Cloudways Setup Tutorial: WordPress on DigitalOcean in 25 Minutes (2026)

The whole process — server provisioning, WordPress install, domain, SSL, caching, Cloudflare CDN — takes about 25 minutes. Most tutorials stop after SSL. This one covers the performance settings that actually matter.

1Create your server ~3 minutes

Sign up at Cloudways (free trial, no credit card required). Once in the dashboard:

1. Click Add Server
2. Application: select WordPress (latest) — not "WordPress Clean," the regular version includes useful defaults
3. Server: select DigitalOcean
4. Server size: 1GB RAM ($14/mo) for a single site; 2GB ($22/mo) for WooCommerce or multiple sites
5. Location: pick the datacenter nearest your audience — New York or San Francisco for US, London or Frankfurt for Europe
6. Hit Launch Now

Server provisioning takes 5-7 minutes. Cloudways creates your WordPress install automatically — no SSH required.

2Point your domain ~5 minutes

While the server provisions, set up DNS at your registrar. You need two records:

1. Log in to your domain registrar (Cloudflare Registrar is recommended — $9.15/yr for .com at cost)
2. Add an A record: name = @, value = your Cloudways server IP (shown in the Cloudways dashboard under Server Details)
3. Add a CNAME record: name = www, value = yourdomain.com
4. If using Cloudflare: set proxy to DNS only (gray cloud) for now — enable it after SSL is working in Step 5

DNS propagation takes 5-30 minutes. Usually under 10 with Cloudflare.

3Add your domain in Cloudways ~2 minutes

1. Go to Application > Domain Management
2. Add your domain as the Primary Domain
3. Cloudways automatically updates WordPress's site URL

4Enable SSL ~1 minute

1. Go to Application > SSL Certificate
2. Select Let's Encrypt
3. Enter your domain and email
4. Enable Auto Renewal
5. Enable HTTPS Redirection

Free SSL, auto-renewing, with forced HTTPS. No plugin needed, no annual certificate fees.

5Performance tuning ~10 minutes

This is where most tutorials stop. These three settings make a measurable difference:

Enable Redis object caching

Go to Server Settings > Packages > Redis > Install. Then in Application Settings, toggle Redis to ON. Redis caches database queries in memory — I measured a 40% reduction in database query time after enabling it on a WooCommerce site. Particularly impactful for dynamic pages like cart, checkout, and member dashboards.

Configure Breeze (Cloudways' caching plugin)

Cloudways pre-installs Breeze. Recommended settings:

• Basic: enable all caching options
• File Optimization: minify HTML, CSS, JS. Don't combine CSS/JS — it breaks more than it helps on HTTP/2
• Varnish: leave enabled (Cloudways manages this at server level)

Set up Cloudflare CDN

If your domain is on Cloudflare (recommended), now that SSL is working, enable the proxy (orange cloud). Then in Cloudflare:

• SSL/TLS: set to Full (Strict)
• Speed > Optimization: enable Auto Minify (HTML, CSS, JS)
• Caching > Browser Cache TTL: 1 month

Alternatively, Cloudways has its own CDN add-on ($1/25GB). It works fine but Cloudflare's free tier is more generous and adds DDoS protection on top.

PHP settings

Server Settings > Packages:

• PHP version: 8.2 (or latest stable) — significant performance improvement over 7.4
• Memory limit: 256MB — default 128MB is too low for WooCommerce
• Max execution time: 300 — needed for plugin installs and data imports

6Post-install hardening

Change the WordPress admin URL. The default /wp-admin gets hammered by bots constantly. Install WPS Hide Login (free), change it to something like /manage or /site-login. Brute-force attempts drop to near zero.

Set up offsite backups. Cloudways has one-click backups, but they're stored on the same server. Add UpdraftPlus and back up to Google Drive as a second copy. One backup location is not a backup strategy. More details in the WordPress backup guide.

Install WP Mail SMTP. WordPress's default mail function is unreliable — password reset emails and form notifications often go to spam or fail silently. WP Mail SMTP with Brevo's free SMTP (300 emails/day) fixes this. Configure once and forget it.

Clean up defaults. Delete the 'Hello World' post, sample page, and unused themes. Set permalinks to 'Post name' (Settings > Permalinks). Remove the Cloudways placeholder page if present.

Cloudways vs raw DigitalOcean VPS

Everything above takes 25 minutes on Cloudways. On a raw DigitalOcean droplet, the equivalent setup (LEMP stack, WordPress, SSL, caching, security hardening) takes 2-3 hours if you're comfortable in a terminal — longer if you're learning.

Cloudways charges a $2-4/mo premium over raw DigitalOcean for managing all of that. If you enjoy server configuration: set up the VPS yourself and keep the premium. If you'd rather spend that time on your website: Cloudways is worth the $2-4.

I use both — raw VPS for projects where I want full stack control, Cloudways for client sites where I'm billing for the website, not the server management.

Monthly cost breakdown

Compare: SiteGround at $17.99/mo after renewal (shared hosting). Kinsta at $35/mo (managed WordPress). For $15/mo, Cloudways gives you dedicated cloud resources with no visit limits.

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