Kinsta vs Cloudways (2026)
Pricing, features and who each one is for, checked against both vendors' pricing pages in November 2026.
Quick verdict: Both are hosting & deploy, so this is a direct choice. Cloudways is cheaper to start (from $11/mo). Pick Kinsta for hosting for AI-built apps and sites, teams. Pick Cloudways for hosting for AI-built apps and sites, cheap and free AI coding tools.
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Side by side
| Kinsta | Cloudways | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Managed WordPress hosting | Managed cloud hosting |
| Made by | Kinsta | DigitalOcean |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Starts at | From $30/mo | From $11/mo |
| Plans | Single 20GB from $35/mo ($30/mo annual), first month free on select plans; multi-site WP plans from $70/mo; Agency from $340/mo; Enterprise from $500/mo | Flexible from $11/mo (DigitalOcean 2GB); Velocity Node.js from $20/mo; Autonomous WordPress from $99/mo; AI agent hosting from $9.99/mo; 5-day free trial, no card |
| Open source | No | No |
| Runs in | Web | Web |
Kinsta strengths
- Free unlimited migrations
- 24/7 human support
- First month free plus 30-day money-back guarantee
Cloudways strengths
- Pick your cloud provider
- Unlimited apps per server
- Free trial without a credit card
Kinsta drawbacks
- WordPress only (apps go to Sevalla)
- Pricier than self-managed cloud
Cloudways drawbacks
- More server choices to make
- Add-ons like advanced support cost extra