Cloudways is ideal for managing a high number of visitors or multiple WordPress sites. It offers tailored services through various server providers and pricing plans. In South Korea, choosing the Vultr server allows you to access the Seoul server region.
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If you're in the early stages of blogging or have low visitor traffic, options like FastComet or ChemiCloud could be suitable choices. FastComet offers a Tokyo server while ChemiCloud supports a Seoul server, providing faster speeds in Korea. (Bluehost, using a U.S. server, often faces complaints about slow performance in Asia, including Korea.)
For those with limited visitor numbers, operating multiple sites is manageable with FastComet or ChemiCloud. These hosts deliver excellent value for money.
Overview of Cloudways Monthly WordPress Usage Fees
A question regarding the monthly fee for Cloudways was raised on Naver Knowledge In, prompting a summary of Cloudways pricing.
The first point to understand is that Cloudways operates on a pay-as-you-go model, charging you for what you use.
- Pay-as-you-go model (Payment due around the 10th of the following month)
- Usage-based billing. For example, if you use a server for a day and then delete it, you'll be charged for one day's usage (approximately 1/30 of the monthly fee) around the 10th of the next month.
- Costs are incurred based on the number of servers. You can add multiple applications (WordPress) to one server.
- Excess traffic incurs additional charges.
- Using addons may incur separate fees.
- Offsite backups may cost more than $0.5, depending on storage size.
This blog is currently hosted on Cloudways. I have 10 applications running, utilizing the Vultr High Frequency 4GB RAM server in the Seoul region. The usage fee details from last month are as follows:
Looking closely...
- Vultr Server
- 4GB RAM Server: $60 per month
- Additional Vultr server: $0.1 - Created a test server for malware recovery of a client's site: $0.1 (deleted after brief use)
- Offsite Backup: $2.5 (Backup size 66GB)
- Addons
- Rackspace Email: $1 (Email account)
- Elastic Email: SMTP service for email sending - $0.1
- DNS Made Easy: $0.5 (Activated temporarily for testing. $0.5 per domain). This addon is not necessary to activate.
The server's base cost is $60.1, with additional charges of around $4. Only activating the Elastic Email addon seems sufficient (minimum $0.1 per month). Offsite backup fees depend on the backup size, with a starting cost of $0.5.
Monthly Fees by Server Provider
Cloudways allows you to choose servers from various providers such as DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, and Google Cloud Platform.
In South Korea, selecting the Vultr Seoul region is a safe bet, while DigitalOcean is a cost-effective choice if you wish to save money.
The server size is determined based on traffic and visitor numbers.
The following displays the pricing plans for DigitalOcean servers (as of December 28, 2024).
| RAM | Storage | Monthly Fee (Standard) | Monthly Fee (Premium) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB | 25GB | $11 | $14 |
| 2GB | 50GB | $24 | $28 |
| 4GB | 80GB | $46 | $54 |
| 8GB | 160GB | $88 | $99 |
| 16GB | 320GB | $149 | $170 |
| 32GB | 640GB | $240 | $279 |
| 48GB | 960GB | $342 | $388 |
| 64GB | 1280GB | $421 | $487 |
DigitalOcean servers support regions like Singapore and Sydney for Asia, and they can accommodate servers with RAM sizes of up to 192GB.
Next, here’s the pricing structure for Vultr servers.
| RAM | Storage | Monthly Fee (Standard) | Monthly Fee (High F.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB | 25GB | $14 | $16 |
| 2GB | 55GB | $28 | $30 |
| 4GB | 80GB | $54 | $60 |
| 8GB | 160GB | $99 | $118 |
| 16GB | 320GB | $150 | $173 |
| 32GB | 640GB | $234 | $270 |
| 48GB | 768GB | - | $334 |
| 64GB | 1280GB | $400 | - |
| 96GB | 1600GB | $764 | - |
Vultr offers server regions throughout Asia including Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Melbourne, Sydney, and Tel Aviv.
Here’s the pricing plan for Linode servers.
| RAM | Storage | Monthly Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 1GB | 25GB | $14 |
| 2GB | 50GB | $28 |
| 4GB | 80GB | $59 |
| 8GB | 160GB | $105 |
| 16GB | 320GB | $176 |
| 32GB | 640GB | $260 |
| 64GB | 1280GB | $489 |
Linode supports servers with RAM sizes up to 192GB and offers server options in various Asian regions such as Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Mumbai, Jakarta, Chennai, and Sydney.
For those looking to reduce traffic, integrating with Cloudflare can be beneficial. This is particularly effective against DDoS attack concerns. I experienced continuous DDoS attacks from August to September. By upgrading my server size to 4GB RAM and connecting with Cloudflare, I was able to defend against DDoS attacks while also reducing traffic by about a third during normal operations.
If you’re seeking budget-friendly and high-speed hosting (for sites with limited traffic), ChemiCloud could be an excellent choice. Unlike Cafe24, Korea's largest web hosting provider, which requires separate hosting products for each site, both Cloudways and ChemiCloud allow you to manage multiple sites under a single server or product.