Cloudways vs DreamHost
Both ladders below were read from the vendors’ own pricing pages, in this market, on the dates shown. Nothing is converted: what you see is what each page showed a reader here.
What each one is
Cloudwayssite ↗pricing ↗
Managed cloud hosting that runs your site on infrastructure from providers like DigitalOcean or AWS without you administering the server. Paid plans start at $11/mo (Micro (Standard)); no free plan is published. The ladder we hold runs 8 paid tiers, topping out at $99/mo (Large (Premium)).
DreamHostsite ↗pricing ↗
A hosting company offering shared, VPS and managed WordPress plans. Paid plans start at $2.89/mo (Web Hosting Launch); no free plan is published. The ladder we hold runs 4 paid tiers, topping out at $14.99/mo (DreamPress 1). Its published prices moved on 2026-10-03 — the change log holds the rows.
The two ladders
Cloudwayssite ↗pricing ↗
read 2026-08-27 · USD
| Plan | Price | What the page says |
|---|---|---|
| Micro (Standard) | $11/mo | Unlimited websites. Suitable for personal websites and simple blogs. |
| Small (Standard) | $24/mo | Unlimited websites. Growing businesses and moderate traffic. |
| Medium (Standard) | $46/mo | Unlimited websites. Marked 'Most Popular' on the page. More demanding sites with higher traffic. |
| Large (Standard) | $88/mo | Unlimited websites. E-commerce and resource-intensive applications. |
| Micro (Premium) | $14/mo | Unlimited websites |
| Small (Premium) | $28/mo | Unlimited websites |
| Medium (Premium) | $54/mo | Unlimited websites |
| Large (Premium) | $99/mo | Unlimited websites |
DreamHostsite ↗pricing ↗
read 2026-10-13 · USD
| Plan | Price | What the page says |
|---|---|---|
| Web Hosting Launch | $2.89/mo | Yearly term: 'First year at €2.89 /mo SAVE 75%', 'Auto-renews at €10.99 /mo after 1 year.' Monthly term (read 2026-09-07): 'First 3 months at €4.99 /mo', 'Auto-renews at €11.99 /mo after 3 months.' 25 websites, 40k monthly visits, 25 GB NVMe SSD. |
| DreamPress 1 | $14.99/mo | Yearly term: 'First year at €14.99 /mo SAVE 40%', renews '€19.99 /mo'. Monthly term (read 2026-09-07): 'First 3 months at €19.99 /mo SAVE 20%', renews '€24.99 /mo after 3 months'. Managed WordPress, 1 website, 15 GB. |
| Managed VPS Hosting | $13.75/mo | |
| Stack 4 | $6.99/mo |
Where they differ
- Cheapest way in: DreamHost at $2.89/mo, against Cloudways at $11/mo. That is the entry price in this market on the dates shown, not a judgement about which suits you.
- Free plans: neither publishes one. Any free access here is a trial, which is a deadline.
- How far each ladder goes: Cloudways tops out at $99/mo, DreamHost at $14.99/mo. A deeper ladder is not a worse deal — it is a bill that keeps climbing if you keep growing.
- Recently moved: DreamHost (2026-10-03). A change only counts once a second clean read agrees.
How to choose in this category
- Match the tier to the sites and storage you actually use — the levels here divide on resources, not features.
- Introductory terms in this set run one to four years; a lower monthly figure often buys a longer lock-in.
- Every row links the host’s own pricing page. Open it and read the renewal line before you commit to a term.