# blitz.cloud compared with Vercel, Render, Railway, Fly.io and EU hosts

> Price, always-on apps, Docker support and data location for blitz.cloud against Heroku, Render, Railway, Vercel, Fly.io and EU platforms, dated and sourced.

Web page: https://blitz.cloud/compare/
Updated: 2026-09-26

blitz.cloud is a small European hosting platform with a free plan that doesn't expire, one managed database on that plan, and two ways to bring your own code: a public Docker image, or a GitHub repository that goes online on every push. The big US platforms offer far more: global regions, preview environments, private registries and years of production use. The EU platforms keep your data with a European company but mostly ask for a credit card or charge from the first app. Which one fits depends on whether you need those features today or care more about a free setup in the EU.

## All providers side by side

| Provider | EU company, no US parent | EU-only compute possible | Free tier | Run a finished Docker image | Git push deploys | Managed database on the free tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| blitz.cloud | Yes (Germany) | Yes, one region today | Doesn't expire, no card. Apps sleep after 15 minutes without visitors | Yes, public images from Docker Hub, ghcr.io, Quay and other registries, amd64 | Yes, after you connect GitHub | Yes, one (PostgreSQL, MariaDB or Redis) |
| Vercel | No | Functions in EU regions, CDN is global | Hobby, non-commercial use only | Not documented, only a `Dockerfile.vercel` it builds | Yes | No own database, partners via Marketplace |
| Netlify | No | Function region change is Pro and up | 300 credits a month, sites pause when used up | Not verified | Yes | Netlify Database uses credits |
| Heroku | No | "eu" region without a named city; Dublin, Frankfurt, London with Private Spaces | None, Eco from $5 a month, card required | Via Heroku's own registry | Yes | No, Postgres from $5 a month |
| Render | No | Frankfurt | No, services sleep after 15 minutes, free Postgres expires after 30 days | Yes | Yes | Yes, but it expires |
| Railway | No | Amsterdam, region choice not on Free | $1 a month Free plan after a one-time trial | Yes | Yes | Allowed on the trial |
| Fly.io | No | Yes, several EU regions | No free tier, trial only | Yes | No built-in, GitHub Actions | Not verified |
| DigitalOcean App Platform | No | Amsterdam, Frankfurt | Static sites only, payment method required | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cloudflare | No | Containers can be pinned to the EU; Workers EU-only is Enterprise | Workers Free and Pages, containers need a paid plan | Paid plan only | Yes | D1 (SQLite), no managed Postgres or MySQL found |
| Scaleway Serverless Containers | Yes (France) | Yes, all regions are in the EU | Free allowance, credit card required | Yes, public images | No built-in | No |
| Clever Cloud | Yes (France) | Yes | Sign-up credits, no permanent free app | Via git push with a Dockerfile | Yes | Free DEV databases without backups |
| Koyeb | Yes (France, owned by Mistral AI) | Frankfurt, Paris | Removed for new sign-ups | Yes | Yes | No for new sign-ups |
| Northflank | UK company, no US parent | Frankfurt, Netherlands, Zurich | Developer Sandbox, card required | Yes | Yes | Yes, one |

## What an app that stays awake with a database costs

The price question most people bring: one app that answers at any hour, with its own database, per month. Prices are as each provider lists them, on the date in the last column.

| Provider | One always-on app with a database, a month | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| blitz.cloud | Pro, 7 EUR for your whole account: all your apps can stay awake, with up to 5 databases | Our price, VAT included |
| Heroku | $12: Basic dyno $7 plus Essential-0 Postgres $5 | 25 September 2026 |
| Render | $13: Starter instance $7 plus Postgres from $6 | 14 September 2026 |
| DigitalOcean App Platform | $12: container $5 plus dev database $7 | 14 September 2026 |
| Railway | Hobby $5 including $5 of usage; memory and CPU beyond that are billed by use | 14 September 2026 |
| Fly.io | About $40: smallest machine about $2.02 plus managed Postgres from $38 | 14 September 2026 |

On Heroku, Render and DigitalOcean each app and each database has its own memory, and a second app costs a second fee. On blitz.cloud Pro's 4 GB is shared by all your apps. The other providers in the table above bill differently or aren't built for this, so we don't put a number next to them.

## What blitz.cloud doesn't do yet

Being honest about the gaps saves you a wasted afternoon. Today blitz.cloud has no preview deployments, no private images, no arm64 images and no SSH access to apps. Everything runs in one region, and you can't choose it. Custom domains need Pro, which costs 7 EUR a month. The full list is on [what's live](https://blitz.cloud/whats-live/).

Comparing against a self-hosted app host instead of a PaaS? See [PikaPods](https://blitz.cloud/compare/pikapods/), [Elestio](https://blitz.cloud/compare/elestio/), [Cloudron](https://blitz.cloud/compare/cloudron/), [Coolify](https://blitz.cloud/compare/coolify/), or [running your own VPS](https://blitz.cloud/compare/vps/).

## How we compiled this

Every competitor fact comes from the provider's own pricing page, documentation or terms, fetched on 14 September 2026. Each comparison page lists its sources. Where we couldn't confirm something from a primary source, the table says "not verified" instead of guessing. Plans change often, and Netlify, Railway, Fly.io and Koyeb all changed their free offers in 2025 or 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us at hallo@blitzworks.io and we'll fix it.

## Compare

- [blitz.cloud vs Heroku: a Heroku alternative in the EU, always on from 7 EUR a month](https://blitz.cloud/compare/heroku.md): Heroku against blitz.cloud on always-on apps, price per app or per account, EU regions, Docker images and Postgres, with sources checked 25 September 2026.
- [blitz.cloud vs Vercel: EU hosting, Docker and price compared](https://blitz.cloud/compare/vercel.md): Vercel against blitz.cloud on data location, Docker images, databases, price and git deploys, with sources checked on 8 October 2026.
- [blitz.cloud vs Render: always-on services, price and EU hosting](https://blitz.cloud/compare/render.md): Render against blitz.cloud on sleeping and always-on services, price, the Frankfurt region, Docker images, Postgres and git deploys, with sources checked 8 October 2026.
- [blitz.cloud vs Railway: price, EU region and Docker compared](https://blitz.cloud/compare/railway.md): blitz.cloud vs Railway, compared 14 September 2026: price, always-on apps, EU region, Docker images, databases and custom domains, and where each fits better.
- [blitz.cloud vs Fly.io: price, EU regions and Docker compared](https://blitz.cloud/compare/fly-io.md): Fly.io against blitz.cloud on price, trial, EU regions, Docker deploys, managed Postgres and certificates, with sources checked 14 September 2026.
- [blitz.cloud vs Netlify: credits, containers and EU hosting compared](https://blitz.cloud/compare/netlify.md): Netlify against blitz.cloud on credits and price, function regions, containers, databases and custom domains, with sources checked 14 September 2026.
- [blitz.cloud vs DigitalOcean App Platform: container prices and EU hosting](https://blitz.cloud/compare/digitalocean-app-platform.md): DigitalOcean App Platform against blitz.cloud on container prices, payment method, EU regions, Docker images and managed databases, checked 14 September 2026.
- [EU PaaS alternatives: blitz.cloud, Scaleway, Clever Cloud, Koyeb, Northflank](https://blitz.cloud/compare/eu-paas-alternatives.md): blitz.cloud, Scaleway, Clever Cloud, Koyeb and Northflank compared on EU company location, regions, what it costs to start and card requirement, checked 8 October 2026.
- [blitz.cloud vs PikaPods: hosted open-source apps in the EU](https://blitz.cloud/compare/pikapods.md): PikaPods against blitz.cloud for hosted open-source apps like Nextcloud, n8n and Immich - price per app or per account, always-on apps, your own code, sources checked 14 October 2026.
- [blitz.cloud vs Elestio: hosted apps and servers compared](https://blitz.cloud/compare/elestio.md): Elestio against blitz.cloud for hosting open-source apps and servers - company location, regions, backup policy, pricing. Sources checked 22 October 2026.
- [blitz.cloud vs Cloudron: hosted apps with your own server](https://blitz.cloud/compare/cloudron.md): Cloudron against blitz.cloud for hosting open-source apps - self-hosted, pricing, management layer, backups. Sources checked 22 October 2026.
- [blitz.cloud vs Coolify: app hosting self-hosted or managed](https://blitz.cloud/compare/coolify.md): Coolify against blitz.cloud for hosting apps - open-source, self-hosted, Coolify Cloud, backups, your own code. Sources checked 22 October 2026.
- [blitz.cloud vs your own VPS: managed app hosting vs self-managed](https://blitz.cloud/compare/vps.md): Running your own VPS against blitz.cloud - cost, effort, patches, backups, TLS certificates, monitoring. Sources checked 22 October 2026.