Compare / Cheap Django hosting, compared
Peter van Doorn
Cheap Django hosting: what it really costs
The cheapest headline price is rarely the cheapest bill. A Django app needs a server and a database, and the catches live in the database: whether it is backed up, how much memory it gets and how much it costs when the app grows.
The short answer. For a tiny app, Heroku, DigitalOcean and Fly.io are cheaper than Django Cloud, and we say so. As an app grows to 1 GB of memory and up, always-on prices on Django Cloud Self-hosted get lower.
Why Django Cloud
- Run it in your own AWS account, or let us run it. On Self-hosted your app runs in your own AWS account: you pay AWS its list price directly and us $10 a month, with no markup on compute. On Fully managed we run a dedicated AWS account for you: $29 a month with a server and a database, and a bigger server or database adds the difference.
- Your own isolated environment, without cold starts. Your app is not squeezed onto servers shared with other customers' apps. It runs in an AWS environment of its own and stays on, so the first visitor after a quiet hour does not wait for a machine to wake up.
- Focused on Django, and nothing else. Static files, migrations before every release, encrypted secrets, rollbacks that warn about database changes and Postgres that connects itself. A generic platform asks you to work these out; we only do Django.
The options at a glance
| Option | Starting price | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Heroku | $12: Basic dyno $7 + Essential-0 Postgres $5 | Shared-RAM database with 20 connections; 1 GB of memory costs $50 |
| DigitalOcean App Platform | $12: $5 server + $7 dev database | The dev database is not backed up and is deleted with the app |
| Fly.io | From $3.69: 512 MB machine | No free tier; managed Postgres starts at $38 a month |
| Railway | $5 plan plus usage | Usage-based: about $10 per GB of memory and $20 per vCPU per month |
| FastAPI Cloud | $0 Hobby, $20 per seat Pro | Built for FastAPI; scale-to-zero on Hobby; databases not listed |
| Django Cloud Fully managed | $29: $4 platform fee + Nano $10 + 1 GB database $15 | Not the cheapest at the smallest size; we run it for you, always on |
| Django Cloud Self-hosted | $32: $10 + Nano $7 + 1 GB database $15 | Not the cheapest at the smallest size; always on, your own AWS account |
A small app and a growing app
| Cheapest elsewhere | Django Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Tiny app, hobby traffic | Heroku or DigitalOcean: $12 | $29 Fully managed, or $32 Self-hosted (Nano $7 + 1 GB database $15 + $10) |
| 1 GB server and a production database | Heroku: $100 with a 4 GB database | $84 Fully managed, or $85 Self-hosted (Small $15 + 4 GB database $60 + $10) |
AWS credits can bring the AWS part of a Django Cloud Self-hosted bill close to zero for a while: new accounts can get up to $200, and startups can apply for up to $1,000 through AWS Activate. Students, open source maintainers, non-profit and scientific projects and AWS Activate startups can also ask us to sponsor Self-hosted.
Start for free with AWS Activate credits
On the Self-hosted plan your app runs in your own AWS account, so AWS credits can pay for it. New AWS accounts can get up to $200 in credits, which is the amount most side projects can count on. Startups can also apply for up to $1,000 through AWS Activate, but AWS decides who qualifies and can change the terms.
Apply for AWS Activate creditsOpen an AWS account
When something else is the better choice
- The lowest price for a tiny app: Heroku, DigitalOcean and Fly.io all start lower
- Free plans if your app may sleep
- Pay-per-use if your traffic is rare and unpredictable
Questions
What is the cheapest way to host a Django app?
For a tiny app with a few visitors, a $12 setup on Heroku or DigitalOcean, or a small Fly.io machine with your own database. For a production app, compare the whole bill including the database and backups.
Can I host Django for free?
Free plans exist, such as FastAPI Cloud's Hobby plan, but they sleep when idle and have small limits. AWS credits can also cover a Django Cloud Self-hosted app for a while. And we make exceptions: students, open source maintainers, non-profit and scientific projects and AWS Activate startups can apply with proof for a sponsorship that covers Self-hosted, with nothing to pay for one project.
Can AWS credits pay for my Django hosting?
On the Self-hosted plan your app runs in your own AWS account, so AWS credits can cover the AWS bill. New AWS accounts can get up to $200 in credits, and startups can apply for up to $1,000 through AWS Activate. AWS decides who qualifies and can change the terms. You still pay Django Cloud $10 a month, unless we sponsor you: students, open source maintainers, non-profit and scientific projects and AWS Activate startups can apply.
Get your Django project live, the easy way
One command or a git push. We host it for you on AWS, or you keep it in your own AWS account, where AWS credits can cover the AWS bill.
Prices and features were checked in October 2026 against the vendors' own pages (Heroku pricing, DigitalOcean App Platform pricing, Fly.io pricing, Railway pricing, FastAPI Cloud pricing, AWS Lightsail pricing), and may have changed since. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.