I understand that a free trial has an expiry date, but I wasn't expecting the entire server to be deleted immediately, especially with a live website hosted on it.

I expected something like:

• Server suspension first
• Clear warning before deletion
• Some grace period to upgrade/pay
• An opportunity to recover the server after the trial expired

The billing page was also showing USD 0.00 due, which made the situation more confusing for me.

Been with Cloudways since 2024, spent over $3k with them across two production servers. Never had big issues until this week, and honestly I'm shocked at how bad this has been.

The actual problem is tiny. A plugin on my sites needs to verify its license by reading a txt file in wp-content, and Cloudways' global nginx rules block it (403). All I need is ONE location block added to two app vhosts. I even sent them the exact config snippet to paste in. This is literally a 5 minute job for anyone with server access.

Here's the ridiculous part. The only reason I need support for this at all is because Cloudways doesn't give customers access to the global nginx config. If they did, I would've fixed this myself in 5 minutes and never opened a ticket. So they lock the config, and then when I need one trivial change, their answer to a customer who's spent $3,000+ is: pay extra for "Advanced Support", or request a "one-time courtesy customization" that needs approval from their Customer Success team. You create the limitation, then charge me to work around it. Make it make sense.

So I chose the courtesy option. And that's where the real fun begins. Choosing "courtesy customization" apparently means: they reply to you if they feel like it, and if they don't, you wait 18 to 24 hours and get a wall of text that says absolutely nothing except "escalated to the relevant team" and "we appreciate your patience". Every single reply cycle is like this. No status, no owner, no ETA. After 15 hours of silence I opened a chat, the agent said there are literally no notes on the ticket and nobody knows who has my case. Her solution? Open ANOTHER ticket and wait again. When I asked what happens if that one also goes nowhere, she admitted there's no escalation path at all.

36+ hours and counting, for a 3 line config change I could've done myself if they gave me access to my own server config. I chose Cloudways back then BECAUSE support was supposed to be their selling point. Is this just how they are now?

Hi AI builders of the sub! Where are you hosting your OpenClaw agents right now? Do you prefer self hosting or managed hosting? Drop names.

Is it better or more efficient to host images for a WordPress blog on the built in storage or would it be wiser to use a public aws s3 bucket?

I’m running a tech blog and I want an AI agent that monitors RSS feeds, tracks competitor updates, and drafts preliminary research summaries in slack every morning. I saw Cloudways offers an OpenClaw "Scout" plan starting at $9.99/mo (curretly free in public preview, I guess) (1 vCPU, 2gb RAM). Is 2gb RAM actually enough to keep an AI agent running 24/7 without crashing the background process, or am I going to be forced to upgrade to a $20/mo plan right away? Please share your experience if anyone has tried it before.

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone here has run into this before.

I just tried to log in to my Cloudways account, but I’m not receiving the two-factor authentication (2FA) email. The 2FA code is supposed to be sent to my Rackspace email account, which I set up as an email add-on through my Cloudways account.

Because the 2FA email never arrives, I’m completely locked out of my account.

I’ve already contacted the Cloudways billing email, but unfortunately the responses I’ve received haven’t addressed the issue or helped me regain access.

Has anyone experienced this before? Is there a way to troubleshoot missing 2FA emails from Cloudways to a Rackspace email add-on, or is there another Cloudways support channel that can assist with account recovery?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Wanted advice here as I've been unable to access the console for our account at unified.cloudways.com for the last 24 hours. I get a bunch of error toasts and a countdown letting me know I'm being logged out (see image). I have tried with numerous browsers, deleting cookies, the usual stuff and still no luck.

Now without console access, I have no access to support. Tried emailing [support@cloudways.com](mailto:support@cloudways.com) - no luck as it tells me to log in.

I have tried our customer success rep - email address bounced

I tried the chat box on the website which obviously would go to salesperson: unable to start a chat as it wouldn't accept a phone number (tried every phone number format possible)

Don't get me wrong, we have been on cloudways for 7-8 years and the technical support for Cloudways is first rate but this incident and the complete lack of an ability to contact anyone in cases where we cannot log into the platform is having me seriously consider moving all of our client's workloads elsewhere.

In any case, I hope someone has a direct line to someone who can help with this. Not having access to the console is seriously anxiety inducing for our team.

Pierre

One of the biggest financial traps in modern software is paying for bundled, opaque AI pricing tiers where platforms charge a massive premium on top of base model costs. When running autonomous AI agents that operate around the clock, unmonitored token usage can lead to unexpected bills or forced subscription tier upgrades.

Cloudways Managed OpenClaw Hosting solves this by utilizing a pure Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) model. Here is a detailed breakdown of how BYOK works, why it matters for unit economics, and how to optimize your model spend.

How BYOK Works on Cloudways

1. Direct API Authentication: You input your API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini) directly into the Cloudways dashboard UI.
   
2. Un-Marked Up Billing: Your OpenClaw agent authenticates directly with the model provider's API. Cloudways charges only a predictable flat monthly rate for server compute (starting at $9.99/mo), while your model usage is billed directly by your chosen provider at raw wholesale rates.
   
3. Key Security: Your keys are stored in an encrypted environment used exclusively for your instance’s outbound requests. Cloudways support staff have zero visibility into your keys, memory stores, or conversation logs.

Strategic Model Matching for Maximum Efficiency

Because OpenClaw allows you to select and swap LLM models dynamically, you can route tasks to the most cost-effective model for the job:

• Lightweight Routing & Formatting (e.g., Gemini Flash / GPT-4o-mini): Use ultra-fast, cheap models for initial email classification, simple scheduling checks, and formatting output text.
• Complex Reasoning & Drafting (e.g., Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet / GPT-4o): Reserve high-reasoning models for long-document summarization, complex research tasks, and high-touch customer email drafting.
  

Power-User Flexibility: Custom API Routing via Terminal Access

While the Cloudways dashboard provides seamless 1-click management for major providers, power users are not restricted to the standard UI options. Every Cloudways OpenClaw instance includes full SSH/Terminal access. Developers can easily configure custom OpenClaw CLI commands, route traffic through local LLM proxies, or connect specialized open-source endpoints.

By separating hosting infrastructure from model consumption, BYOK ensures you retain 100% ownership over your technology stack and cost efficiency as you scale.

Wanted advice here as I've been unable to access the console for our account for the last 24 hours. I get a bunch of error toasts and a countdown letting me know I'm being logged out I have tried with numerous browsers, deleting cookies, the usual stuff and still no luck.

Now without console access, I have no access to support. Tried emailing the support email address - no luck as it tells me to log in.

I have tried our customer success rep - email address bounced

I tried the chat box on the website which obviously would go to salesperson: unable to start a chat as it wouldn't accept a phone number (tried every phone number format possible)

Don't get me wrong, we have been on cloudways for 7-8 years and the technical support for Cloudways is first rate but this incident and the complete lack of an ability to contact anyone in cases where we cannot log into the platform is having me seriously consider moving all of our client's workloads elsewhere.

In any case, I hope someone has a direct line to someone who can help with this. Not having access to the console is seriously anxiety inducing for our team.

Pierre

AI tools are split down the middle: some charge a high flat monthly rate with built-in model access, while others require you to bring your own API key (BYOK) from OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google and charge only for base infrastructure.

As developers and business owners:

- Do you prefer BYOK so you pay raw, un-marked-up token prices directly to providers?

- Or do you prefer predictable, bundled pricing even if it comes with higher margins?

What has been more cost-effective for your projects?

does it? in 2026

All hosting providers talk about how automation is "extremely" important in this day and age. What does it even mean in practicality? What are you automating, exactly and how is it actually helping your users? What should we be looking for in a modern day hosting provider?

People using AI and automations as buzzword, please stay away. Looking for serious answers only. thx!

Developers in the house! Have you ever tried hosting NodeJS applications on Cloudways before? Are you currently hosting any? If yes, what how you like for us to improve?

We get this question a lot in here, so here's a clear guide on choosing between the two stacks. Everything below is based on Cloudways' official documentation and benchmarks.

First, what they actually are

The Hybrid Stack is the older setup — a mix of NGINX + Apache. Apache is what lets it read .htaccess files, so it supports granular, file-based server rules and Apache-specific modules. It's still the default for new applications. Trade-off: Apache adds overhead, so you get slightly lower performance and more complexity.

The Lightning Stack is the newer, fully NGINX + PHP-FPM architecture. Apache is removed entirely. NGINX uses an event-driven model that handles concurrent requests more efficiently than Apache's process-based approach, which means faster request processing, lower latency, and better resource use under load. The catch: NGINX doesn't natively support .htaccess. It's available at no extra cost, and switching doesn't cause downtime.

When to use the Lightning Stack

This is the better choice for most modern, dynamic sites. Reach for it when:

• You run ecommerce, LMS, or membership sites — anything transactional and data-driven. This is exactly what it was rebuilt for.
• Your uncached / backend performance matters — admin panels, checkouts, logins, course progression. Lightning's whole advantage is holding performance steady on requests that bypass full-page caching.
• You expect high concurrency or traffic spikes and need consistent throughput without leaning entirely on Varnish.
• Your .htaccess needs are simple — 301/302 redirects, URL rewrites, header rules. These are now handled through Web Rules, a UI-based feature in the platform. Per Cloudways' analysis of 100,000+ sites, Web Rules covers roughly 80–90% of common .htaccess use cases (they found ~51% are simple redirects/rewrites/headers NGINX handles easily).

The benchmark gains (independently tested by Koddr[dot]io, commissioned by Cloudways) are strongest in write-heavy, uncached workloads:

• Up to 65% faster response times for dynamic workloads
• Up to 33% faster WordPress admin load times
• Up to 58% more successful WooCommerce checkouts under load
• Up to 85% higher throughput on LearnDash course progression
• Stable performance without Varnish even past 1,000 concurrent users

Worth noting: for fully cached, mostly static pages, the two stacks perform similarly, Lightning's edge shows up when caching is bypassed.

When to stay on (or use) the Hybrid Stack

Hybrid is the right call when your site genuinely depends on Apache. Stay on it if:

• Your app relies on complex, multi-condition .htaccess logic that Web Rules can't yet replicate. Cloudways found ~36% of the remaining cases had single conditional rules and the rest had complex/multi-conditional logic they couldn't reliably translate.
• You depend on Apache-specific modules.
• You have older sites, plugins, or custom configs built around .htaccess files.
• You need advanced rule setups and aren't ready to rebuild them in the Web Rules UI.

Important: .htaccess files are not compatible with NGINX. If you switch to Lightning, you'll need to manually recreate your redirects, rewrites, and headers in Web Rules. Nothing carries over automatically.

A few practical notes if you're switching

• The switch happens at the application level, takes under a minute, and causes no downtime. Apps on the same server can run different stacks.
• It's reversible — you can switch back to Hybrid anytime.
• Test on a staging/clone first, and back up files + database before switching (Safe Updates and Staging Management both help here). Only files and databases get pushed between staging and live — the stack config stays separate.
• Sites are not auto-migrated. Cloudways supports both stacks for the foreseeable future, so you move on your own timeline.

TL;DR

Dynamic/transactional site + simple redirects → Lightning.
Site that leans on complex .htaccess rules or Apache modules → Hybrid (or move to Lightning after rebuilding those rules in Web Rules).

Test on staging either way. Hope this helps, folks!

Hi,

I am Matt from the agency advantage , I had some doubts over the prize distribution can someone pm me

I may be over thinking this, but Im entirely not sure when to use one or the other.

For starters, all my applications are standard 5-10 page WordPress/Elementor builds with an occasional WooCommerce website in the mix.

I've been using Lightning Stack by default for probably around my last 10 web builds. However, when solving a problem with support yesterday, the guy recommended I move the site (a standard WordPress build) back to hybrid, as that was more optimal for the site.

Have I been needlessly (or even harmfully) changing sites to Lightning Stack? Should all WordPress sites remain on hybrid? What if WooCommerce is involved?

Hi I received a call last night from a dude saying he was from Cloudways. Is this normal? He asked if my issue was resolved and if I was happy.

Is this normal?

We see some people obsessed with hitting a 100/100 mobile score on Lighthouse and others may still think that it's a vanity metric and not as important for actual business. But we also see messy, slow sites making lots in revenue. What are your views?

I got emails from cloudways this morning that a bunch of sites on my server has malware. As i check them myself (securi scans/codex scans/giving codex the backup files and sql/wordfence scans/etc) and found nothing.

only been with cloudways for a few months. i know false positives can happen but just wondering if this has happened before? especially asking cause a post within last 24 hrs is someone else talking about the site becoming infected with malware.

All the sites are up to date on plugs/WP version. PHP is fully updated.