No add-on shopping list
On Cloudways the CDN, offsite backups and email are separate charges on top of the server. Our plans include caching, CDN, backups every 4 hours and email in the price you signed up at.
Compare · Cloudways
Looking at Cloudways? Managed, without the server admin homework.
Cloudways rents you a cloud VM and a control panel, then leaves the tuning, the CDN and the offsite backups as things you buy or configure. WP Tango gives you a fully tuned LiteSpeed and Redis stack, backups every 4 hours, and US engineers who actually own the server.
In short
WP Tango is a managed WordPress hosting alternative to Cloudways. Plans start at $8/month on 12-month billing, with the renewal price matching the signup price for that term, and every plan includes LiteSpeed Enterprise, Redis object caching, unlimited PHP workers, unmetered visitors, staging, SSH and WP-CLI, backups every 4 hours kept 30 days, and free engineer-led migration from Cloudways, with US engineers in Phoenix, Arizona.
Last updated September 2026
Head to head
WP Tango vs Cloudways
The features that matter, side by side. Based on each host's published plans and pricing as of 2026.
| Feature | WP Tango | Cloudways |
|---|---|---|
Starting price Cloudways entry server is DigitalOcean Standard 1GB, billed month to month with no prepay. | $4/month (12 months) | $11/month |
Renewal price | Same as signup, forever | Same rate, billed hourly |
Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 3-day trial, no refund policy |
Free site migrations | Plugin, plus one manual migration | |
Backups every 4 hours Cloudways offsite backups are a paid add-on billed per GB. | ||
Backup retention | 30 days | Up to 4 weeks, paid |
CDN included Cloudflare Enterprise style CDN is a separate line item on Cloudways. | Paid add-on | |
LiteSpeed + Redis pre-tuned | Nginx/Apache, Redis you configure | |
Staging on every plan | ||
Email hosting | Included | Paid add-on (Rackspace) |
Who patches the server | Our engineers | You pick the upgrades |
Visitor limits | Unmetered | Unmetered, bandwidth charged on AWS/GCP |
Support | US engineers, 24/7 | 24/7 chat, paid premium tiers |
Sourced from Cloudways's public pricing and documentation. Spot a mistake? Let us know.
The Cloudways alternative
The reasons people leave Cloudways for us.
Most of it comes down to honest pricing, real speed, and not having to pay extra for the basics.
Real hardware, not a 1GB cloud VM
The Cloudways entry plan is a 1GB shared-CPU droplet. We run high-frequency AMD Ryzen hardware that boosts over 5 GHz in our own Phoenix facility, so single-threaded PHP work finishes faster.
The stack is already tuned
LiteSpeed Enterprise, Redis object caching and unlimited PHP workers are configured for WordPress before you log in. No Varnish rules to debug, no Breeze versus LiteSpeed Cache decisions.
Someone else owns the server
Cloudways is a panel on a VM you are responsible for sizing and upgrading. If your site slows down on WP Tango, that is our problem to fix, not a scaling ticket you file against yourself.
Backups every 4 hours, kept 30 days
Cloudways charges per GB for offsite backups and runs them on a schedule you set. We snapshot every 4 hours and keep 30 days, included.
Managed WordPress hosting
Plans. Everything included.
Same fast platform, same US engineers, no server work. Pick the size that fits; the renewal price is the signup price.
Accepted payment methods
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No visit caps
No monthly visit number to stay under, and no charge for a busy week.
No bandwidth overage
Bandwidth is unmetered on every plan, so a traffic spike is not a line item.
No renewal price hikes
The rate you sign up at is the rate you renew at, on every term.
No charge for the basics
SSL, staging, migration and backups are included, not sold separately.
Included with Starter
Managed WordPress
Performance and caching
Automatic WordPress core updates
WordPress core updates are applied and checked for you.
Automatic backups and restore
Off-site backups every 4 hours, retained for 30 days, with one-click restore.
Free WordPress migrations
Our engineers move your existing WordPress sites at no extra cost.
Free SSL certificates
HTTPS certificates are installed and renewed automatically for every domain.
SMTP2GO email relay
Send form submissions, password resets and order emails. Includes 2,000 emails per month.
24/7 US-based support
WordPress engineers are available around the clock for hosting support.
LiteSpeed Enterprise page caching
Preconfigured WordPress page caching serves saved pages without rebuilding them for every visit.
Redis object caching
Caches repeated database queries to speed up dynamic and logged-in pages.
Per-site PHP version control
Choose a PHP version for each site and switch it from your hosting panel.
FlyingPress performance plugin
A licensed WordPress optimization plugin, included and configured for your site.
WooCommerce and EDD support
Hosting configured for WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads stores.
WordPress database optimization
Database settings are tuned for WordPress queries and plugin workloads.
Staging and developer tools
Security and protection
Staging environments
Create a separate copy of your live site to test plugins, themes and updates before publishing changes.
SSH and SFTP access
Secure command-line access and file transfers are available on every plan.
WP-CLI
Manage WordPress installations, plugins and maintenance tasks from the command line.
Site collaborators
Give developers, designers and clients their own access rather than sharing your login.
One-click WordPress login
Open wp-admin directly from your hosting panel.
Site and PHP error logs
View errors in your hosting panel to investigate site and plugin issues.
GitHub deployments
Deploy your WordPress code from a GitHub repository.
Site isolation
Each site runs in its own protected environment with isolated files and databases.
Web application firewall
Filters malicious requests and common WordPress attacks before they reach your site.
Malware scanning and protection
Imunify360 scans site files and protects against malicious code.
Brute-force login protection
Repeated failed login attempts are blocked automatically.
Account two-factor authentication
Protect your hosting account with an additional sign-in verification step.
DDoS protection
Network-level filtering helps block traffic floods before they reach your site.
Switching from Cloudways, made simple.
What our migrations team gets asked most often.