Feature by feature
11 dimensions compared, August 2026
7
Hostwares
3
Northflank
| Feature | HHostwares | N Northflank |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat packs: $3 / $7 / $18 per month | Metered: $0.01667/vCPU-hr + $0.00833/GB-hr, per-second |
| 1 vCPU / 2GB dedicated | $7/mo | $24/mo |
| Free tier | No - $3/mo entry | Sandbox: 2 services + 1 DB free, always-on |
| Managed databases | From $3/mo flat | Addons, metered compute + $0.15/GB disk |
| GPUs | No | L4 $0.80/hr, A100 $1.42/hr, H100 $2.74/hr |
| BYOC (your own cloud) | No | Yes |
| One-click services | 326+ consumer/business apps | Developer templates |
| AI capabilities | AI DevOps agent (web + CLI) | GPU infra for AI; no ops agent |
| Egress | Not metered (fair use) | $0.06/GB |
| Team pricing | No seats | No seats |
| Payment methods | PayPal, Stripe, bKash | Credit card |
Sources: northflank.com pricing page & docs, August 2026. Vendors change pricing - confirm on their site.
Northflank pricing vs Hostwares pricing
Northflank meters per second: CPU at $0.01667 per vCPU-hour (~$12/vCPU-month), memory at $0.00833 per GB-hour (~$6/GB-month) - its own published plan for a dedicated 1 vCPU / 2GB service is $24/mo. Disk is $0.15/GB-month, egress $0.06/GB, GPUs from $0.80/hr. There's a genuinely useful free sandbox (2 services, 1 database). Hostwares Standard delivers the same 1 vCPU / 2GB shape for $7/mo flat, disk included.
$ scenario: API service (1 vCPU / 2GB) + Postgres addon
HHostwares
- flat. same price in your biggest month.
The honest verdict
Choose Hostwares if…
- You want a $7 flat price instead of ~$24 metered for the same resources
- You don't need Kubernetes-grade pipelines - you need apps running
- You want an AI DevOps agent, one-click services, cPanel, and domains
- You want simpler mental overhead than a platform-engineering tool
Choose Northflank if…
- You need GPUs (L4/A100/H100 by the hour)
- You want BYOC - running the platform inside your own AWS/GCP account
- You're a platform team building complex CI/CD pipelines and preview environments
Why teams switch from Northflank
70% cheaper for the same shape
1 vCPU / 2GB is $24/mo on Northflank's own pricing page and $7/mo on Hostwares - before their egress and disk meters start.
Apps, not platform engineering
Northflank shines when a platform team wants pipelines, preview environments, and BYOC. If you just want your product deployed and managed, that power is overhead.
AI handles the ops
Northflank gives you excellent observability to do your own ops. Hostwares' AI agent does the ops - reads logs, patches configs, restarts services.
A consumer-grade catalog
WordPress, Ghost, n8n, Supabase and 320+ more, one click. Plus cPanel hosting and domain registration nobody in this category offers.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hostwares a good Northflank alternative?
For hosting production apps and databases affordably, yes - same container fundamentals at roughly a third of the metered price, plus an AI DevOps agent. Northflank remains the better choice for GPU workloads, BYOC, and platform-engineering teams.
How does pricing compare?
Northflank's published dedicated 1 vCPU / 2GB plan is $24/mo plus $0.15/GB disk and $0.06/GB egress. Hostwares Standard is $7/mo flat with 25GB disk included and no egress metering.
Does Hostwares offer GPUs like Northflank?
No. If you need GPU compute (model training/inference), Northflank's hourly L4/A100/H100 instances are a real strength. Hostwares' AI features are about operating your infrastructure, not renting GPUs.
Does Hostwares have a free tier like Northflank's sandbox?
No - Hostwares starts at $3/mo. Northflank's free sandbox (2 services, 1 database, always-on) is one of the more generous in the industry and great for experiments.
Can I migrate from Northflank to Hostwares?
Yes - both deploy from Git/Docker, so connecting your repo and copying environment variables covers the app. Databases move with standard dump/restore, and the AI assistant can guide it.
How much does Hostwares cost?
Resource packs are $2/mo for Micro (0.25 vCPU, 256 MB, 5 GB), $3 for Starter (0.5 vCPU, 512 MB, 10 GB), $7 for Standard (1 vCPU, 2 GB, 25 GB), $18 for Performance (2 vCPU, 4 GB, 50 GB) and $35 for Business (4 vCPU, 8 GB, 100 GB). One pack runs one deployment - a site, a database or a service.
Is there a free tier?
No. Entry is $2/mo for a Micro pack. There is no free tier and no signup bonus - if a competitor's free tier covers your project, use it.
Do you charge for bandwidth?
No. Packs are a flat monthly price and traffic is not metered, so a busy month costs the same as a quiet one.
Are there per-seat fees?
No. You pay for resources, not for people. Adding teammates does not change the bill.
What is your refund policy?
Resource packs carry a 7-day money-back guarantee on first purchase. cPanel hosting is a pro-rated refund within the first 7 days if the account has not been used. Servers are a full refund within 48 hours if not provisioned, pro-rated within 7 days. Domains are non-refundable per ICANN policy. Full terms are on the refund policy page.
How do I pay?
PayPal, Stripe (card) and bKash, invoice-based. AI credits are a separate balance and are only used for the AI agent, never for hosting.
Does the price change at renewal?
No. The price you buy at is the price you renew at. There is no introductory rate that steps up later.
How do I deploy an application?
Connect a GitHub repository and Hostwares detects the framework and builds it. Next.js, React, Vue, Svelte, Node, Python, Go, Ruby, PHP and static sites are detected without configuration. You can also deploy any Docker image or upload a ZIP.
Can I deploy from a private repository?
Yes. Connect your GitHub account and private repositories become selectable in the deploy panel.
Do you support Docker?
Yes. Deploy any public or private Docker image with a tag and a port, or let a Dockerfile in your repository drive the build.
What databases can I run?
Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Redis and MongoDB from $3/mo, with automated backups and a connection string. Each database occupies its own pack.
Do I get shell access?
You get a shell into your own container. You do not get root on the host - if you need kernel modules or arbitrary system packages, an unmanaged VPS is the right tool rather than a managed platform.
Can I run background workers and cron jobs?
Yes. A worker or scheduled job is a separate deployment from the same repository with a different start command, so it needs its own pack.
How long does a deployment take?
Most applications build and go live in about 60 seconds. Larger stacks - Supabase runs 14 containers - take a few minutes.
Are custom domains and SSL included?
Yes. Custom domains are included on every pack and SSL certificates are issued and renewed automatically once DNS resolves to us. There is no per-domain charge.
Can I register domains through Hostwares?
Yes, from $9.58/yr for a .com, with DNS management included for domains in your account.
Do you offer email hosting?
Email mailboxes come with cPanel hosting, which is a separate product from container packs and starts around $1.25/mo equivalent. Container packs do not include mailboxes.
How do I migrate an existing application?
Push the project to GitHub, connect the repository, move your environment variables across, and dump and restore any databases. For most standard applications this is under an hour. Detailed guides exist for Heroku, Vercel and Railway.
Will you help me migrate?
Ask through a support ticket. The AI DevOps agent can also perform much of the work directly - connecting the repository, setting environment variables, provisioning a database and diagnosing failed builds.
What is the AI DevOps agent?
An AI that operates your infrastructure through conversation - deploying from GitHub, reading build logs, diagnosing failures, setting environment variables, configuring domains and provisioning databases. It is available in the dashboard, from a CLI, and as an MCP server for editors such as Cursor and Claude Desktop.
Does the AI agent cost extra?
It uses AI credits, which are a separate balance from hosting. Chat starts at $0.10 and task execution at $0.50. Billing and support questions are free regardless of balance.
What support do you offer?
Support tickets from the dashboard, with the AI agent available for technical troubleshooting at any hour. We are a small team - if you need a contractual enterprise SLA with named contacts, we do not offer that today.
Are backups included?
Managed databases have automated backups. Verify a restore before you rely on it - that advice applies to any provider, ours included.
Where are your servers located?
Deployments run in a single region per container rather than across a global edge network. If your application needs multi-region placement or edge delivery close to users on several continents, a platform built for that is the better choice.
Do you have a status page?
Yes, at /status, showing real-time platform and infrastructure status.
Are you SOC 2 certified?
No. We have not completed a SOC 2 audit. If your procurement process requires one, that is a genuine reason to choose a larger provider.
How long has Hostwares been running?
Hostwares LLC was incorporated in Wyoming in 2026, so we are a new platform. If a long uptime track record is your main criterion, an established provider is the honest answer.
Can I export my data and leave?
Yes. Deployments are standard containers built from your own repository, and databases can be dumped with the usual tools. There is no proprietary format holding your application in place.
What happens if I do not pay an invoice?
Invoices are raised ahead of the due date so you can pay early. After the due date a grace period runs before services are suspended, and suspended services are terminated after 30 days of non-payment. You are emailed at each stage.
More platform comparisons
Deploy in 60 seconds.
From $1/mo, flat.
Connect GitHub, pick a pack, and let the AI DevOps agent handle the rest - deploys, debugging, and fixes included.
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