CloudStick · vs · Cloudways

The best
alternative to
cloudways.

Own your server. Pay your cloud provider directly. No per-app fees, no infrastructure markup, no bandwidth surprises — everything Cloudways does, at a fraction of the price.

No per-app fees · unlimited websites from $9
You own the server · connect any VPS or bare-metal
No infrastructure markup · pay providers directly
CLOUDSTICK · LIVE
COST COMPARISON
MONTHLY COST — 3 SITES · 2 GB RAM SERVER
CloudStick + Hetzner VPS$9 plan + $3 VPS
$12/mo
Cloudways (3 apps)Infrastructure + per-app markup
$59/mo
5×
Cheaper
99.99%
Uptime
< 2 min
Setup

Where CloudStick
pulls ahead.

A side-by-side on the things teams switch for. Full grouped comparison below.

CAPABILITY
CLOUDSTICK
CLOUDWAYS
You own the server
Yes — any VPS or bare-metal
No — Cloudways owns it
Infrastructure markup
None — pay provider directly
Yes — added on top of cloud cost
Per-app / per-site fee
None — unlimited apps
Yes — billed per application
Starting price
$9 / mo
$14 / mo (1 app, 1 GB RAM)
White-label panel
Business plan
Visual database manager
phpMyAdmin only
SSH terminal in dashboard
Pro plan+
Firewall management

The fine print,
printed plainly.

No asterisks. No "contact sales". Every capability, side-by-side.

/01Infrastructure & Ownership
CLOUDSTICK
CLOUDWAYS
Server ownership
Yours — full root access
Cloudways — you rent from them
Cloud providers supported
Any (AWS, DO, Vultr, Hetzner, GCP…)
AWS, GCP, DO, Linode, Vultr only
Infrastructure markup
None
Yes — on all plans
Bandwidth overage charges
None
Yes — charged separately
Bring your own server
Multiple PHP versions
/02Apps & Websites
CLOUDSTICK
CLOUDWAYS
Websites / apps per server
Unlimited
Billed per application
Per-app fee
None
Yes — each app adds to bill
One-click WordPress install
Git deployment
CronJob manager
Supervisord / queue jobs
Manual SSH only
Clone / staging sites
/03Security & Reliability
CLOUDSTICK
CLOUDWAYS
Server firewall management
Free SSL
Wildcard SSL
Pro plan+
SSH key management
Automated security updates
Free backup storage
Up to 40 GB
Paid add-on
/04Team & Support
CLOUDSTICK
CLOUDWAYS
Team / collaborator seats
Up to 10
3 (lower plans)
24/7 live chat
Business hours (lower plans)
White-label panel
Business plan
Free migration assist
Priority support
Business plan
Premium add-on ($100+/mo)
Dedicated account manager
Business plan
Enterprise only

Pricing at a glance.

CLOUDSTICK
CLOUDWAYS
Starting price
$9 / mo
$14 / mo (1 app, 1 GB)
Unlimited websites
All paid plans
No — charged per app
Infrastructure markup
None
Yes on all plans
Bandwidth fees
None
Yes — overage charged
Free trial
10-day · no card
3-day trial
White-label panel
Business plan
Included backup storage
Up to 40 GB
Paid add-on

When the bill doubled
without a warning email.

Transparent pricing. No bandwidth surprises. No per-app shock.

CLOUDSTICK
FLAT PRICING · ALWAYS
Server plan$9 / mo
Websites hostedUnlimited
Bandwidth overages$0
Extra app fees$0
Total this month$9.00
CLOUDWAYS
SURPRISE INVOICE
Base server$14 / mo
3 extra apps (×$4)+$12
Bandwidth overage+$18
Premium support add-on+$29
Total this month$73.00
38,400
Servers managed
across 47 countries
99.99%
Uptime SLA
tracked and guaranteed
5×
Cost savings vs Cloudways
typical 3-site comparison
< 9 min
Median support reply
including nights and weekends
“
We were on Cloudways paying $190 a month for 12 sites. Moved everything to CloudStick in a weekend — now it's $21 total. Same performance, way more control.
James WhitfieldFounder · Pixel&Grove Agency

Switch in minutes,
not days.

Our migration team handles the whole move — DNS, SSL, databases, files, config. You watch the timeline. We do the work.

Start Migration Free
MIGRATION TIMELINE
0:00Connect your VPS
Any provider — DigitalOcean, Vultr, AWS, Hetzner…
0:03CloudStick agent installs
Automated — server hardened, Nginx configured
0:28Import sites & databases
From Cloudways backup or direct SSH transfer
1:05SSL provisioned
Let's Encrypt wildcard, auto-renewing
1:50DNS cut-over ready
One-click propagation check, zero downtime

Questions you
might ask.

Anything else? Chat with the team — we reply in under 9 minutes.

Ready to stop
paying the markup?

10-day free trial. No credit card. No lock-in. Cancel without phoning a human.

Start Free →Talk to an Expert
Get started today
Ready to launch your server? Start for free. No credit card required. Setup takes less than 3 minutes.
Deploy Your ServerBook a Demo