Express, Fastify, Next.js, NestJS, Remix - any Node.js app, on your own VPS. npm install, point a domain, ship. No "compute units," no cold starts, no surprise tier upgrades.
Heroku, Render, Fly, Vercel - they're all great until the traffic spike that takes your monthly bill from $7 to $300. The "scale-to-zero" magic is also "wake-up cost" your users see as cold-start lag.
A VPS is a predictable flat fee. Run any version of Node, any framework, any database. Drop in a Postgres on the same box. Use PM2 or systemd. The whole stack is yours.
nvm-install, install 18 / 20 / 22 side by side, switch per project.
No managed-DB markup. Postgres / Redis / SQLite on the same VPS for free.
Run your app under PM2 or systemd. Auto-restart on crash, restart on reboot.
Always warm. No idle suspension, no first-request lag.
git clone to "it's live" in 10 minutes.nvm or nodesource apt repocertbot)pm2 or a systemd unit to keep your app running$3/$5/$15 - same bill regardless of how many requests you serve.
Modern hardware. Your build steps and DB queries don't run on commodity SATA.
Run any Node version, any database, any deployment tool. No platform restrictions.
Before that big migration, snapshot. Roll back in seconds if it goes sideways.
Flat fee, full root, no cold starts. Move off the platform billing treadmill.