Should You Self-Host or Cloud-Host Your Startup Web App?

When it is time to launch your startup’s web app, one of the biggest technical choices you will face is where to host it. You can self-host it on a server or infrastructure that you maintain, or use a cloud provider to host it. The decision can affect your costs, scalability, security, and day-to-day operations. Both have strong advantages and clear trade-offs.

Choose Cloud Hosting if:

• You want a hands-off experience with no DIY DevOps. Cloud providers handle automatic backups, scaling, and performance monitoring.

• You want to focus on the app, not the tech to support it. Without spending time managing infrastructure, you can focus on making your app better.

• You do not mind paying more for convenience and reliability. Managed infrastructure saves you time but usually costs more per month.

• Your team has limited DevOps experience or time. Cloud platforms make it easy to deploy with minimal configuration.

• You value easy integration with other managed cloud services. Most tools can easily integrate with cloud services.

• You want built-in redundancy and high availability. Uptime SLAs and global infrastructure keep your app running even if one server fails.

The bottom line is that cloud hosting is ideal for teams that want to focus on building the product, not managing infrastructure. But deciding on cloud hosting presents a new question: which type of cloud hosting do you need?

Types of Cloud Hosting: IaaS vs PaaS

When you choose cloud hosting, you will also decide how much control you want and how much you would rather delegate. Two models dominate the landscape:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides virtualized computing resources like servers, storage, and networking. You handle setup, configuration, and scaling.

  • IaaS providers: Compute services from any of the big cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS EC2), Google Cloud Platform (GCP Compute Engine), Microsoft Azure, or DigitalOcean.

  • Choose IAAS if you want more control over performance, scaling, and security, or when you need to optimize cost. Choosing IAAS will require time and effort to setup.

• Platform as a Service (PaaS) gives you a ready-to-use environment to deploy and manage applications without managing the underlying infrastructure.

  • PaaS providers: Vercel, Render, Heroku, Netlify, Railway.

  • Choose PAAS if you want faster deployment with less setup overhead, or when you want to launch faster. Choosing PAAS will sacrifice some cost optimization.

To summarize: the simplest option that requires the lowest technical skill is PAAS cloud hosting. IAAS cloud hosting requires more skill, but is more of a middle ground, as it still requires less skill than completely self-hosting.

Choose Self-Hosting if:

• You have sensitive or regulated data that requires full control over where and how it is stored.

• You need to customize performance settings or extensions that managed services don’t support.

• You want to minimize recurring cloud costs even more than IAAS, and can handle the operational overhead. Your maintenance costs shift from the cloud to your own team's time.

• Your infrastructure already supports containerized or on-premise deployments. This is common in organizations with existing IT resources.

• You have strong in-house expertise to manage scaling, updates, and security patches effectively.

Self-hosting gives you maximum control and flexibility, but that comes with responsibility. You will manage servers, security updates, and uptime yourself, which can be a challenge for small teams without dedicated DevOps talent.

Bloomware: The Best of Both Worlds

At Bloomware, we offer a balance between convenience and control. We work with you to host your web app in the way that best achieves your goals, and we handle all the technical overhead. Think of it like planting a tree in your yard, and having us prune it, fertilize it, and water it. We will take care of it until you are ready to take over, and when you do, we make sure you are set up with the information you need to continue growing it.

Whether you are launching your first MVP or preparing for general availability, Bloomware helps your startup build, host, and scale with confidence.