how to test cloudways hosting

How to Test Cloudways Hosting For Free [A Beginner’s Guide]

Cloudways is the most popular cloud hosting service provider for WordPress sites. The process of setting up a website on Cloudways is straightforward and intuitive. This article will demonstrate how you can set up a free WordPress website on Cloudways in just a few minutes.

First, you need to know why you use or test Cloudways hosting.

Is Cloudways Hosting Good?

Cloudways is one type of VPS hosting provider for WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla. They provide a layer of security to your websites without the need to hire a security consultant.

Additionally, Cloudways offers an intuitive interface that makes managing your websites easy. This means that there is no need for technical knowledge to use it. It will also provide the fastest website speed.

Cloudways Hosting

The following are more reasons to choose Cloudways as your Website host:

  • Cloudways offers a free 3-day trial without requiring a credit card. In this way, you can test the features and performance of Cloudways before finally paying.
  • It provides 24/7 customer support via live chat, ticket system, and phone.
  • Cloudways secures all WordPress websites. Its servers are always updated to the latest version for complete security. Furthermore, they provide daily backups of your Website so that you can restore your site in case it gets hacked.
  • Cloudways offers Cloudflare CDN services to your Website so that you can improve the speed and performance of your Website globally.
  • You can use CloudwaysBot, which is an assistant for your Website. The bot will provide you with complete details about the server and plugins in a single click.
  • No additional costs apply to adding unlimited websites to a single server.

What type of site is best for Cloudways?

Cloudways is suitable for all types of sites & businesses. So whether you’re a small or large business, Cloudways has the right plan for you.

It is also a good choice for agencies that want to host multiple WordPress websites on a single server. If you’re looking for an easy-to-use hosting provider with superior features and performance, then Cloudways is your best choice.

Moreover, if you want to improve your existing site performance/speed, it is good for them. Not thus, Cloudways hosting is also suitable for any blogging site. The platform is also good for as WooCommerce hosting as it provides robust features for online stores.

Overall, Cloudways is the right choice for you if you’re looking for WordPress hosting that’s easy to use, provides excellent features, and has excellent performance.

Check out its 3-day free trial plan to see how it works.

Now let’s get started setting up a WordPress site on Cloudways.

How to Setup WordPress on Cloudways?

Your first step is to create a Cloudways account. Just go to Cloudways and click on the signup button. Next, enter your account information and click ‘Start Free.’

Cloudways Signup

To get started, you need to activate your account. You have to activate by sending an email to Cloudways ([email protected]) with the answer to any of the following information:

  • Your Facebook profile/Twitter handle.
  • Your company or personal Website. 
  • Your identity (password-protected file containing a copy of your government-issued photo ID or passport). 
  • Your Contact Number (Mandatory).

Here is an example:

Account activation mail example

Upon receiving your account validation request (it should be the same email), the Cloudways team will review your account and send you an activation link via email. Usually, it takes 1-2 business days, but it could take hours.

Note- For the three days trial, no payment information is required. During your free trial period, if you don’t like it, you can cancel at any time. Likewise, you can upgrade your account to premium if you like its performance, speed, and service. You can contact their support if you need further assistance in this scenario.

Final account activation mail sent by Cloudways

After receiving the account activation email, you will need to activate your account and choose your cloud provider. Currently, Cloudways offers 5 cloud providers, including:

  • DigitalOcen 
  • Linode
  • VULTR
  • AWS
  • Google Cloud

However, choose a cloud provider & server size according to your requirements. The prices of each provider depending on the amount of RAM and storage. You can choose 1 GB RAM (Premium) for $12/month, which includes 1 TB bandwidth and 1 core processor, and 25 GB NVMe disk. It is a good option for starters.

Note- I personally like DigitalOcen, one of Cloudway’s best partners. You can view your monthly pricing status for selected server settings in the same window.

Once you have selected a provider and server size, you must choose the server’s location from the drop-down menu.

Cloud providers of Cloudways Hosting

There is no need to select the WordPress version from the top left corner, as it is automatically selected. You can specify the name of your Manage App, your Server Name, and Your Project (this will help you find the site if you add several websites to one server).

Then, double-check all settings and click ‘Launch Now.’

Cloudways new sever configuration time

Now Cloueways will take a few minutes(around 7-10 minutes) to configure the whole high-speed server for you. When you are done, click on your newly created application.

Then click on ‘WordPress‘ to access your WordPress control in Cloudways.

Cloudways WordPress Application

Now your Website is live.

You can visit your demo site using the URL which you will find under ‘Admin Panel‘(see screenshot below). You can also log in to WordPress admin using your username and password.

Cloudways site configuration

You will find all the information you need about your Website hosting in the ‘Application Management‘ section. So check out all the options and their benefits during the free trial.

Cloudways application management

Note- It’s your time to learn everything about Cloudways hosting. Don’t forget to check the server-level settings. Again, I recommend checking each stage before finalizing anything.

However, if you like Cloudways hosting or think it’s a good fit, you can upgrade your trial account to premium and migrate your Website.

How do I upgrade Cloudways Free Trial to Premium?

You can upgrade your free trial account to a premium account by clicking on the ‘Upgrade My Account‘ link.

Upgrade Cloudways account link

Next, a new tab will be open for adding your billing information. Now provide your billing information and billing details.

Cloudways billing information

Finally, click ‘Authorize.’

Once the verification procedure is completed, your account will be upgraded to unrestricted. You may also change your billing or credit card information using the Cloudways account.

Let’s see how to migrate your WordPress site to Cloudways after successfully upgrading your account.

How to Migrate a WordPress Site to Cloudways?

To move your site to your Cloudways server, you need a premium account(I’ve already shared a guide on how to upgrade your account. Please check above).

However, you can transfer your site to Cloudways yourself, or you can contact their support team, who will assist you in moving your site faster than you can.

The first step in migrating your existing WordPress site from your old hosting provider to Cloudways is to install the Cloudways WordPress Migrator plugin.

Below is the video guide.

In Conclusion

Cloudways is only a cloud-based hosting that offers a free trial before investing in it. All plans are free for 3-day, which gives you the chance to test Cloudways services without spending time.

You can install WordPress with one click and five other applications (Drupal, Magento, OpenCart, PrestaShop, and Joomla), which you can install manually if desired.

Overall, Cloudway’s free trial account is a great way to get started with the service. Also, the account upgrade and website migration process are simple. So don’t hesitate to try Cloudways today.

I hope you found this article helpful. Please let me know in the comment section below if you have any questions.

Author

  • Palash Talukder

    Palash Talukdar is a digital marketer & the founder of WP Basic Pro. He has been building and managing WordPress websites for 5+ years. He loves to write about WordPress, SEO, marketing, productivity, and web performance.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Saeed Khosravi