Cloudways vs Vercel: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Cloudways and Vercel to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Cloudways
7/10
Managed cloud hosting platform that runs WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Laravel and PHP apps on DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google Cloud servers.
Vercel
6.9/10
Frontend cloud platform from the makers of Next.js that builds and deploys web apps from Git to a global CDN with serverless functions.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7/10 | 6.9/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Cost | 6/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Reliability | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $14/mo Flexible Micro (DigitalOcean) | $20/user/mo Pro |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $14/mo Flexible Micro (DigitalOcean) | $200/mo Pro |
| Features | ||
| Managed WordPress | ||
| VPS Hosting | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Content Delivery Network | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| Free SSL Certificates | ||
| Git Deployments | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Automatic Backups | Not listed | |
| Cloud Compute | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
| Object Storage | Not listed | |
| Serverless Functions | Not listed | |
| Shared Hosting | Not listed | |
Cloudways vs Vercel cost by team size
Vercel costs less at 1 user; Cloudways costs less from 5 users.
| Team size | Cloudways | Vercel |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $14/moFlexible Micro (DigitalOcean) | FreeHobby |
| 5 users | $14/moFlexible Micro (DigitalOcean) | $100/moPro |
| 10 users | $14/moFlexible Micro (DigitalOcean) | $200/moPro |
| 25 users | $14/moFlexible Micro (DigitalOcean) | $500/moPro |
| 50 users | $14/moFlexible Micro (DigitalOcean) | $1,000/moPro |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Cloudways
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $14/mo vs $200/mo
- Higher Cost score (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Support score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for agencies (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Includes Managed WordPress, which Vercel lacks
Why choose Vercel
- Has a free plan (Cloudways does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (9/10 vs 8/10)
- Higher Integration score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for developers (9/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
Cloudways
Pros
- You can choose from five cloud providers and more than 50 locations from one control panel.
- Hourly pay-as-you-go billing, with a 5-day trial that needs no credit card.
- Every server includes free SSL, Layer 3 and 4 DDoS mitigation, a firewall and offsite backups.
- Agencies get one-click staging, cloning and Git auto-deployment for many client sites.
- Ratings are strong, at about 4.7 on G2 and 4.6 on Trustpilot.
Cons
- Email hosting and domain registration are not included.
- Billing gets hard to track once add-ons and bandwidth overages are added, and some reviewers report charges after cancelling.
- Some reviewers say support quality has dropped since the DigitalOcean acquisition.
- Power users report limited low-level control.
- Phone support requires a paid premium support add-on.
Vercel
Pros
- Every pull request automatically gets its own preview URL, which reviewers rate as the most polished preview workflow available.
- New Next.js features work on Vercel from launch day, because Vercel maintains the framework.
- Automatic DDoS mitigation and a basic firewall are included on every plan, including the free one.
- The compliance list is strong: ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2, PCI DSS, TISAX Level 2, and HIPAA on Enterprise.
- Pro includes unlimited viewer seats, so non-developers can review work without paying for a seat.
Cons
- There is no hard spending cap, only alerts, so traffic spikes or bot crawls can produce large overage bills.
- Each developer costs $20 per month on Pro, which makes larger teams expensive.
- Next.js features such as ISR, image optimization and middleware create lock-in that makes migrating away costly.
- It is not a full backend: databases come from marketplace partners rather than Vercel itself.
- The jump from Pro to Enterprise is steep, and user reports complain of slow support on billing issues.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Cloudways scores higher on our Hosting & Infrastructure criteria: 7/10 against 6.9/10 for Vercel. The largest gap is in Cost: 6/10 for Cloudways and 4/10 for Vercel.
Cloudways costs less for 10 users: about $14/mo on its Flexible Micro (DigitalOcean) plan, against about $200/mo on its Pro plan for Vercel, billed monthly.
Vercel has a free plan; Cloudways does not list one.
Vercel is the better fit for developers: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 6/10 for Cloudways.
Cloudways has Managed WordPress and VPS Hosting, which Vercel lacks.
