Your app on a server you own with OpsCrew, or on a managed platform such as Vercel (opens in a new tab), Heroku (opens in a new tab), Render (opens in a new tab) or Railway (opens in a new tab). Platform prices checked on 6 November 2026.
OpsCrew is alpha software. It is tested live on Hetzner Cloud (opens in a new tab), Contabo (opens in a new tab), a server you already own and an existing Portainer; expect breaking changes before 1.0.
| Topic | Your own server, with OpsCrew | A hosting platform |
|---|---|---|
| What you control | A server in your own account, in the region you pick: your languages, your database, workers and cron jobs side by side. | What the platform offers: its runtimes, its add-ons and its regions. |
| Leaving later | Everything is a plain file in your repository: infrastructure code, workflows and a runbook. Delete OpsCrew and the deployment keeps working, and OpsCrew can move a live app to another provider with its data. | Your code usually moves easily. The platform’s own settings, functions and add-ons are what you rebuild elsewhere. |
| Your effort | About ten minutes to set up, plus your review. After that, each change is a pull request or a plan you approve, and the server installs security updates by itself. | Connect the repository and push. The platform runs and patches the servers for you. |
| Security | OpsCrew hardens the server (key-only SSH, a firewall, fail2ban) and checks it again whenever you ask. The account and its keys are yours to guard. | The platform secures and patches its machines. Your app, its settings and its secrets stay yours to get right. |
| Growing | Your app runs on one server per environment, and a service can get a server of its own. A bigger server is a plan you approve. Nothing scales out on its own. | More instances with a setting, and on some plans automatically. |
| Database backups | Hetzner’s and DigitalOcean (opens in a new tab)’s server backups, at their price. On a server you already have, backups are yours to set up. | Depends on the database plan you pick. |
| Help when stuck | The docs, GitHub (opens in a new tab) issues, and your provider’s support for the server. OpsCrew is open source and in alpha. | The platform’s own support, with paid tiers and, on some plans, an SLA. |
From each platform’s own pricing page, checked on 6 November 2026, in US dollars. Hetzner’s prices are in euros, excluding VAT. Prices change: check the sources before you decide.
| Where | Web service | Database | A month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heroku | Basic, 0.5 GB: $7 | Essential-0, 1 GB disk: $5 | $12 |
| Render | Starter, 512 MB: $7 | 256 MB: $6, plus storage | $13 plus storage |
| Your own server, as OpsCrew sized its test app | Hetzner cx33: 4 vCPUs, 8 GB, 80 GB of disk, shared by both | On the same server, with server backups | €10.69 |
For the smallest app, the bill alone is close, and a platform includes the upkeep. The difference is size and what comes next: €10.69 (€8.49 for the server, €0.50 for its IPv4 address, €1.70 for backups) buys 8 GB of memory for the web app and its database together, against 512 MB for the web service on a platform. Each further part, such as a worker, cron jobs or a cache, is another line on a platform’s bill; on your server it costs nothing extra until the server is full.
Hetzner’s cheapest types are sometimes out of stock. On 3 November 2026 they were, in the locations OpsCrew priced, and the same test app came to €23.89 a month on another type. A smaller app fits a cx23, from about €6 a month. OpsCrew shows the live price before you approve anything.
Run npx opscrew init in your app’s repository. Nothing is created until you approve a plan and its monthly cost.
