Understanding how the Cloudways payment system works helps you stay in control of your costs and avoid billing issues.
Cloudways uses a simple, flexible, and transparent pay-as-you-go billing model, meaning you only pay for the resources you use.
Invoices are generated automatically on the 1st of each month for the previous month's usage.
With the new Cloudways billing interface going live on April 1, 2026, we’ve also included the latest updates to help you navigate the improved experience with ease.
How Does Cloudways Payment System Work?
Learn how billing, payments, and overages work at Cloudways so you can manage your hosting costs with clarity and control.
Access your billing at any time by clicking your profile icon on Cloudways Platform (top-right) and selecting Billing.
You'll see four tabs:
Tab | What You Can Do |
Overview | See your estimated due amount, total charges, past overdue, pre-payments, and a month-to-date breakdown by service. |
Billing History | View all past invoices and payments in one place. Download PDF or CSV for any transaction. |
Credits & Discounts | Check your available credits, expiry dates, and any active discounts. Credits are auto-applied to the next invoice. |
Settings | Manage billing address, tax location, payment methods (primary + backup cards/PayPal), and billing alerts. |
Understanding the Overview Tab
When you open the Overview tab, you'll see the following fields at the top:
Field | What It Means |
Estimated Due | Approximate amount owed for the current billing cycle, based on month-to-date usage after credits, discounts, taxes, and prepayments. May have up to 3% variance from final invoice. |
Due Date | Date by which payment will be automatically processed (typically the 1st of the following month). |
Total Charges | Sum of all service charges for the current billing cycle before any credits or prepayments are applied. |
Past Overdue | Any unpaid amounts from previous invoices. If this is greater than $0.00, clear it promptly to avoid service disruption. |
Pre-payments / Credits | Available balance in your account (prepaid funds + credits). This is automatically deducted from your invoice. |
Month-to-Date Summary
Below the summary fields, the Month-to-Date Summary shows a breakdown of charges by service category (e.g., Amazon/server, Add-ons, Other). You can export this data using the Export button in the top-right of the summary table, choosing CSV or PDF format.
This includes:
Charges grouped by services (such as Cloudways Flexible, Autonomous, add-ons, or other services)
A subtotal of all usage
Applied discounts and credits
Applicable taxes based on your billing location
The final estimated total amount
This summary reflects your approximate charges for the current month after applying discounts, taxes, and prepayments, helping you track your spending in real time.
You can also export this summary in CSV or PDF format for your records.
Note:
The month-to-date estimate is an approximation and may vary slightly from your final invoice. It is not a confirmed charge.
Billing Models
Cloudways offers two plans, each with its own billing approach:
Cloudways Flexible — Monthly Pay-as-You-Go
Best for customers who want predictable monthly billing based on actual server usage.
Invoices are generated on the 1st of each month for the previous month's usage.
If you have available credits or prepayments, they are applied to the invoice first.
Any remaining balance is automatically charged to your primary payment method (credit/debit card or PayPal with recurring payments).
You can add multiple payment methods to ensure uninterrupted service if one method fails.
Important:
Stopping a server does NOT pause billing for DigitalOcean, Linode, or Vultr — resources like IPs and disk remain assigned. For AWS/GCE, stopped servers incur minimal storage charges. To fully stop charges, remove all servers and cancel your account.
Cloudways Autonomous — Hourly Billing
Best for customers who want true on-demand control with granular hourly pricing.
You are billed for the exact hours your app is active — no charges when it is not running.
Autoscaling charges are calculated based on the number of active containers in use.
Overage charges apply if you exceed plan limits for disk space (billed hourly, pro-rata) or bandwidth (billed monthly).
Supported Payment Methods
All transactions are processed in USD. The following payment methods are accepted:
Credit or Debit Card — Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover. You can add multiple cards.
PayPal — Supports recurring payments. Available to customers who have upgraded from a trial account.
Note:
PayPal recurring payments are set up once during authorization — no manual renewal is needed each month.
When adding a credit card, a $1 pre-authorization charge is placed temporarily and automatically reversed. For PayPal, a $5 charge is applied; this amount is credited to your account and will be automatically applied toward your next invoice or any outstanding balance.
How an Invoice Is Settled
When an invoice is generated on the 1st of the month, Cloudways processes payment in this order:
Promotional discounts and credits are applied first (signup bonuses, referral rewards). These expire 1 year from issue date.
Remaining balance is deducted from any available prepayments.
Any remaining amount is charged to your primary saved payment method.
If the primary method fails, Cloudways automatically attempts backup payment methods.
If all methods fail, you will receive an email notification to update your payment details.
What Happens If an Invoice Remains Unpaid?
Cloudways follows a structured escalation process if an invoice is not settled. Act quickly to avoid service disruption:
Day 1 Invoice Day | Invoice Generated & Charge Attempted Invoice is issued. Cloudways attempts to charge your primary payment method, then backup methods. If all fail, you receive an email notification. |
Day 7 Restriction | Account Access Restricted You will lose access to the Cloudways dashboard (only Billing section will be accessible). Your servers and applications remain running. You will be warned that suspension is 48 hours away. |
Day 10 Suspension | Servers & Applications Stopped All your applications and servers are stopped. Your data is still intact but inaccessible. |
Day 13 Deletion Warning | Applications & Servers Deleted Applications and servers are deleted. A final warning is sent: server backups may be permanently deleted if the invoice remains unpaid. |
Day 28 Data Loss | Permanent Data Deletion Server backups and all associated data are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. |
Important:
To avoid data loss, update your payment method or add prepayments as soon as you receive a failed-payment notification. You can pay using a different card, PayPal, or prepaid account funds.
Setting Up Billing Alerts
To manage your hosting budget effectively and receive updates whenever your usage reaches a chosen limit, you can easily activate personalized billing notifications directly within your account settings.
This feature provides peace of mind by keeping you informed of your usage trends, helping you make timely, data-driven decisions for your scaling needs without any manual tracking.
How to Enable a Billing Alert
Login to Cloudways Platform
From the top right profile menu, click Billing.
Go to Billing > Settings tab.
Scroll down to the Billing Alerts section.
Click Enable Alert.
Enter your desired Alert Amount in USD (e.g., $20).
Click Save Changes.
To edit or disable an alert, return to the same Billing Alerts section, click the three-dot menu (⋮), and choose Edit Alert or Disable Alert.
Charges After Account Cancellation
Cloudways bills in arrears — meaning you are charged for services used in the previous month. If you cancel your account mid-month, you will receive a final invoice for the days you used services up to the cancellation date. Once that invoice is paid, your account is fully closed.
TIP:
Example: If you cancel on January 5th, you will receive a final invoice in early February for 5 days of usage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What payment methods does Cloudways accept?
Credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, Discover) and PayPal. You can add multiple cards and set up a backup payment method.
Q: When will I be billed?
Invoices are generated between the 1st and 6th of each month for the prior month's usage.
Q: Can I preload funds to avoid failed payments?
Yes. You can add funds to your Cloudways account via card or PayPal. Future invoices draw from available funds before charging your card.
Q: How much will be my next monthly invoice?
Your next invoice depends on your total usage, including servers, add-ons, and any additional resources used during the billing cycle. You can view an estimated Month to Date usage summary anytime from your Billing dashboard.
Q: How accurate is the month-to-date estimate?
It is an approximation based on current usage. The actual final invoice may differ by up to 3%.
Q: Will I be charged if I cancel mid-month?
Yes. You will receive a final invoice for any days services were used before the cancellation date.
Q: Why am I seeing a “DNS Made Easy (Excessive DNS Query Usage)” line item on my invoice?
This line item appears when your domain(s) exceed the standard monthly quota of 500,000 DNS queries per domain.
To ensure your DNS remains 100% online and high-performing, Cloudways does not cap your traffic. Instead, any queries over the 500,000 limit are processed at a rate of $0.10 USD per 100,000 additional queries (learn more).
This fee ensures your domains continue to benefit from DNS Made Easy’s enterprise-grade speed and 100% uptime history, even during unexpected traffic spikes.
Q: What are ‘carry-forward’ charges?
To ensure invoices are generated on the 1st of each month, the usage data of specific AWS and GCE resources (e.g., bandwidth, disk, snapshots) from the final 2–3 days of the month will be billed in the following cycle. Since these details arrive late from our providers, they will appear as "carry-forward" line items starting in May 2026.
How can I check if my payment was successful?
You will get the payment confirmation email. You can also confirm your payment from the Billing History section in your Cloudways account.
Click on your Account (Top right corner).
Click Billing from the dropdown - it will open a new window.
Click Billing History and check your latest invoice and payment entry. If the payment was successful, you will see a payment transaction listed against the invoice amount.
You can also check by clicking the Overview tab. If your Past Due balance is $0.00, it means there are no pending overdue charges on your account.
What happens if the initial attempt to process my payment fails?
If the first payment attempt fails, Cloudways will automatically retry charging the invoice after 2 days (or before the state change as per Dunning process). Make sure your payment method has sufficient funds and that your card or payment account is active to avoid further payment issues.
If the payment continues to fail, you may need to update your payment method or manually make the payment from the Billing section.
That's it! We hope this article was helpful.
Need Help?
If you need assistance, feel free to:
Visit the Cloudways Support Center
Chat with us: Need a Hand > Send us a Message
Or create a support ticket anytime.
We're here 24/7 to help you!