SA Hosting Options

[Nibbler's Ghost]

I'm looking for local hosting. Affordable, available, accessible, etc...

I've been through quite a few--still a little peeved at those, so I can't be objective about my opinions on them (why I'm not sharing). I'm happy for the people who can make those options work though.

1.) My list - Critical Needs:

• Let's Encrypt as the default / standard. Automated management - Dealbreaker if not available.
• I should be able to install InvoicePlane via whatever auto-script installer they might provide, I will do it manually, but if it doesn't run on their platform, dealbreaker - This seems easy, it runs on a potato, right...?, then why do some struggle with it...? Not looking for an alternative. Invoice Shelf is my next invoicing app, just waiting for the custom localisation options they're adding in August. I can run this via Docker on my VPS, I just don't want to. It's Laravel, it needs to run from the public folder.
• 5+ Addon domains with auto Let's Encrypt SSL (will settle for 3 - 5 only, to start with...) - Might seem easy, but again, quite a few struggle with this.
• Email - Maybe this should've been the very first one. Surprisingly difficult to get right, in 2024... I'd like to be able to send myself an email and it not end up in my own--mydomain.tld email--spam folder. Also, some hosts think you can run an entire business, including multiple employees, with one single email address--I need a minimum of 10. Don't care about aliases. (I'm referring to business email providers here). I will not pay extra for every single mailbox. (MX Route is an option, but the upfront $49 is a bit much just for testing. Also, I've seen the folks in charge share personal information of some of their customers in public, when those customers dared to say something negative, ja... not cool).
• Multiple php versions, per domain or sub-domain. 8.1 for InvoicePlane. 8.2/3 for WordPress, etc... - I don't use WordPress anymore, but I do set up demos for clients / potential clients, performance is important.
• A server that works, I don't really care about Apache vs nginx vs LiteSpeed - A properly configured Apache is good. My site is bare basics, I use Publii.
• SSH - Not a dealbreaker, but would be nice.

2.) Now for my business tools - Internal / Non-Critical:

• Planka - I can run this in Docker--I actually do run this as a Docker container locally at the moment, but if somebody knows something along the lines of RepoCloud, but a little more local, that'd be amazing! (I'll probably end up running this on my VPS using Docker, so not a dealbreaker). Kanban changed my life, I'm not looking for an alternative either.
• n8n / Nodemation - Node based, can run in Docker--I run this in Docker too.
• Active Pieces - Like n8n, with a few other perks.
• Budibase - This is a big one. The free hosted version is great, but limited in the amount of active users you can have at any one time. I use the forms for all of my "provisioning of things", automation is a big deal for what I do.
• Teable / NocoDB - For clients who I'm slowly, and painfully, moving away from "Excel for everything".
• Directus - The things I can do with this should not be possible, but they are. Node based, so easy to run. I can run this in Docker too.

There might be a few I've forgotten, I tend to use a lot of things, but I integrate it all. The second list I can get up and running on a VPS--which I've got on RackZAR (I just love the peace and quiet). But if somebody knows a local host with options for Docker / Node apps, that'd be great.

I'm about 98% ready to pull the trigger on Xneelo for the first list. If somebody can share some experience in working with them longer term, down the road kind of thing, I'd appreciate it. If somebody knows of other hosts, that'd be great too.

I'm not in the biggest hurry, but I've been at this for three weeks now. I've cancelled a lot, I've been refunded once or twice (sometimes I just leave it). My point is, I've wasted a lot of time and money already. I need to get settled because I've got client projects to complete.

Thank you for reading my novel.

 

[Bryn]

RunCloud + an Absolute Hosting VPS would serve you very well. WordPress performance is incredible with RunCloud's LEMP stack, the Cloudflare integration is super handy and they support most types of web apps.

For email, I'd strongly recommend not being cheap. Email is critical to any business. At a minimum, I'd say use Fastmail (R108/mo/user), which is world-class and comparable to MS 365 or Workspace as far as mail, calendar and contacts go. Workspace Starter ($6/mo/user) is even better value as you can use it for Google Meet and Google Chat. Well worth the cost to avoid spam filters, ensure privacy and eliminate any risk of all your mail going up in smoke.

Namecheap's business mail offerings are another decent option you could check out. Prob around R400/mo for 10 mailboxes, but with no shared email addresses.

I have an MXroute account for clients who are too cheap for anything else. It sucks so bad. Deliverability is an issue, client configuration is an issue, the web apps are an issue etc. It's just a trash-tier experience, but at least comparable to any other borderline-free email I've encountered.

It's just my opinion, but Xneelo is a host I avoid like the plague. Ancient hardware predating the Cretaceous period, an awful custom control panel and diabolical performance in all the instances I've been able to benchmark a client's website or server. Others I won't touch with a 10-foot pole are Afrihost, 1-Grid and GoDaddy.

SA has some amazing server providers, so why bother with anything a bit dubious anyway. Vultr, AWS, Azure, GCP, Domains & Absolute Hosting are all good options at a variety of price points.

Either way, good luck man!

 

[foxbeefly]

With you on Afrihost. After 16+ years of hosting with them when I had an accounts problem their accounts department refused to discuss it with me because they had one of my CLIENT'S emails on record as the owner of my domains!!!! And when I contacted Support for help they just kept telling me to call Accounts. Despite the fact that I sent copies of their own emails and WhatsApp chats to them. So far beyond competent.

Can you imagine your hosting company's accounts department emailing your account details to your clients??!!