Guides

AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux for your server?

Same packages, same dates: cPanel, upgrades, how close to RHEL, and who funds each.

Off CentOS 7: convert, pay for support, or rebuild?

Three ways off CentOS 7 or 8, with the date each one runs out.

Cloud vs dedicated server: would one server cut your AWS bill?

Three steady workloads priced line by line, data out included.

Managed or unmanaged dedicated server?

Who runs OS updates and the web server on each, and the jobs that need unmanaged.

Fly.io, Cloud Run and Fargate pricing: what an always-on app costs

A small stack that runs all month, measured, then priced line by line on three platforms beside one server whose price doesn't change with your traffic

Is Portainer the right Docker dashboard, or is a lighter one better?

Docker dashboards measured on one test server, with the license and team features that decide it.

Ghost vs WordPress for a paid newsletter

Plugin fees and email bills priced at three list sizes, who handles upkeep, and both apps tested on one server.

Should I leave Substack for Ghost? What the 10% costs at my size

Substack's fee beside Ghost(Pro) and your own Ghost server, at four newsletter sizes

GitLab and GitHub pricing per user, and what self-hosted GitLab CE costs

Seat and CI bills at three team sizes, beside GitLab CE and its runners

Should our small team use GitLab or GitHub?

Three options compared, including GitLab CE on your own server.

Claude Code or an always-on agent like OpenClaw or Hermes?

What Anthropic's tools already cover while you're away, and what an assistant on a server adds.

What does a month of Hermes Agent cost?

One workload priced on a Portal plan, per token and on a local model

Back up Immich, then prove the restore works

A 3-2-1 plan with Borg, and a full restore we ran on a wiped test server.

Move Google Photos into Immich with dates and albums intact

Takeout, immich-go, a dry run, then the real import.

Immich, PhotoPrism, Ente or Nextcloud for a family's phones

Four photo apps on one test server, and which one fits a family.

Laravel Cloud and Forge pricing vs your own server: what one Laravel app costs

Why an every-minute task keeps Laravel Cloud billing, and what the same app used on a test server

Leaving cPanel: control panels that work on your own VPS, and when you do not need one

cPanel's 2026 price, the free panels that replace it, what each holds in memory, and the no-panel path.

Managed or unmanaged VPS?

Who runs updates, backups and support on each, and the jobs that need root access.

How hosts count a WordPress visit, and which plan your traffic needs

Bots, blocked tags and CDNs, what DreamPress counts, and the plan for your monthly visits.

My database is slowing my site down. Should it get its own server?

How to tell, what to fix first, and what changes when it moves

How much RAM does your MySQL database need?

Measured on a test VM: three database sizes at each plan's memory

MySQL or MariaDB: does it matter for your site?

What differs, which apps care, and which engine each plan runs

I pay for Amazon RDS for a small web app. Would a private MySQL server cost me less?

What a small RDS for MySQL database really costs a month, the MySQL 8.0 fee included, and how long moving it out takes

Can I run free self-hosted n8n for my clients?

Agency setups checked against n8n's own license pages

My Zapier bill keeps climbing. What would the same work cost on n8n or my own server?

One workflow priced at three volumes, with your time counted

What will Vercel bill me as my Next.js app grows, and when is a server cheaper?

Three apps priced on Vercel Pro, line by line, beside one server priced by plan

OpenClaw or Hermes Agent: which to run, and can you switch later?

Both agents on one test VM, with the switch tested both ways.

Do I need Paperclip on top of OpenClaw or Hermes, or instead?

When Paperclip earns its place, and what it took to run it beside one worker on a test server.

Claude Code agent teams or Paperclip on a server?

Where Claude Code's own agents stop, what a Paperclip server adds, and how much memory its agents took on our test VM.

What does a Minecraft server cost our group?

Realms, a game host and your own server, priced for groups running several servers

How much RAM does your Minecraft server need?

RAM for vanilla, Paper and modded servers, from the makers' docs and our own test

Pelican or Pterodactyl, and can we move our servers across?

Two game panels from one codebase, compared, plus the two ways to move your servers across.

What will Supabase cost as your app grows, and when is your own server cheaper?

Three app sizes priced line by line, with your time counted

Should we use Supabase, or just plain PostgreSQL on our own server?

Both on one test server: what Supabase adds around the database, and what you build without it.

Ubuntu or Debian for your server?

Our pick, the versions apt installs on each, and what a fresh image runs before you add anything.

Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux or Rocky for your VPS?

Pick by what you'll run and how long you need updates.

What will Plausible, Fathom or Umami Cloud charge at my traffic?

Three analytics bills at five traffic levels, beside one server

What you keep and lose when you leave GA4 for Umami

Export first, run both for a month, then switch.

Umami or Plausible: which one should I run?

Features, license and upkeep for both, on your own server.

Uptime Kuma or UptimeRobot: what do I give up if I run my own monitor?

The real trade-offs, from false alarms to team logins.

What will my monitors cost at 1-minute checks on UptimeRobot, Pingdom or Better Stack?

Four monitor counts priced on three services, beside one server

Where to run Uptime Kuma, and how to set it up

How small a server it needs, where to put it, and the setup order.

Which VPS plan do I need for what I'm running?

A plan for each common app, sized from the app's own requirements

Ghost(Pro) or self-hosted Ghost: what you take on, and what each costs at your member count

How To Run Docker on a VPS With Portainer (2026 Guide)

The step-by-step setup on your own server.

Do I need managed WordPress hosting, or is regular Web Hosting enough for my site?

Is Debian 13 ready for production, or should I stay on 12?

Debian 12 or 13 on a VPS: what changed, and who should wait

Self-Hosted n8n: How to Run n8n on Your Own Server

The step-by-step setup on your own server.

Apache or Nginx for my PHP and WordPress sites?

Can I move my WordPress site to a new host without downtime, and should the host do it for me?

Moving your WordPress site with zero downtime: have us do it, use the plugin, or do it by hand

Do I need a VPS, or is Web Hosting still enough for me?

Do I need a VPS? The signs you've outgrown Web Hosting, and which kind of VPS fits

Have you outgrown your VPS? The signs, and what the step to dedicated gets you

Dokploy on a VPS: Git-Based App Deployment Without the Platform Tax

The step-by-step setup on your own server.

Which dedicated server do I need for my traffic and what I run?

Managed WordPress or a VPS for my WordPress site?

Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04 for a new VPS?

How To Self-Host GitLab CE on a VPS

The step-by-step setup on your own server.

Running a Node.js app on your own server: PM2 or systemd, Nginx, HTTPS, and when not to

Is Supabase free if we self-host it, and what do we give up?

Self-hosting Supabase: what is included, what is not, and what it costs in time

What you pay for managed Postgres today (RDS, Neon, Supabase), next to one server

How To Self-Host OpenClaw on a VPS

The step-by-step setup on your own server.