Render vs Cloudways(2026)
Render is better for teams that need simple pricing. Cloudways is the stronger choice if freedom to pick underlying cloud provider. Render is freemium (from $7/month) and Cloudways is paid (from $14/month).
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
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Render
Render is a unified cloud to build and run all your apps and websites with free TLS certificates, global CDN, and auto deploys from Git.
Starting at $7/month
Visit RenderCloudways
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that runs on top of AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Linode, and Vultr — abstracting server management while giving you cloud flexibility.
Starting at $14/month
Visit CloudwaysHow Do Render and Cloudways Compare on Features?
| Feature | Render | Cloudways |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | paid |
| Starting price | $7/month | $14/month |
| Auto-deploys from Git | ✓ | — |
| Free TLS | ✓ | — |
| PostgreSQL managed DB | ✓ | — |
| Background workers | ✓ | — |
| Cron jobs | ✓ | — |
| Multi-cloud (AWS, GCE, DO, Linode, Vultr) | — | ✓ |
| One-click app installs | — | ✓ |
| Managed security and patching | — | ✓ |
| PHP/Node/Laravel/WordPress support | — | ✓ |
| Team collaboration | — | ✓ |
| Performance monitoring | — | ✓ |
Render Pros and Cons vs Cloudways
Render
Cloudways
Should You Use Render or Cloudways?
Choose Render if…
- •Simple pricing
- •Managed PostgreSQL included
- •No cold starts on paid tier
Choose Cloudways if…
- •Freedom to pick underlying cloud provider
- •Significantly cheaper than managed alternatives
- •No server management headaches