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Spec sheet · Web analytics

Cloudways

By the editors of Analytics1.comLast reviewed 19 October 2026

The short answer

Managed cloud hosting on public cloud servers, a practical home for self-hosted analytics.

On this page 4 sections
  1. Spec sheet
  2. What Cloudways does
  3. Who it fits
  4. Alternatives

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Spec sheet

REF CLOUDWAYS
Category
Web and product analytics
Offers
Managed servers on public clouds such as DigitalOcean
Managed
Server set-up, security patching, backups
Billing
Hourly, by server size
Free plan or trial
3-day free trial, no credit card
Starting price
Flexible plan on DigitalOcean (2GB RAM) from $11 per month, billed hourlyAs of October 2026, from Cloudways’s pricing page. Prices change; check before buying.
Visit cloudways.com

What Cloudways does

Cloudways runs managed servers on public cloud providers such as DigitalOcean, with the server set-up, security patching and backups handled for you. Plans are billed hourly by server size.

It is relevant here for one reason: self-hosting an open-source analytics tool such as Matomo keeps visitor data on a server you control, and a managed host removes much of the server administration that makes self-hosting hard. You still own updates to the analytics software itself.

A good fit for

  • Teams self-hosting Matomo or another PHP-based analytics tool.
  • Agencies hosting analytics for several clients on their own servers.

Probably not for

  • Anyone happy with a hosted analytics service; self-hosting adds work.
  • Tools that need containers rather than a PHP stack; check compatibility first.

Alternatives

Where we discuss Cloudways

This spec sheet is based on Cloudways’s own published materials, read on 18 October 2026. We have not run the product in a live account, and features change; confirm anything important with the vendor. Cloudways is a trademark of its owner; its mention here does not imply endorsement. See our editorial policy.