Disclosure: we may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. It never changes our verdict. How we review
- Cloudflare Enterprise included
- Daily backups, kept 30 days
- 30-day money-back
- Host many sites on one server
- Pick from 5 cloud providers
- 5-day free trial
Pick Rocket.net if you run one to three business-critical WordPress sites and want speed and security handled for one flat price: Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, a firewall, malware cleanup and 30 days of backups are all included from $30 a month. Pick Cloudways if you want the lowest monthly bill, host several sites or run non-WordPress apps: a server starts at $14 a month and holds as many sites as it can handle, but CDN, malware protection, backups and email are paid add-ons.
Both are common next steps after outgrowing shared hosting, and both bill the same price every month with no renewal jump. They are built very differently, though. Rocket.net is fully managed WordPress hosting with everything bundled. Cloudways rents you a cloud server and manages it, and you build up the extras you need. That difference decides which one costs less for you.
Shopping during Black Friday? Hosting prices drop this month. Our Black Friday hosting deals page tracks the sales we have checked and what each one costs over three years.
Rocket.net vs Cloudways at a glance
| Rocket.net | Cloudways | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Managed WordPress | Managed cloud server |
| Starting price | $30/mo ($1 first month) | $14/mo |
| Sites on entry plan | 1 | Unlimited (limited by server size) |
| Visitors | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Storage on entry plan | 10 GB | 25 GB NVMe |
| CDN | Cloudflare Enterprise, included | Cloudflare Enterprise from $4.99 per domain a month |
| Malware protection | Included | From $4 per app a month |
| Backups | Daily, kept 30 days, included | Included, storage $0.033 per GB |
| Not offered | Rackspace, $1.50 per mailbox a month | |
| Runs | WordPress only | WordPress, WooCommerce and PHP apps |
| Data centers | 10 locations (US, Europe, Asia) | 50+ locations across 5 cloud providers |
| Billing | Monthly or yearly (2 months free) | Hourly, invoiced monthly |
| Trial or refund | 30-day money-back guarantee | 5-day free trial, no money-back guarantee |
| Owned by | Hosting.com (since 2025) | DigitalOcean |
Plans and pricing
Rocket.net prices by the number of WordPress installs. Starter is $30 a month for one site with 10 GB of storage and 50 GB of bandwidth. Pro is $60 for three sites, Business $100 for ten and Expert $200 for 25. Every plan’s first month is $1, paying yearly gets you two months free, and Rocket.net says it never raises prices at renewal. Go over your storage or bandwidth and you pay $2 per GB of disk or $0.08 per GB of bandwidth, or move up a plan.
Cloudways prices by server size. On its default DigitalOcean servers, 1 GB of memory is $14 a month, 2 GB is $28, 4 GB is $54 and 8 GB is $99. You can put as many sites on a server as it can handle, and you are billed by the hour, so there is no contract and you can resize any time.
Prices in US dollars, checked on both companies’ pricing pages in November 2026.
What you’ll really pay
The sticker prices mislead in both directions, because Rocket.net bundles what Cloudways sells separately. Here is roughly what three common setups cost once you match the features:
| Setup | Rocket.net | Cloudways |
|---|---|---|
| 1 site, bare hosting | $30 (Starter) | About $14.50 (1 GB server + backups) |
| 1 site with enterprise CDN and malware protection | $30 (all included) | About $23.50 ($14 + $4.99 CDN + $4 malware + backups) |
| 5 sites with CDN and malware protection | $100 (Business, 10 sites) | About $73 ($28 server + 5 × $8.99 add-ons) |
| 5 small sites, no add-ons | $100 (Business) | About $28.50 (2 GB server + backups) |
Cloudways is cheaper in every case on paper, and by a wide margin if you host several small sites and skip the add-ons. Rocket.net closes much of the gap for a single site once you want a CDN and malware protection, and annual billing drops its Starter plan to the equivalent of $25 a month. Email is extra either way: Rocket.net doesn’t offer it, so budget for Zoho Mail or Google Workspace.
Speed and security
Rocket.net’s whole pitch is speed. Every site runs behind Cloudflare Enterprise, which caches pages in more than 300 locations worldwide, so visitors far from your server still load pages quickly. The same network gives you an enterprise web application firewall, and Rocket.net adds malware scanning and removal, automatic updates and activity logging. You do not configure any of it.
Cloudways gives you dedicated server resources, NVMe storage and its own caching stack, plus Redis and Object Cache Pro, which helps busy WooCommerce stores. Its server firewall and free SSL are included. To match Rocket.net’s edge network and malware tools you add Cloudflare Enterprise and the malware add-on per site. With those in place the two are close; without them, Rocket.net will usually be faster for visitors spread around the world.
Ease of use and support
Rocket.net is the simpler of the two. You add a WordPress site and it is ready, with one-click staging, SSH and unlimited free migrations. It also includes WP Rocket and WP Umbrella at no extra cost. Support is 24/7 by live chat and tickets, staffed by WordPress specialists, on every plan.
Cloudways asks you to make a few more decisions: pick a cloud provider and server size, add your applications, then point your domain and set up SSL and email yourself. It is not hard if you are comfortable with WordPress, and you get staging, SSH, Git and a free first migration. Support is 24/7 by chat and tickets, but hands-on help with plugins and performance costs $100 a month extra.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Rocket.net if you…
Rocket.net- run one to three WordPress sites that earn money
- want CDN, firewall and malware cleanup included
- would rather not touch server settings
- want 30 days to get a refund
- have visitors in many countries
Choose Cloudways if you…
Cloudways- want the lowest monthly bill
- host many small sites on one server
- run PHP apps other than WordPress
- want to pick your cloud provider and region
- like paying by the hour with no contract
Still deciding whether you need either? Our managed vs shared hosting guide explains when the upgrade is worth it, and best ecommerce hosting compares both with Shopify and WooCommerce hosts.
Frequently asked questions
Is Rocket.net faster than Cloudways?
For most sites, yes out of the box, because every Rocket.net site is served through Cloudflare Enterprise’s global network. Cloudways can get close if you add its Cloudflare Enterprise add-on and size the server properly.
Is Cloudways cheaper than Rocket.net?
Yes, on monthly price. A Cloudways server starts at $14 against Rocket.net’s $30, and one server can host several sites. Once you add the CDN, malware protection and backups that Rocket.net includes, the gap for a single site shrinks to about $6 to $7 a month.
Does either include email?
Rocket.net does not offer email. Cloudways sells Rackspace mailboxes for $1.50 each a month. Many people use a separate service like Zoho Mail or Google Workspace with either host.
Can I try them before paying?
Cloudways has a 5-day free trial with no credit card. Rocket.net charges $1 for the first month and has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Which is better for WooCommerce?
Both handle WooCommerce well. Cloudways gives a busy store more server memory for the money and includes Object Cache Pro on 4 GB servers and up. Rocket.net is the easier choice if you want security and CDN handled without add-ons.
Rocket.net is the better pick for a business that runs one or a few important WordPress sites and wants speed and security done for it at one predictable price. Cloudways is the better value if you host several sites, want the lowest bill or need more than WordPress, as long as you’re happy to add the extras yourself.
Leave A Comment