Documentation-based comparison
Cloudways versus Nexcess
Compare documented scope and conditions. Unknowns remain unknown; different billing units do not establish a cost winner.
What the evidence answers
A reading of reviewed official documentation for Cloudways and Nexcess. It is not a hands-on test, a ranking or a recommendation of one product.
Price
- Cloudways From $14/mo
- Micro: $14.00 monthly
- Small: $28.00 monthly
- Medium: $54.00 monthly
- Large: $99.00 monthly
- Nexcess From $9/mo
- Essentials WordPress: $9.00 monthly
- Pro WordPress: $19.00 monthly
- Elite WordPress: $29.00 monthly
Both list prices on the same basis. Compare what each plan includes; the lower amount alone does not make the better choice.
Documented for both
- Websites
- Cloudways No limit on the number of applications on one server
- Nexcess Plans for 1, 3, 5, 10 or 25 sites, each with up to 50,000, 150,000 or 400,000 monthly visitsEssentials WordPress: 1 sitePro WordPress: 1 siteElite WordPress: 1 site
- Storage
- Cloudways Micro: 25 GB NVMe storage, 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPUSmall: 50 GB NVMe storage, 2 GB RAM, 1 vCPUMedium: 80 GB NVMe storage, 4 GB RAM, 2 vCPULarge: 160 GB NVMe storage, 8 GB RAM, 4 vCPU
- Nexcess Essentials WordPress: 15 GB storage (shared)Pro WordPress: 15 GB storage (shared)Elite WordPress: 15 GB storage (shared)
- Traffic or visits
- Cloudways Micro: 1 TB transfer bandwidth; unlimited visitsSmall: 2 TB transfer bandwidth; unlimited visitsMedium: 4 TB transfer bandwidth; unlimited visitsLarge: 5 TB transfer bandwidth; unlimited visits
- Nexcess Essentials WordPress: 50k monthly visitors; 2 TB bandwidth (shared)Pro WordPress: 50k monthly visitors; 2 TB bandwidth (shared)Elite WordPress: 50k monthly visitors; 2 TB bandwidth (shared)
- Commitment
- Cloudways Charged by the hour and invoiced in arrears in the first week of each month; plan changes show on the invoice immediately, and AWS and Google Cloud prices vary by region.
- Nexcess Monthly or annual billing; annual is marked "Save 10%".
- Backups
- Cloudways Offsite backup storage costs $0.033/GB per server.
- Nexcess Essentials WordPress: 7-day daily backupsPro WordPress: 14-day daily backupsElite WordPress: 30-day daily backups
- Migration
- Cloudways Cloudways engineers migrate your first website free from any host.
- Nexcess Self-service migration; human migration listed on Elite.Essentials WordPress: Self-serve migration toolPro WordPress: Self-serve migration tool and migration by a human
- Staging
- Cloudways Staging is listed.
- Nexcess Essentials WordPress: Staging sites and visual comparison listed on the cardPro WordPress: Staging sites and visual comparisonElite WordPress: Staging sites and visual comparison
Limits to check
- Cloudways The number of sites is limited by server capacity: you can launch as many applications as the server can support.
- Nexcess Every plan includes DDoS protection, a web application firewall, a Cloudflare edge CDN, Object Cache Pro and Kadence Security Pro; optional add-ons (such as Performance Shield) and usage-based extras (autoscaling, CDN overage) cost extra.
Not verified yet
No reviewed evidence for either product on renewal rate.
Documented for one product only, shown in the table below: Cloudways: introductory rate, restores, support and overage charges.
Not verified means our reviewed sources do not establish it. It does not mean a product lacks the capability or that it costs nothing.
Next steps
- Ask Cloudways about renewal rate; our sources do not establish it yet.
- Ask Nexcess about renewal rate, introductory rate and restores; our sources do not establish them yet.
| Requirement | Cloudways | Nexcess |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $14/mo | From $9/mo |
| Who it is for | Managed cloud servers for WordPress and other PHP apps, with control over server size and cloud provider. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways pricing page, rendered Flexible plan cards | Liquid Web’s managed WordPress hosting, sold exclusively through its sibling brand Nexcess. The former Nexcess WordPress page now leads to this Liquid Web page. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Liquid Web managed WordPress page text (plans sold through Nexcess) |
| Coverage limits | The number of sites is limited by server capacity: you can launch as many applications as the server can support. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways pricing page, rendered Flexible plan cards | Every plan includes DDoS protection, a web application firewall, a Cloudflare edge CDN, Object Cache Pro and Kadence Security Pro; optional add-ons (such as Performance Shield) and usage-based extras (autoscaling, CDN overage) cost extra. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Liquid Web managed WordPress page, rendered default plan prices |
| Websites | No limit on the number of applications on one server Every Flexible card lists "Unlimited Websites". Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways pricing page text with billing FAQ | Plans for 1, 3, 5, 10 or 25 sites, each with up to 50,000, 150,000 or 400,000 monthly visits Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Liquid Web managed WordPress page text (plans sold through Nexcess)
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| Storage |
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| Traffic or visits |
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| Introductory rate | 3-day free trial of Flexible without a credit card Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways pricing page, rendered Flexible plan cards | Not verified |
| Commitment | Charged by the hour and invoiced in arrears in the first week of each month; plan changes show on the invoice immediately, and AWS and Google Cloud prices vary by region. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways pricing page text with billing FAQ | Monthly or annual billing; annual is marked "Save 10%". Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Liquid Web managed WordPress page, rendered default plan prices |
| Backups | Offsite backup storage costs $0.033/GB per server. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways: official product and plan documentation |
|
| Restores | One-click restore from automated or on-demand backups No separate restore fee is stated. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways pricing page, rendered Flexible plan cards | Not verified |
| Migration | Cloudways engineers migrate your first website free from any host. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways pricing page, rendered Flexible plan cards | Self-service migration; human migration listed on Elite. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Nexcess: official product and plan documentation
|
| Staging | Staging is listed. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways: official product and plan documentation |
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| Support | 24/7/365 live chat and ticket support on every plan; paid Advanced and Premium support add-ons give quicker responses. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways pricing page text with billing FAQ | Not verified |
| Overage charges | DigitalOcean: USD 0.02 per extra GB, AWS: USD 0.12 per GB, Google Cloud: USD 0.10 to 0.17 per GB by region Bandwidth beyond the plan allowance is pay-as-you-go. Verified Oct 11, 2026 · Cloudways pricing page text with billing FAQ | Not verified |
| Coverage note | Default selection. |
1 requirement without reviewed evidence here
Not verified means the reviewed sources do not establish it; it does not mean a product lacks it or that it costs nothing.
- Renewal rate Cloudways: not verified · Nexcess: not verified