Cleavr vs RunCloud (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Cleavr grades higher than RunCloud: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Cleavr grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Cleavr
Server and deployment manager for PHP and Node.js apps on your own VPS
RunCloud
Web server control panel for PHP sites on your own cloud servers
Which one is for you
Pick Cleavr if
- Fits if you run a handful of PHP or Node.js sites on a VPS and want a dashboard instead of SSH
- Works for freelancers who already pay a VPS provider and only need the deployment layer
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want hosting included, because every server is billed separately by your provider
- Tight if you need more than one server, as Lite is capped at one
- Pricey if you need backups, which start at Pro at $15 a month
- Watch out: team members and API access need Business at $30 a month, and the trial is 5 days
- Not for you if you need to see monthly-billing prices, which the pricing page doesn't list
Pick RunCloud if
- Fits if you rent your own servers for PHP and WordPress sites
- Works for small setups that need one server on the cheapest plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there's only a 7-day trial
- Watch out: servers are billed by your cloud provider
- Tight if you need more than one server: Professional starts at 50
- Watch out: the API, zero-downtime deploys and WAF are Business and above
- Watch out: only monthly prices could be read
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACleavrFair | 2.0GPARunCloudFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CLite is $5.50 a month billed yearly, just above the $5.00 cheaper-quarter line for web hosting, and that covers one server. Backups and monitoring start at Pro, $15 a month, and your VPS is billed on top. | C$9 a month for 1 server on Essentials, $19 for 50 servers, $49 for Business, near the category middle of $11. Server rental is extra. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 5-day trial with Pro and API access and no card until you subscribe. No free plan, and five days is short. | DA 7-day free trial, and the page read doesn't say whether it needs a card. No free plan. |
| Features | CProvisioning, Git deploys, SSL, databases and monitoring for PHP and Node apps. Backups and server monitoring need Pro, team members and the API need Business, and Lite stops at one server. | CUnlimited apps, caching, backups, staging, Git deploys and a firewall. A smaller job than hosting, and the API, zero-downtime deploys and WAF need Business. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You connect a provider account or a custom server and set up each app yourself, so there is a learning curve. | CNo store rating on record. You connect a cloud provider and set up servers. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it connects to Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Slack, and has an API on Business. | BWeb only, with Vultr, Linode, Hetzner, AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean and Cloudflare. |
| Best for | setting up PHP and Node.js apps on your own VPS | managing PHP and WordPress servers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Cleavr and RunCloud. How we grade
Price against what you get
Cleavr starts at $5.50 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. RunCloud starts at $9 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Cleavr starts $3.50 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 2 score higher than Cleavr for less, and 2 score higher than RunCloud for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Cleavr also covers databases and workflow automation.
- RunCloud also covers page speed.
At a glance
| Cleavr | RunCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $5.5 per month, billed yearly ($66 a year) | $9 per month (Essentials, billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 5-day free trial with Pro access and API access; no credit card required until you subscribe. | 7-day free trial. |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Vistafari LLC | RunCloud |
| Price read from | cleavr.io | runcloud.io |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Cleavr
- Servers are not included: you pay your VPS provider separately.
- Lite is limited to one server, and backups and server monitoring start at Pro.
- Team members and API access need Business, which is $30 a month billed yearly.
- The pricing page shows yearly-billed figures; the monthly-billing prices are not listed in the page text.
RunCloud
- Servers are paid separately to your cloud provider.
- Essentials covers a single server; Professional starts at 50 servers.
- The RunCloud API, zero-downtime deployments and the web application firewall are limited to Business and above.
- The pricing page has a Monthly and an Annually toggle; only monthly figures could be read. It states a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Key features
Cleavr
- Server provisioning
- Servers are created at Vultr, DigitalOcean, AWS, UpCloud, Linode or Hetzner, or a custom VPS is connected.
- App types
- AdonisJS, NuxtJS, NextJS, Laravel, Strapi, NodeJS, WordPress, PHP and static HTML apps can be installed from the dashboard.
- Zero-downtime deploys
- Deployments run with one click or by push-to-deploy from GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket, to one server or several behind a load balancer.
- Databases and backups
- MySQL, PostgreSQL and MariaDB servers are managed, and backups can go to AWS S3, Wasabi, Backblaze, DO Spaces, SFTP or local storage.
- Security
- Free Let's Encrypt SSL, Fail2Ban, UFW configuration, SSH key handling and site isolation are listed.
- Monitoring and API
- Server health monitoring and notifications to Slack, Discord, Telegram or email are available; the API needs the Business plan or an active trial.
RunCloud
- Server and app management
- Plans list unlimited web applications, domain management and one-click SSL certificates, with server counts from 1 to 500.
- Caching
- Server-side caching with NGINX FastCGI and Redis full-page and object cache is listed on every plan.
- Backups
- Full and incremental backups come with 2 to 100 GB of free storage by plan, with external backups to providers that widen on higher plans.
- Staging and Git deployment
- Essentials has 1 staging environment, Professional has 10 and Business is unlimited; Git deployment is on all plans.
- Security
- A 6G, 7G and 8G firewall starts on Professional, and Business adds ModSecurity with the OWASP Core Rule Set.
- Team and API
- Business adds roles, 10 team seats and the RunCloud API, at 120 requests a minute and 10,000 a month on monthly billing.
Plans
Cleavr
Lite$5.5
per month, billed yearly ($66 a year)
One server, unlimited apps, cron jobs and process monitors.
Pro$15
per month, billed yearly ($180 a year)
Everything in Lite plus unlimited servers, server monitoring and log reports, database and filesystem backups, and quick scripts.
Business$30
per month, billed yearly ($360 a year)
Everything in Pro plus team members and team management, resource management and Cleavr API access.
RunCloud
Essentials$9
per month, billed monthly
1 server, unlimited web applications, 2 GB of backup storage, Git deployment, server-side caching and 1 staging environment.
Professional$19
per month, billed monthly
50 servers, 10 GB of backup storage, 10 staging environments, application cloning, custom NGINX configuration and 6G, 7G and 8G firewall.
Business$49
per month, billed monthly
100 servers, 30 GB of backup storage, 10 team seats, zero-downtime deployments, the RunCloud API and a WAF with the OWASP core rule set.
Enterprise$399
per month, billed monthly
500 servers, 100 GB of backup storage, up to 5 workspaces, 50 team seats and a higher API rate limit.
Ways to pay less
Cleavr
- Annual discount
Yearly billing savings
The pricing page states yearly billing saves $30 a year on Lite, $36 on Pro and $72 on Business.
- Education
50% off yearly plans for students
Students, non-profits and individuals from low-income regions can ask for 50% off yearly plans by emailing proof of status.
- Startups
Free for open-source projects
Open-source projects can ask to be sponsored with Cleavr at no cost in return for a README credit and link.
RunCloud
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Cleavr or RunCloud?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Cleavr is cheaper to start with: $5.50 a month, against $9 a month for RunCloud. Cleavr starts at $5.5 per month, billed yearly ($66 a year), and RunCloud starts at $9 per month (Essentials, billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Cleavr or RunCloud?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Cleavr nor RunCloud has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.