Hey everyone! I'm working on an app that has a Nuxt frontend, Hono backend, Better-Auth for authentication, and Postgres as the database. I need some advice on deployment options that won't break the bank. I'm considering several options: Vercel, possibly with Neon, or going the Cloudflare Workers plus D1 route. Alternatively, I've thought about managed Kubernetes solutions like Digital Ocean Doks or Scaleway Kapsule. I'm also open to self-hosting using docker-compose on a VM with providers like Hetzner, Scaleway, or Digital Ocean. I'm really looking for the best mix of reliability, price, and performance. Any insights?
3 Answers
You can actually run your whole stack on a $6/month Digital Ocean droplet! It’s affordable and can handle your setup just fine.
If you're really trying to keep costs down, anything managed might not be the best choice. I'd recommend going with a Hetzner VPS along with an open-source PaaS like Coolify or Dokploy. Add GitHub Actions for CI/CD and you're set! I’ve been using Hetzner for years; their price to performance ratio is hard to beat. Just a heads-up, some PaaS options like Plesk do have fees, but Coolify and Dokploy don't.
For your stack, using Cloudflare Workers with D1 is today's best hit for cost-effectiveness, especially if you're keen on keeping costs minimal until you scale. Since Hono uses web standards, it performs exceptionally well on the edge, avoiding those annoying cold starts from cheaper VPS options. If you need a more robust Postgres experience later, consider swapping D1 for a free tier from Supabase or Neon while keeping your frontend and backend on the edge. No need for K8s yet; that's a lot of overhead at this stage!
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