Cloudways vs. DigitalOcean

Affiliate links present. Disclosure

Cloudways

DigitalOcean

Managed Cloud Layer vs. Raw Cloud Infrastructure

Cloudways

DigitalOcean

Ease of Use

6.4

3.4

Performance

4.9

4.1

Reliability

7.5

4.1

Scalability

7.5

7.8

Dev Control

5.2

8.1

Support

4.4

4.2

Value

6.1

Cloudways leads in 4DigitalOcean leads in 2

Feature

Cloudways

DigitalOcean

Managed WordPress

✓

WordPress-only

Staging included

✓

Email hosting

LiteSpeed server

Phone support

Root/SSH access

✓

Eco credentials

Quick pick

→ Cloudways fits if you want cloud infrastructure without managing Linux — the managed layer is worth the markup for teams without DevOps capacity.

Visit Cloudways

→ DigitalOcean fits if you have the technical capability to manage the stack yourself and want full OS-level control without a management overhead charge.

Visit DigitalOcean

Cloudways runs on DigitalOcean's infrastructure by default — you can select it as the underlying provider. The difference is what Cloudways adds: server management, one-click staging, automated backups, and a GUI that removes direct server interaction. DigitalOcean gives you the droplet and nothing else.

If you choose Cloudways

What you get that DigitalOcean doesn't offer

Staging environments, automated backups, and a managed server stack without SSH. PHP version management, Redis, and Elasticsearch configured through a GUI. Easier onboarding — no Linux administration assumed.

What you give up

DigitalOcean's developer control is substantially higher (8.1 vs 5.2) — raw droplet access means full OS control, custom firewall rules, and unrestricted server configuration. Cloudways abstracts that layer away. You also pay a management markup on top of DigitalOcean's base pricing.

Visit Cloudways

If you choose DigitalOcean

What you get that Cloudways doesn't offer

Full root access and OS-level control — the highest developer control score in the hosting category. Custom networking, firewalls, and load balancers. No management markup — you pay infrastructure cost only. Kubernetes, managed databases, and object storage as first-party products.

What you give up

No managed layer — staging, backups, and PHP configuration are your responsibility to configure and maintain. Reliability on Cloudways is substantially higher because the managed stack handles failures that raw droplets surface directly.

Visit DigitalOcean