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Cloudways vs a self-managed VPS: is managed hosting worth it?
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Published · Prices updated
Paying a managed platform or running a plain server yourself is a trade between money and routine work.
What is being compared
The same 2 GB size is priced as a managed Cloudways bundle and as plain self-managed servers. Only published prices are compared. The products are different: Cloudways sells a managed platform, the others sell the server and leave its administration to you.
Who a managed platform fits
The catalog records that Cloudways manages its application hosting platform and server stack, and that you keep site content, users, application configuration and the set-up and testing of backups. A managed layer suits someone who wants to run an application without administering the operating system, and whose project does not need system-level packages or custom services.
Who should look at a plain VPS
Root access is unavailable on Cloudways. If you need to install system software, run your own services, choose the operating system setup or simply keep the bill as low as possible, a self-managed server gives you that control, and the routine patching and recovery become your work.
Questions to answer first
Which tasks do you want off your hands: patching, security updates, backups, monitoring? How many hours a month would you spend on them, and what is an hour worth to you? Does your application run inside the platform’s supported stack? The price gap below is only worth paying if the answers are real.
The same 2 GB size, five ways
| Plan | vCPU / RAM | Storage | Who administers it | Monthly | Cloudways costs more by | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudways · DigitalOcean Basic Premium Small 2 GB | 1 / 2 GB | 50 GB | Cloudways Flexible managed hosting | $28 | — | www.cloudways.com |
| UpCloud · Starter 2 GB / 1 core | 1 / 2 GB | 20 GB | Self-managed Cloud Server | $7 | $21 | upcloud.com |
| DigitalOcean · Basic Regular 2 GiB | 1 / 2 GB | 50 GB | Self-managed Droplet | $12 | $16 | www.digitalocean.com |
| AWS Lightsail · Small 2 GB Linux with public IPv4 | 2 / 2 GB | 60 GB | Lightsail instance | $12 | $16 | docs.aws.amazon.com |
| Hetzner · CPX11 US | 2 / 2 GB | 40 GB | Unmanaged Cloud Server | $20.49 | $7.51 | docs.hetzner.com |
Against these four self-managed plans, the Cloudways bundle is $7.51 to $21 a month more, which is $90.12 to $252 a year. The plans do not have identical CPU, storage or transfer, and the Cloudways price covers the managed platform, so the gap is a published bill difference and not a claim of equal service.
Prices exclude tax. Backups, IPv4 addresses and transfer overage are priced differently by each provider and are not included here; see what a headline price leaves out. For a closer look at the Cloudways and DigitalOcean pair, read Cloudways vs DigitalOcean, and to put your own hours and hourly value on the gap, use the managed versus unmanaged calculator.
Continue with the interactive tools or the plan catalog.
Sources and verification 3 official source pages
Offer-level price and specification check dates appear in the catalog when available. Pricing can change; confirm terms at checkout.