Cloudways Payment Guide for India — Cards, GST & the $1 Hold
Cloudways bills monthly in USD. Indian users pay using an international-enabled credit or debit card. Below is everything you need to know before you put a card in.
Accepted Cards
- Visa (credit and debit) — works.
- Mastercard (credit and debit) — works.
- American Express — works.
- RuPay — works only if your card is on the international (NPCI Global) network. A domestic-only RuPay card is rejected at checkout.
- UPI / Net Banking / Indian wallets — not supported directly. Use an international card.
- PayPal — supported for older Cloudways accounts; new accounts are routed to card payment.
The $1 Authorization Hold (Important for Indian Users)
When you add a card, Cloudways places a small ~$1 (~₹84) authorization hold to verify the card is real. This is not a charge. Indian banks usually:
- Send an SMS / app notification saying "₹84.00 spent on cloudways.com" — this is the hold, not a debit.
- Release the hold within 5–7 business days back to your available balance.
- Some banks display it as a pending transaction labelled "CLOUDWAYS LTD MALTA" or similar — this is normal.
If your bank rejects the hold with "international transactions not allowed", enable international transactions in your banking app or call customer care, then retry.
Enabling International Transactions on Indian Cards
Most Indian banks ship cards with international transactions disabled by default. To enable:
- HDFC / ICICI / Axis / SBI — open the bank app → Cards → Manage → toggle International Usage ON.
- Set an international transaction limit of at least ₹4200 so a heavier monthly invoice does not get blocked.
GST Treatment for Indian Customers
Cloudways is invoiced from a foreign jurisdiction (Cloudways Ltd, Malta / Cyberinfrastructure (DigitalOcean)). Therefore:
- No Indian GST is added to the invoice you receive from Cloudways.
- If you are an unregistered individual (most bloggers), there is nothing further to do.
- If you are a GST-registered business in India, hosting from a foreign provider falls under import of services. You may have a reverse-charge GST obligation under section 5(3) of the IGST Act. Consult your CA — this is general info, not tax advice.
- Cloudways invoices show the foreign company name, country, and a unique invoice number — these are the documents your accountant will need.
Where to Download Invoices
Inside the Cloudways dashboard: Account → Real Time Billing → Invoices. Each month's PDF invoice is available for download. They include the breakdown of server cost, addons, applied promo codes, and any free credit consumed.
Currency Conversion Rate on Your Statement
Cloudways charges in USD. Your bank converts to INR at its own card rate on the day of charge — typically the Visa/Mastercard published rate plus a 1–3.5% markup depending on your card type. Premium cards (e.g. Forex cards or 0% markup credit cards) are noticeably cheaper for monthly hosting bills. Compare your statement against the Cloudways invoice and you will see the bank's markup.
Refunds & Cancellation
Cloudways uses pay-as-you-go billing. There is no annual lock-in. To stop charges, simply destroy the server in the dashboard (Server Management → Settings → Destroy Server). You are billed only for the hours the server existed in the current month. Promo credit (CLOUDS2022) is non-refundable but does not expire as long as the account stays active.