blitz.cloud vs PikaPods: hosted open-source apps in the EU
PikaPods against blitz.cloud for hosted open-source apps like Nextcloud, n8n and Immich - free plan, pricing per app or per account, your own code, sources checked 14 October 2026.
PikaPods and blitz.cloud both run open-source apps for you, so you don't rent a server and keep it patched yourself. PikaPods is the better choice when the app you want is only in its larger catalogue, when you want every app running around the clock for a few dollars, or when you need a US region. blitz.cloud fits when you want to start without paying or adding credit, run several apps for one account price, or put your own code next to the store apps, hosted by a German company.
At a glance
| blitz.cloud | PikaPods | |
|---|---|---|
| Company | BlitzWorks UG, Regensburg, Germany | Peakford Ltd, Malta (the team behind BorgBase) |
| Regions | One region in the EU | EU and US locations |
| How you pay | A plan for the whole account: free, or Pro at 7 EUR a month including VAT. One app can also be made a Pro app on its own | Prepaid credit, billed by the hour per app ("pod") for the CPU, memory and storage you pick, prices in USD plus VAT |
| Start without paying | Free plan with 5 apps and 512 MB memory, no card, no end date. Apps sleep after 30 minutes without visitors | $5 welcome credit, no permanent free tier |
| Cheapest app that runs all the time | Pro for the whole account, or one Pro app | From $1.80 a month per app at the smallest size |
| Apps | 5 on free, 50 on Pro, from 44 store apps | A larger catalogue of open-source apps |
| Your own code | Yes: public Docker images, and GitHub repositories that go online on every push | No, only apps from the catalogue |
| Managed databases | PostgreSQL, MariaDB and Redis, with nightly backups | Set up inside the app where it needs one |
| Backups | Databases every night (7 nights on free, 30 on Pro), app files every night on Pro | Daily backups, and you can download your data over SFTP |
| Own domain | On Pro or a Pro app | Yes |
Where PikaPods is the better choice
PikaPods has been running hosted apps longer and lists more of them. If the app you want isn't among blitz.cloud's 44, that settles it. Its pods don't sleep: you pay by the hour for what each one uses, so a small app that has to answer at any time costs a few dollars a month. You can also give one app far more room than a blitz.cloud plan has, up to 16 GB of memory, and choose a US location. PikaPods shares revenue with the authors of the apps it hosts, which some people care about when they pick a host.
Where blitz.cloud fits better
- You want to try an app before paying anything. The free plan needs no card and no credit, and apps wake up on the next visit.
- You run several apps. Pro is one price for the account, so five apps that stay awake cost 7 EUR a month, not five pods.
- You want your own project next to the store apps: a Docker image, or a GitHub repository that goes online on every push.
- You want the database managed for you, with nightly backups you can restore from the dashboard.
- You want a German company and one EU data centre, and support in German or English.
Moving an app from PikaPods
Install the same app from the blitz.cloud App Store, then move its data over: download the files over SFTP from PikaPods and upload them in the app, or use the app's own export and import (Nextcloud, Vaultwarden, n8n and most others have one). Keep the PikaPods pod until the new one works.
Sources
Facts checked on 14 October 2026. Prices and plans change; tell us at hallo@blitzworks.io if something here is out of date.
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Keep your app awake.
On Pro an app answers at any hour, so schedules run on time and webhooks arrive straight away. 7 EUR a month for all your apps. Try it free for 14 days: starting doesn't need payment details, and if you don't add them before it ends, nothing is charged.