\n<\/p>\n
I run 4 live projects on a single VPS. Here’s exactly what I use and what it costs.<\/p>\n
The Problem<\/p>\n
You built an amazing side project. Now you need to deploy it.<\/p>\n
Options:
\n\u2192 Heroku: Free tier gone, cheapest $5+\/mo per app \ud83d\ude2c
\n\u2192 Vercel: Great for frontend, limited backend \u26a0\ufe0f
\n\u2192 AWS Free Tier: Complex, easy to overspend \ud83d\udcb8
\n\u2192 Shared hosting: Slow, outdated stacks \ud83d\udc0c<\/p>\n
What I actually use for my projects:
\n\u2192 1 VPS + free tiers = everything running for ~$5\/mo total \ud83c\udf89<\/p>\n
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My Setup at a Glance<\/p>\n
Project
\nTech Stack
\nHosting
\nCost<\/p>\n
AgentVote (main site)
\nNode.js + Nginx
\nVPS (port 3000)
\nIncluded<\/p>\n
CryptoSignal
\nNode.js + SQLite
\nSame VPS (port 3001)
\nIncluded<\/p>\n
Hugo Blog
\nStatic HTML
\nSame VPS (Nginx)
\nIncluded<\/p>\n
Text Formatter
\nNode.js
\nSame VPS (port 3099)
\nIncluded<\/p>\n
Total: $5\/month for the VPS. Everything else is free.<\/p>\n
Option 1: VPS (What I Use)<\/p>\n
Why a VPS?<\/p>\n
\u2705 Full root access \u2014 install anything
\n\u2705 Run multiple projects on one server
\n\u2705 Fixed monthly cost regardless of traffic
\n\u2705 Learn DevOps skills that transfer to any job
\n\u2705 Complete control over your stack
\n\u274c You manage security updates yourself
\n\u274c No auto-scaling (but side projects don’t need it)<\/p>\n
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What to Look For<\/p>\n
# Minimum specs for most side projects:
\nCPU: 1-2 cores
\nRAM: 1-2 GB (Node.js apps are light)
\nStorage: 25-50 GB SSD
\nBandwidth: 1-2 TB\/month (plenty for small projects)
\nOS: Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS
\nPrice: $3-6\/month<\/p>\n
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VPS Providers I’ve Used<\/p>\n
DigitalOcean \u2014 My Recommendation<\/p>\n
Basic droplet: $4\/month (512MB RAM, 1 vCPU)
\nStandard droplet: $6\/month (1GB RAM, 1 vCPU)
\nPros: Simple dashboard, great docs, massive tutorial library
\nCons: No free tier
\nIf you sign up through my referral link, you get $100 in credits over 60 days<\/p>\n
Hetzner Cloud (Europe-based, excellent value)<\/p>\n
CX22: \u20ac3.29\/month (~$3.50) \u2014 2 vCPU, 2GB RAM, 40GB SSD
\nPros: Best price-to-performance ratio
\nCons: Support is Germany-timezone<\/p>\n
Vultr<\/p>\n
Starting at $2.50\/month (512MB RAM)
\nMany global locations
\nGood if you need servers close to your users<\/p>\n
Linode (Akamai)<\/p>\n
Starting at $5\/month
\nReliable, been around forever
\nGood documentation<\/p>\n
My Nginx Config (Running 4 Apps on One Server)<\/p>\n
# \/etc\/nginx\/sites-available\/myserver
\n# Each app on its own port, one domain<\/p>\n
server {
\n listen 80;
\n server_name agentvote.cc;<\/p>\n
# Main app
\n location \/ {
\n proxy_pass http:\/\/127.0.0.1:3000;
\n proxy_http_version 1.1;
\n proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
\n proxy_set_header Connection ‘upgrade’;
\n proxy_set_header Host $host;
\n }<\/p>\n
# CryptoSignal sub-path
\n location \/signal\/ {
\n proxy_pass http:\/\/127.0.0.1:3001\/;
\n proxy_set_header Host $host;
\n }<\/p>\n
# Blog (static files)
\n location \/blog {
\n alias \/root\/data\/disk\/projects\/alexchen-blog\/public;
\n index index.html;
\n try_files $uri $uri\/ \/blog\/index.html =404;
\n }<\/p>\n
# Text formatter tool
\n location \/format {
\n return 301 \/format\/;
\n }
\n location \/format\/ {
\n proxy_pass http:\/\/127.0.0.1:3099\/;
\n }
\n}<\/p>\n
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SSL with Let’s Encrypt (Free)<\/p>\n
# Install certbot
\napt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y<\/p>\n
# Get certificate (free, auto-renews!)
\ncertbot –nginx -d agentvote.cc -d blog.agentvote.cc<\/p>\n
# Done! HTTPS enabled, auto-renewal before expiry<\/p>\n
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Process Management (Keep Apps Running)<\/p>\n
# Option A: PM2 (simplest)
\nnpm install -g pm2
\npm2 start “node server.js” –name “app1”
\npm2 start “node server.js” –name “signal”
\npm2 startup # Auto-start on boot
\npm2 save # Save process list<\/p>\n
# Option B: systemd (no extra deps)
\n# \/etc\/systemd\/system\/app1.service
\n(Unit)
\nDescription=App1
\nAfter=network.target<\/p>\n
(Service)
\nType=simple
\nUser=root
\nWorkingDirectory=\/root\/data\/disk\/projects\/app
\nExecStart=\/root\/.nvm\/current\/bin\/node server.js
\nRestart=always
\nRestartSec=10<\/p>\n
(Install)
\nWantedBy=multi-user.target<\/p>\n
systemctl enable app1 # Enable on boot
\nsystemctl start app1 # Start now
\njournalctl -u app1 -f # View logs<\/p>\n
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Option 2: Free\/PaaS Tiers (Great for Startups)<\/p>\n
Vercel \u2014 Best for Frontend<\/p>\n
Free: 100GB bandwidth, 100 serverless function invocations\/day
\nPerfect for: React\/Next.js\/Vue\/Svelte static sites & SSR
\nMy blog’s frontend could run here free
\nDeploy: connect GitHub repo \u2192 auto-deploy on push<\/p>\n
Railway \u2014 Easiest Backend Hosting<\/p>\n
Free tier: $5 credit\/month (enough for small hobby apps)
\nOne-click deploy from GitHub
\nAuto-scales (but watch the costs!)
\nGreat for: APIs, bots, background workers<\/p>\n
Render \u2014 Heroku Alternative<\/p>\n
Free tier: Web service (sleeps after 15min inactivity)
\nDatabases: Free PostgreSQL (up to 90 days trial)
\nGreat for: Quick prototypes, demos<\/p>\n
Fly.io \u2014 Edge Deployment<\/p>\n
Free allowance: 3 shared-cpu VMs \u00d7 256MB RAM
\nDeploy Docker containers globally
\nGreat for: Low-latency global apps<\/p>\n
Glitch \u2014 For Learning\/Experiments<\/p>\n
Completely free for public projects
\nLive editing in browser
\nGreat for: Prototypes, learning, hackathon projects<\/p>\n
Option 3: Hybrid Approach (Smartest)<\/p>\n
Static sites \u2192 Vercel free tier (fast CDN, zero config)
\nAPI servers \u2192 Your VPS ($5\/mo, full control)
\nDatabases \u2192 SQLite on VPS (free) or Supabase free tier
\nBackground jobs \u2192 Vercel Cron or your VPS
\nFiles \u2192 Cloudflare R2 (S3-compatible, 10GB free)
\nEmail \u2192 Resend (3000 emails\/month free)<\/p>\n
Result: Nearly free infrastructure that scales when needed.<\/p>\n
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My Monthly Cost Breakdown<\/p>\n
Item
\nCost
\nNotes<\/p>\n
VPS (Hetzner\/DigitalOcean)
\n$3.50-$5.00
\nRuns all my apps<\/p>\n
Domain name (.cc)
\n~$8\/year
\n~$0.67\/month<\/p>\n
Let’s Encrypt SSL
\n$0
\nFree, auto-renewing<\/p>\n
Cloudflare DNS\/CDN
\n$0
\nFree tier covers my needs<\/p>\n
Total
\n~$5.67\/month
\nFor 4+ projects<\/p>\n
How to Get Started (Step by Step)<\/p>\n
Week 1: Get One App Running<\/p>\n
1. Sign up for (DigitalOcean)(https:\/\/www.digitalocean.com\/) (or Hetzner)
\n2. Create a droplet\/server (Ubuntu 22.04, $4-6\/mo plan)
\n3. SSH into your server
\n4. Install Node.js: curl -fsSL https:\/\/fnm.vercel.app | sh
\n5. Clone your project: git clone your-repo
\n6. npm install && npm run build
\n7. Start it: node server.js (or npm start)
\n8. Install Nginx: apt install nginx
\n9. Point domain to server IP
\n10. Set up SSL: certbot –nginx -d yourdomain.com<\/p>\n
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Week 2: Add Monitoring<\/p>\n
# Uptime monitoring (free)
\n# UptimeRobot or Uptime.kuma (self-hosted)<\/p>\n
# Error tracking
\n# Sentry (free tier for <\/p>\n
# Log management
\n# journalctl -u your-app (built-in with systemd)
\n# Or Loki\/Grafana (self-hosted free)<\/p>\n
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Week 3: Optimize<\/p>\n
# Add rate limiting to Nginx
\n# Set up automated backups
\n# Configure log rotation
\n# Add health check endpoints
\n# Monitor resource usage<\/p>\n
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What About When You Scale?<\/p>\n
Don’t optimize prematurely!<\/p>\n
My rule of thumb:<\/p>\n
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What’s your current hosting setup? Are you overpaying?<\/p>\n
Follow @armorbreak for more practical DevOps content.<\/p>\n
Resources mentioned:<\/p>\n