How Does the Server Billing Charges Work when I Scale my Server

Cloudways offers flexible server scaling so you can upgrade or downgrade server resources at any time. To ensure complete transparency, your server billing is calculated based on your actual usage, down to the hour or the month.

This article explains how billing works when you scale your server and how charges are computed.

Table of Content:

When you scale your server on Cloudways, billing is calculated on the number of hours or the complete month, based on each server usage.

Below is a simple breakdown of how this works.

Cloudways bills scaled servers on an hourly basis — but only if the server is scaled on or before the 28th day of the month. In this case, you’re charged based on the number of hours each server configuration was used.

If the server is scaled after 28 days, or not scaled at all, you’ll be charged the full monthly cost based on the selected server plan.

Here’s the formula Cloudways uses to determine your server charges when scaling occurs:

Billing Formula:

Hourly Rate = Server Cost ÷ (Days × 24)

Where:

This gives you the Hourly Rate, which is then multiplied by the number of hours each server configuration was used to calculate your cost.

If you don’t scale your server during the month, you’ll be billed the full monthly cost.

If you upgrade or downgrade your server on or before the 28th day, the formula uses 28 days (672 hours) for hourly billing.

If you scale the server after 28 days, you’ll be charged the full monthly cost.

Let's walk through an example from our actual billing table:

For the 16 GB Standard server (Before Scaling):

Hourly Rate Calculation:

$149 ÷ (28 × 24) = $149 ÷ 672 ≈ $0.2217/hour

Cost for 113 hours:

$0.2217 × 113 = $25.05

For the 16 GB Premium server (After Scaling):

Hourly Rate Calculation:

$170 ÷ (28 × 24) = $170 ÷ 672 ≈ $0.253/hour

Cost for 631 hours:

$0.253 × 631 = $159.64

This breakdown shows how each server configuration is billed separately based on hourly usage after scaling.

This article ensures you're well-informed on how server charges are applied when scaling. For a complete breakdown of your usage and costs, you can always check your Invoices and Billing History within your Cloudways Platform.

Understanding how server billing works when you scale helps you make informed decisions about your resource usage.

At Cloudways, we ensure transparency by calculating charges down to the hour, so you only pay for what you use.

If you ever need help interpreting your invoice or usage, our support team is just a message away.

That’s it! We hope this article was helpful.

If you need assistance, feel free to:

We're here 24/7 to help you!

What happens to my billing if I scale my server multiple times in a month?

If you scale your server on or before the 28th day, each configuration is billed hourly based on how many hours it was used. The total bill will reflect the combined hourly charges for all configurations. If scaling happens after 28 days, the full monthly charge will apply for the final configuration.

Why does Cloudways use 28 days in the billing formula?

The 28-day period is used to standardize hourly billing when scaling occurs on or before the 28th day of the month. This keeps calculations consistent and transparent across different configurations.

Will I be charged hourly if I only use the server for a few days?

You will be charged hourly only if scaling happens on or before day 28. If you don’t scale your server, or you scale it after day 28, you’ll be billed the full monthly rate regardless of how long the server was used.

How can I check my server billing details?

Go to the Billing section in your Cloudways Platform. There, you can view a full breakdown of server usage, configuration history, hourly charges (if applicable), and total monthly cost.