit caps?
Nova is a managed option with isolated Kubernetes namespaces, no visit-count billing, published storage and bandwidth allowances, built-in SEO tools, and free zero-downtime migration. Scale is $349 per month with a $1,499 setup fee and includes 50GB storage and 500GB bandwidth per month.