Hosting & infrastructure

The hosting I use

An overview of all hosting providers with short reasoning behind each choice. The list is kept up to date with real experience.

Kept up to date

This list evolves with my experience. Every hosting change is documented in the journal with the reasoning behind the decision.

Web hosting

Netlify

using
Free + $7/month Pro

A static-site hosting platform with automatic deployment

Pros:

  • Free plan
  • Automatic deploy from Git
  • Global CDN
  • Fast

Cons:

  • Static sites only
  • Free-tier limits

My verdict: Perfect for static sites and JAMstack projects

View hosting

Vercel

tested
Free + $20/month Pro

A cloud frontend platform focused on Next.js

Pros:

  • Great Next.js integration
  • Edge functions
  • Zero config
  • Analytics

Cons:

  • Pricier than Netlify
  • Mostly for React/Next.js

My verdict: Top choice for Next.js apps, but too pricey to start

View hosting

GitHub Pages

using
Free

Free static hosting straight from a GitHub repo

Pros:

  • Completely free
  • GitHub integration
  • Custom domains
  • HTTPS

Cons:

  • Static sites only
  • Jekyll limitations
  • No server-side

My verdict: Great for portfolios and docs — costs nothing

View hosting

VPS & servers

DigitalOcean

using
From $5/month

Cloud hosting with simple VPS droplets

Pros:

  • Affordable pricing
  • Simple setup
  • Good documentation
  • SSD

Cons:

  • You administer it yourself
  • Backups cost extra

My verdict: My VPS pick — simple, cheap and reliable

View hosting

AWS EC2

tested
From $3.5/month + traffic

Flexible virtual instances in Amazon's cloud

Pros:

  • Huge scalability
  • AWS integration
  • Free tier
  • Global network

Cons:

  • Complexity
  • Unpredictable costs
  • Steep learning curve

My verdict: Powerful but too complicated for simple projects

View hosting

Hetzner

considering
From €3.29/month

A German provider with excellent price-to-performance

Pros:

  • Very cheap
  • Good performance
  • Eco-friendly
  • EU data centers

Cons:

  • Less known
  • Support only in English/German

My verdict: The best price-to-performance ratio on the market

View hosting

WordPress hosting

WP Engine

tested
From $20/month

Managed WordPress hosting for professional sites

Pros:

  • Managed WordPress
  • Great performance
  • Automatic backups
  • Security

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • WordPress only
  • Plugin restrictions

My verdict: Great for business WP sites, but too pricey to start

View hosting

SiteGround

using
From $2.99/month

Popular WordPress hosting with good support

Pros:

  • Cheap start
  • Good support
  • WP optimization
  • Free SSL

Cons:

  • Prices rise after a year
  • Storage limits
  • Backups only on pricier plans

My verdict: A solid WordPress starter — watch the renewal prices

View hosting

CDN & performance

Cloudflare

using
Free + $20/month Pro

A CDN and security layer for any website

Pros:

  • Free plan
  • Global CDN
  • DDoS protection
  • Analytics

Cons:

  • Sometimes blocks users
  • Can slow first load

My verdict: A must-have for every site — the free plan is enough

View hosting

AWS CloudFront

tested
Pay-as-you-go

Amazon's CDN integrated with the whole AWS stack

Pros:

  • AWS integration
  • Very fast
  • Edge locations
  • Lambda@Edge

Cons:

  • Configuration complexity
  • Unpredictable costs

My verdict: A great CDN, but only if you already use AWS

View hosting

Have a question about a specific host?

If you'd like to know more about my experience with any of these hosts, or need a recommendation for a specific project — write to me!

Ask a question See the decision process in the journal