Bluehost vs Cloudways: the real 5-year cost

Over 5 years, Bluehost works out about $266.04 cheaper than Cloudwaysonce renewal prices are counted. Here's the breakdown.

BluehostCloudways
Intro price$2.95/mo$11.00/mo
Renews at$11.99/mo$11.00/mo
Renewal markup+306%+0%
True 5-year cost$393.96$660
Effective monthly$6.57/mo$11.00/mo

Cloudways costs more upfront but never renewal-spikes. Worth it if you need managed reliability.

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The honest take

Headline promo prices make hosts look interchangeable. They're not — the gap shows up at renewal. Bluehost's Basic starts at $2.95/mo and renews at $11.99/mo; Cloudways's DigitalOcean 1GB starts at $11/mo and renews at $11/mo.

Prices are 2026 figures synthesized from public sources and change often. Confirm on each host's official page before buying. See our methodology.

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