Hourly Billing Adds Up Fast
Cloudways Alternative: Real cPanel Hosting, On A Term You Can Actually Judge
Looking for a Cloudways alternative? Cloudways is not cheap hosting — it is a management layer on top of raw cloud servers (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google Cloud), billed hourly with no fixed term. Plans start around $11 a month for a 2 GB / 1 vCPU DigitalOcean server, and there is no cPanel at all — everything runs through Cloudways’ own dashboard sitting on top of someone else’s cloud. Object Cache Pro, normally a $95/month add-on elsewhere, is free above 4 GB, which tells you how the pricing is really structured.
As a Cloudways alternative, LiberationTek runs real cPanel hosting on hardware we own in the United States, with one flat published price instead of hourly cloud-server billing, a 3-year term rather than 4, site security and an SEO tool included, and no interest in your data. If you’re weighing a Cloudways alternative against usage-based cloud pricing, the difference is simple: one flat bill you can predict, on a real control panel you already know how to use. Prices checked September 13, 2026.
How the move from Cloudways works
We handle each step so you can keep working.
“A year ago, I decided to migrate my website to their hosting platform in order to move away from big tech, and gradually, moved all of my domains over. Customer service is 5 stars. You get a one-to-one relationship as well as fast, friendly and knowledgeable service.”
Donna Gentile · Google review
What You Get For The Difference
A Panel Sitting On Someone Else’s Cloud
Cloudways has no control panel of its own in the cPanel sense — it is a management layer on top of DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google Cloud servers you don’t own or control. If Cloudways ever shuts down or changes terms, your site’s actual infrastructure belongs to a cloud provider you never signed up with directly. LiberationTek runs real cPanel on hardware we own outright.
Hourly Billing, Real Total
Cloudways has no lock-in term, which sounds good until you see the total: $11/month gets you a 2 GB, 1 vCPU DigitalOcean Basic server, and add-ons like Cloudflare Enterprise CDN and advanced staging push the real bill well past the advertised price. Our lowest rate is $7.99 flat on a 3-year term, renewing at $12.99 — no hourly surprises.
Servers We Own, In The United States
Your site runs on hardware LiberationTek owns and operates in the U.S. — not leased capacity, never subject to foreign data-sharing laws. We do not track, sell or share your data or your activity, and we do not remove sites over lawful speech.
Fewer Sites, Genuinely Resourced
Our plans hold 2, 5 or 9 websites with 10 GB, 20 GB or 40 GB of NVMe. We would rather tell you the real number than advertise “unlimited” and manage it with resource limits you discover under load. Every plan includes a 2 GB burstable port and NVMe storage.
Security And SEO Are In The Plan
Site security and an SEO tool are included on every plan, along with a free SSL certificate and a free domain on an annual term or longer. They are not add-ons revealed at checkout or upsells that appear once your site starts getting traffic.
People Who Answer
You get U.S.-based support from a small team, not a queue. Our customers routinely mention being walked through problems personally and hearing back quickly — which is the part that actually matters when a site is down and you are not a sysadmin.
What The Headline Price Actually Costs
Introductory rates, the term you have to sign to get them, and what the plan costs once it renews. Cloudways figures are published on cloudways.com and were checked in September 2026.
Plan | Headline rate | Term you sign | Renews at |
|---|---|---|---|
Cloudways Micro (DigitalOcean) — 2 GB / 1 vCPU / 50 GB | $11/mo | none (hourly, pay-as-you-go) | $11/mo + usage |
Cloudways — 4 GB tier, Object Cache Pro included | ~$26/mo | none (hourly) | ~$26/mo + usage |
Cloudways — add-ons (Cloudflare CDN, advanced staging) | varies | none (hourly) | billed on top, usage-based |
LiberationTek Starter — 2 sites, 10 GB NVMe | $7.99/mo | 36 months | $12.99/mo |
LiberationTek Ramping Up — 5 sites, 20 GB NVMe | $9.99/mo | 36 months | $19.99/mo |
LiberationTek Growth — 9 sites, 40 GB NVMe | $13.99/mo | 36 months | $24.99/mo |
- Free Migration — our team moves your website, email and domain from Cloudways at no cost.
LiberationTek vs. Cloudways
Two shared hosting platforms side by side. Both sets of prices are the providers’ own published rates.
Feature | LiberationTek | Cloudways |
|---|---|---|
Control panel | Real cPanel | No panel — dashboard sits on top of DigitalOcean/Vultr/Linode/AWS/GCE servers |
Moving to another host later | A cPanel backup restores on any cPanel host | No export; site and server both need rebuilding elsewhere |
Term for the headline price | 36 months | None — hourly billing, cancel anytime |
Websites per plan | 2, 5 or 9 depending on plan | Unlimited website installs per server (shared server resources) |
Storage | 10 GB, 20 GB or 40 GB NVMe | 50 GB on Micro tier, more on higher tiers (shared with server resources) |
Free domain | Included on an annual term or longer | Not included — domain purchased separately |
SSL certificate | Included | Included |
Server-level firewall included; deeper security varies by add-on | Included on every plan | Varies by plan |
SEO tool | Included on every plan | Not included in the plan |
Burstable port | 2 GB on every plan | Not published |
Your choice of DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google Cloud data centers | Hardware LiberationTek owns and operates in the United States | Cloudways data centers worldwide |
Your data | Never tracked, sold or shared | Governed by their terms |
Content removal | We do not remove sites over lawful speech | Governed by their terms |
Support | U.S.-based, from a small team | 24/7 support |
What Customers Say After Switching
Real customer reviews. LiberationTek is rated 4.9 out of 5 on Google and 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot (September 2026).
Liberation Shared Hosting Plans
Plan | Built for | Included | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Starter | Brochure sites, small business apps, low-traffic WooCommerce | 2 websites · 10 GB NVMe · cPanel · SSL · security · SEO tool | $7.99/mo on a 3-yr term |
Ramping Up | Growing sites, agencies, line-of-business apps | 5 websites · 20 GB NVMe · cPanel · SSL · security · SEO tool | $9.99/mo on a 3-yr term |
Growth | Ecommerce, heavier WordPress, multi-site, light CRM/ERP | 9 websites · 40 GB NVMe · cPanel · SSL · security · SEO tool | $13.99/mo on a 3-yr term |
Move Your Site In 4 Steps
1. Tell Us What You Are Running
Send your current plan, the sites on it and your domain. We will tell you which Liberation plan fits and, honestly, if the Site Builder or a VPS would serve you better.
2. We Move It For You
Liberation transfers website content from most hosts and site builders. Coming from cPanel, a full account backup restores cleanly; coming from hPanel, we rebuild the hosting side around your files and database.
3. Check It Before Anyone Else Does
Your site runs on the new server at a temporary address while your Cloudways plan keeps serving live traffic. You review it before a single visitor is affected.
4. Point The Domain And Go
We update DNS, issue SSL through AutoSSL and watch the first 48 hours. Then you let the old plan lapse rather than paying out a term you no longer use.
Already on Cloudways? Read the step-by-step Cloudways migration guide — what transfers, what changes, and how long a typical move takes.
Get Started
By Transferring Your Website
Liberation can transfer your website content from most site builder platforms.
Cloudways Alternative FAQs
Often, once you add up the real bill. Cloudways’ Micro plan starts at $11/month for a 2 GB DigitalOcean server, but that’s hourly, usage-based, and add-ons like Cloudflare Enterprise CDN and advanced staging environments are billed on top. Our Starter plan is $7.99 flat on a 3-year term, renewing at $12.99, with no usage metering.
No. Cloudways is a management dashboard that sits on top of a cloud server you’re renting from DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google Cloud — it isn’t a hosting company that owns its own infrastructure. LiberationTek runs real cPanel on hardware we own and operate ourselves in the United States.
It can be, for short-term or highly variable workloads. But for an ordinary small-business website running continuously, hourly billing on a $11+/month server plus metered add-ons usually adds up to more than a flat published rate — and it’s harder to predict from month to month.
Yes. Because Cloudways sites don’t use cPanel, there’s no direct export – our team rebuilds your site and database on our cPanel servers, tests everything, then switches your DNS with no downtime window you have to manage. That’s the real difference with a Cloudways alternative built on flat pricing: you get one predictable monthly bill instead of a usage meter that keeps climbing.
Object Cache Pro is a performance add-on that Cloudways normally prices around $95/month, waived on servers 4 GB and above. That it’s a $95/month line item at all is a sign of how Cloudways’ real pricing works: the advertised rate is a starting point, not the total.
Site security and an SEO tool are included on every LiberationTek plan, plus real cPanel access, at one flat published price. Cloudways bills its CDN, advanced caching and staging environments as separate line items.
Cloudways runs on whichever third-party cloud you choose — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google Cloud. LiberationTek runs on hardware we own and operate ourselves in the United States, so there’s no third-party cloud provider’s terms of service standing between you and your site.
Yes. As a Cloudways alternative, LiberationTek charges one flat monthly price with no hourly server billing and no markup on top of a cloud provider’s own rate. If you’re comparing a Cloudways alternative because your bill keeps moving with server usage, that’s exactly the problem this Cloudways alternative was built to solve.
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Shared hosting plans · Site Builder · Fully managed VPS · Transfer your website
Sources: Cloudways web hosting plans, terms and renewal prices, checked September 13, 2026. LiberationTek prices are list prices on this site.