I compared Cloudways, DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Hetzner for a small SaaS side project. Here's the honest math.
The setup
- 2 GB RAM VPS, 1 vCPU, 50 GB SSD
- WordPress + MySQL, ~500 visitors/day
- Need: automated backups, staging, no server babysitting
Prices (monthly, as of Oct 2026)
| Provider | Raw VPS | Managed (Cloudways) | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean | $12 | $28 | Raw droplet; you handle everything |
| Vultr | $12 | $28 | Raw instance; you handle everything |
| Hetzner | €4.5 (~$5) | N/A | Cheap but EU-only, no managed option |
| Cloudways | — | $14 (DO) / $15 (Vultr) | Same server + backups, staging, security patches |
The catch
Cloudways is just a management layer on top of the same hardware. You pay $2-3/month more than the raw VPS, but you get:
- One-click staging (worth it if you break things)
- Automated backups (DigitalOcean charges $2.40/mo extra)
- Security patches applied automatically
When raw VPS wins
If you know Linux and enjoy server admin: Hetzner at €4.5 is unbeatable. But you handle backups, security, and updates yourself.
When Cloudways wins
If you want to ship code, not manage servers. The $2-3 premium buys you time.
My pick
For a side project: Cloudways on DigitalOcean. The staging environment alone saved me 3 hours last month when a plugin update broke the site.
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