Cloudways: Signing Up and Basic Setup

When a small team has to run a WordPress website, performance (speed, security and more) matters as much as server cost. Rather than simply being a cheap host, Cloudways is one of the few WordPress hosts that can start a virtuous cycle of speed, SEO and lower bounce rates from the very beginning.

Building a website with WordPress means choosing a host. I paid for Cloudways hosting myself to see whether it really takes much of the burden off administrators in terms of server cost and management.

1️⃣ Signing up for Cloudways

Some time ago, when I was too busy to manage a server myself, I used Cloudways for a short while, but I was not satisfied back then. Comparing hosts again after a long time to run a test site, I found that Cloudways had been updated a lot in every respect, including the interface.

The WordPress hosts I have used so far usually offered either LiteSpeed servers tailored to cPanel or hosting tailored to their own panel. As I remember it, the old Cloudways also offered only a service optimized for its own platform.

🔲 Choosing WordPress hosting

This time, however, there is the optimized service, a plain WordPress that you set up entirely yourself, and even service options for users who want to start or migrate a WooCommerce store.

Here I start with the ‘optimized WordPress’ service, aimed at users who are just getting started with WordPress.

🔲 Lightning vs. Hybrid stack

The Nginx + Apache server already running on AWS Lightsail works the same way as Cloudways' Hybrid stack, so I chose the Hybrid stack.

Stack  ├─ Lightning stack  │    ├─ Fast, simple Nginx setup  │    ├─ Caching for speed and built-in security  │    └─ Nginx(h2)  │  │  └─ Hybrid stack            ├─ .htaccess support        ├─ Caching for speed and built-in security        └─ Nginx + Apache(h2)

Nginx does not support .htaccess settings, and running a website often calls for .htaccess, which is a reason to choose the Hybrid stack. Details on each stack are on the sign-up page — see the descriptions there.

🔲 Cloud provider

For a new site you can pick DigitalOcean or Linode as the cloud provider, but neither offers a Seoul region for users in Korea. Google Cloud is expensive for a Seoul region and so is AWS, so if you want to start in Korea at an affordable price, a Vultr server is the best choice.

🔲 Cloudways Server Regions

You can scroll through the table below to find a region, but if you are looking for, say, the Seoul region in Korea, type Seoul into the table's search box and you will see that clouds other than Vultr also have a Seoul region.

🔲 Database

For the database, MariaDB is often recommended, and I also use MariaDB, which comes free on my Lightsail server.

🔲 Server Size and Other Options

Hosts that let you freely customize price and performance are actually rare.

Even from a non-English-speaking country such as Korea, you can easily sign up using Chrome's built-in translation.

I already had an account; the video below shows the sign-up based on everything described above.

You can sign up on Cloudways' WordPress sign-up page.

2️⃣ Getting started and setup

🔲 Cloudways dashboard: Home and the left menu

The left menu of the Cloudways dashboard separates products such as Flexible, Autonomous and Velocity. The server and WordPress application you signed up for are managed under [Flexible].

🔲 Getting started: from server setup to adding a domain

After choosing a Vultr Seoul Standard 1GB server and clicking [Launch Now], [Adding Server] appeared in the server list and the server was ready about 13 minutes later. From there you check the application's temporary URL and stack, then add a domain, and you can click through that path in the simulator below.

🔢 FAQ & Recommended Content

☁️ Recommended Cloudways content 21 Posts · 2 Tools

🗂️ Running Cloudways

📂 Getting Started4

📄 What Is Cloudways 📄 Signup and basic setup 📄 Domain connection 📄 SSL setup

📂 Day-to-day10

📋 Server & Application 📄 Admin login 📄 Staging Management 📄 Billing · Pricing 📄 Email · SMTP add-on 📄 MCP · AI Server Management 📄 SFTP and SSH Access 📄 Migration 📄 Backup 📄 Vertical Scaling

📂 Choosing Hosting7

📋 Hosting Comparison Top 7 📄 What is cloud hosting 📄 What is managed hosting 📄 Web Hosting Costs 📄 Cloudways for Small Businesses 📄 Cloudways WooCommerce 📄 Cloudways Alternatives

🧰 Recommended Tools2

🛠️ Whois Domain Lookup 🛠️ Theme Checker · Plugin Detector

▶️ YouTube1

🎬 22가지 메뉴 시뮬레이터 영상

No search results.

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How a management layer is added on top of servers from five cloud providers, and each provider’s smallest plan and hourly billing, were checked on the official pricing pages.

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Cloudways · Signup

Cloudways: Signing Up and Basic Setup

The steps from creating an account to putting WordPress on the first server. Read this when you need a server before looking at the server menus.

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Cloudways · Domain

How to Connect a Domain to Cloudways (DNS and A Record)

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Cloudways · SSL

Cloudways SSL Setup

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Cloudways · Menus

Cloudways Server & Application Settings: 22 Menus in a Simulator and What Each Side Does

The 8 server menus and 14 application menus reproduced in a simulator, with a table comparing which side handles the same job.

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Cloudways · Admin

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Cloudways · Staging

How to Use Cloudways Staging Management (WordPress Staging Site)

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Cloudways · Billing

Cloudways Billing: Vultr Seoul Server Pricing, Hourly Rates & Promo Code

Hourly billing, payment method setup, and the invoice issued on the 1st of each month, checked on screen while creating a 1GB Vultr Seoul server.

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Cloudways · Email

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Cloudways · MCP

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Cloudways · SFTP·SSH

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Cloudways Migration: WordPress Migrator Plugin, Free Migration Request, and DNS Change

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Cloudways · Backup

Cloudways Backup: Server Backup Frequency and Retention, Application Restore and Backup Download

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Cloudways · Scaling

Cloudways Vertical Scaling: Increasing Server RAM and CPU, and Cautions When Scaling Down

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Hosting · Comparison

BEST WordPress Hosting Comparison: Top 7 Hosting Picks for 2026

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Hosting · Cloud

What Is Cloud Hosting? Resource Pools, Auto Scaling, Cloud VPS vs. VPS, Pros and Cons

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Hosting · Managed

What Is Managed WordPress Hosting? What the Host Manages, Managed VPS Differences, Pros and Cons

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Cloudways · Small Business

Cloudways for Small Businesses: One Month on a Vultr Seoul 1GB Server — Costs and What to Manage

I ran WordPress on a Vultr Seoul 1GB server for 184 hours and the estimated bill came to $4.76; the backup, update, and SSL menus to check each month are recreated in a simulator.

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Cloudways · WooCommerce

Cloudways WooCommerce: From Installing a Small Online Store to Excluding Cart and Checkout from Cache

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Cloudways · Alternatives

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YouTube · 영상

클라우드웨이즈 서버 & 애플리케이션 설정 시뮬레이터: 22가지 메뉴 둘러보기 Ver 1.0

클라우드웨이즈 메뉴 22개를 하나씩 눌러 메뉴마다 열리는 화면을 확인합니다. 서버 메뉴부터 애플리케이션별 메뉴 순서입니다.

영상 보기 →

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Whois Domain Lookup · Name Server Check

Check a domain's registration details and expiry date, plus its name servers and DNS records, on one screen. Supports about 1,400 TLDs.

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Tool · Theme · Plugin detection

WordPress Theme Detector · Plugin Checker

Enter a site address and it finds the theme, plugins and hosting. You can see what a site on your server exposes.

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