Every Managed AI Agent on Cloudways runs on an instance. An instance is the set of computing resources, such as RAM (memory), CPU (processing power), storage, and bandwidth, that your agent uses to run its tasks.
As your agent takes on more work, or less work, its instance size may no longer match its needs.
Scaling means changing the size of this instance, either up to a larger plan (upscaling) or down to a smaller plan (downscaling), so your agent has the right amount of resources.
This guide explains what scaling means, when you should consider scaling your agent, and how to upscale or downscale it from the Cloudways Platform.
Before You Start
Before scaling your Managed AI Agent, make sure you have:
An active paid Cloudways account with access to Managed AI Agents.
A Managed AI Agent already deployed on the Cloudways Platform.
Note:
Scaling changes the size of your agent's instance. It does not change the agent's configuration, connected channels, or MCP connections.
When Should You Scale Your Agent?
Cloudways shows you live resource usage for your agent's instance, so you do not have to guess whether it needs more or fewer resources.
Signs you should upscale (move to a bigger plan)
Your agent's RAM Usage is consistently close to its limit.
Your agent's CPU Usage stays high for long periods.
Your agent's Disk Usage is close to running out.
Your agent feels slow, delayed, or fails to complete tasks.
You plan to give your agent more responsibilities, such as handling more requests or more complex tasks.
Signs you should downscale (move to a smaller plan)
Your agent's RAM, CPU, and Disk usage are consistently low.
Your agent handles light or occasional tasks only.
You want to reduce your monthly cost without affecting your agent's performance.
Important:
Check your agent's usage over a period of time, rather than a single moment, before deciding to scale. A short spike in usage does not always mean you need a bigger plan.
Understanding the Instance Plans
Cloudways offers different instance plans for Managed AI Agents. Each plan provides a fixed amount of RAM, CPU, storage, and bandwidth.
Plan | Best For | RAM | CPU | Storage | Bandwidth |
Scout | Light checks, one or two simple workflows | 2 GB | 1 vCPU | 50 GB SSD | 2 TB |
Operator | An active agent doing focused, real work | 4 GB | 2 vCPU | 80 GB SSD | 4 TB |
Squad | Multiple sub-agents coordinating on tasks | 8 GB | 4 vCPU | 160 GB SSD | 5 TB |
Swarm | Many agents and tools, running continuously | 16 GB | 8 vCPU | 320 GB SSD | 6 TB |
Note:
A vCPU (virtual CPU) is a portion of processing power assigned to your instance. More vCPUs mean your agent can handle more tasks at the same time.
Read the complete article on instance size by clicking here.
How to Check Your Agent's Resource Usage
Step #1 — Go to AI Agents
Log in to your Cloudways Platform.
From the left-side navigation menu, click AI Agents.
This opens the Managed AI Agents area, where you can view all your existing agents.
Step #2 — Open Your Agent
On the Managed AI Agents page, find the agent you want to check.
Click Setup next to that agent.
Step #3 — Go to the Instance Tab
On the agent details page, click the Instance tab.
Under Monitoring, you will see live usage figures for:
RAM Usage — how much memory your agent is using.
CPU Usage — how much processing power your agent is using.
Disk Usage — how much storage space your agent has used.
Bandwidth — how much data your agent has sent and received.
Under Instance Size, you will see your agent's current plan and its price.
On the Instance tab, click Manage Plan.
Tip:
If any usage bar is consistently near full, this is a sign that your agent may need a bigger plan.
How to Upscale Your Agent
Step #4 — Open Manage Plan
A window will open showing all available plans: Scout, Operator, Squad, and Swarm, along with their RAM, CPU, storage, and bandwidth.
Your agent's current plan will be marked as Current Plan and cannot be selected again.
Review the available plans and choose one that offers more RAM, CPU, storage, or bandwidth than your agent's current plan.
Click Upgrade on the plan you want to move to.
Step #5 — Wait for Scaling to Complete
Your agent's status will change to Scaling Instance, with a message that the instance is being scaled.
This process usually takes a few minutes. Your agent may be briefly unavailable during this time.
Step #7 — Confirm the Upgrade
Once scaling is complete, a confirmation message will appear, stating that your Managed AI Agent has been scaled successfully.
You can verify the new plan under the Instance tab, in the Instance Size section.
How to Downscale Your Agent
Follow Step #1 to Step #4 above to open the Manage Plan window.
Review the available plans and choose one that is smaller than your agent's current plan.
Click Downgrade on the plan you want to move to.
Your agent's status will change to Scaling Instance, and once complete, you will see the same success message shown in Screenshot 6.
Important:
Before downscaling, make sure the smaller plan's RAM, CPU, and storage are enough for your agent's current workload. Downscaling to a plan with insufficient resources may slow down your agent or interrupt its tasks.
Troubleshooting
The Upgrade or Downgrade button is not clickable
This usually means the plan shown is your agent's current plan. Choose a different plan to proceed.
Scaling is taking longer than expected
Scaling can occasionally take a few extra minutes, depending on the size of the change. If the status does not update after 10-15 minutes, refresh the page or contact Cloudways Support.
My agent feels slow even after upscaling
Confirm that the new plan is reflected under the Instance Size section. If it is, check the Monitoring section again to see if usage has changed. If the issue continues, contact Cloudways Support.
I downscaled and now my agent is slower or unresponsive
Move back to a larger plan using the Upgrade option. Review the Monitoring section to confirm the new plan matches your agent's actual usage.
That's it! We hope this article was useful.