VPS and app hosting · head to head
Cloudways vs Elestio
What each costs, whether there's a free plan, and what each is best for, from prices checked on their own sites.
| Fact |  Cloudways |  Elestio |
|---|---|---|
| From | $11/mo | $11/mo |
| Free plan | Yes · 3-day free trial, no card | Yes · 3-day trial with $20 credit |
| Best for | Managed hosting on top of DigitalOcean, AWS and Google Cloud servers. | Fully managed hosting for open-source apps such as n8n, Ollama and Open WebUI. |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
| Website | Visit | Visit |
The difference in short
- Both start at $11/mo.
- Both have a free plan, trial or credit to start with.
Cloudways pricing
All about Cloudways| Plan | Price | Specs / includes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean Standard (SSD) 1 GB - Micro | $11/mo | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GB SSD | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0164/hr), billed monthly in arrears; prices exclude taxes. Provider = DigitalOcean, server type Basic, Standard toggle. |
| DigitalOcean Standard (SSD) 2 GB - Small | $24/mo | 1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 50 GB SSD | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0357/hr), billed monthly in arrears; excl. taxes |
| DigitalOcean Standard (SSD) 4 GB - Medium | $46/mo | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 80 GB SSD | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0685/hr), billed monthly in arrears; excl. taxes. Labelled 'Most popular'. 8 GB / 4 vCPU / 160 GB is $88/mo. |
| DigitalOcean Premium (NVMe) 1 GB - Micro | $14/mo | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GB NVMe | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0208/hr), billed monthly in arrears; excl. taxes. This Premium (NVMe) view is the page default. |
| DigitalOcean Premium (NVMe) 2 GB - Small | $28/mo | 1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 50 GB NVMe | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0417/hr), billed monthly in arrears; excl. taxes |
| DigitalOcean Premium (NVMe) 4 GB - Medium | $54/mo | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 80 GB NVMe | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0804/hr), billed monthly in arrears; excl. taxes. 8 GB / 4 vCPU / 160 GB NVMe is $99/mo. |
Elestio pricing
All about Elestio| Plan | Price | Specs / includes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linode 'Micro' (cheapest shown) | $11/mo | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GB SSD | hourly billing ($0.015/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours. Matches the page headline 'Plans start at $11/month'. Region not captured. |
| Vultr 'Micro' (Frankfurt) | $12/mo | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GB NVMe | hourly billing ($0.016/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours |
| DigitalOcean 'Micro' (Frankfurt) | $13/mo | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GB NVMe | hourly billing ($0.018/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours |
| Netcup 'Medium' (Nuremberg) | $16/mo | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 60 GB SSD | hourly billing ($0.022/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours. Page default selection. |
| Hetzner 'MediumARM' (Falkenstein) | $18/mo | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 40 GB NVMe | hourly billing ($0.025/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours. Arm. Hetzner Xlarge x86 (4 vCPU / 16 GB) is $223/mo. |
| AWS Lightsail 'Small' (Frankfurt) | $24/mo | 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 60 GB SSD | hourly billing ($0.033/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours. Scaleway 'Small' (2 vCPU / 2 GB / 20 GB) is $26/mo. |
Other VPS and app hosting options
Cheapest first where the prices compare.
Fly.io
Vultr
Hostinger
UpCloudFAQ
Which is cheaper, Cloudways or Elestio?
Both start at $11/mo. Prices checked Oct 17, 2026 on each company's own site.
Do Cloudways and Elestio have a free plan?
Cloudways: Yes. 3-day free trial, no card. Elestio: Yes. 3-day trial with $20 credit.
What else should I compare with Cloudways and Elestio?
Other VPS and app hosting options we've checked: Fly.io ($2.19/mo), Vultr ($2.50/mo), Hostinger ($2.99/mo), UpCloud ($3.50/mo).
Keep comparing
Built from the prices and facts we checked on each company's own site. We haven't tested either hands-on.How we work