Comparison
| Option | Strengths | Trade-offs | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vercel / Netlify / Cloudflare Pages | Git-based deploys, previews, CDN, great for front ends | Serverless limits; costs can rise with traffic | Marketing sites, Next.js apps, static builds |
| Render / Railway / Fly.io | Run servers, workers and databases with simple UI | Free tiers sleep; usage-based costs | APIs, bots, small SaaS |
| VPS (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Linode) | Full control, predictable price | You manage security, updates and backups | Docker apps, several services, cost-sensitive teams |
| Shared hosting | Cheap and familiar | Cannot run Node or Python apps on basic plans | Static sites and PHP |
How to decide
- Does the app need a server process or a database? If not, choose static hosting.
- Do you need background jobs, websockets or long tasks? Choose a platform that runs servers.
- Who will maintain it? If nobody, choose managed.
- What is the traffic risk? Set spend limits wherever usage-based billing applies.
- Keep the option to move: use Docker and standard Postgres where possible.
Costs to watch
- Bandwidth and function invocation charges
- Database size and connections
- AI API usage, often larger than hosting
- Backups and monitoring tools
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Frequently asked questions
Which is cheapest?
A VPS is often the lowest predictable cost, but you pay in maintenance time. Free tiers help while testing.
Can I move later?
Yes if you keep standard tech (Docker, Postgres, environment variables) and avoid platform-specific lock-in.
Can you choose and set it up for me?
Yes, as part of our app deployment and support work.
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