{"slug": "pikapods", "name": "PikaPods", "category": "infra", "category_name": "Infrastructure and DevOps", "description": "", "recommenders": 7, "commenters": 10, "warners": 0, "score": 7.209, "rising": 1.69, "first": "2025-11-09", "latest": "2026-10-09", "why": "Pikapods is a good alternative to host Listmonk at around $2/mo", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 7, "neutral": 2, "compare": 1, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Pikapods is a good alternative to host Listmonk at around $2/mo", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "pikapods.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.pikapods.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["PikaPods", "Pikapods"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 800247920, "item_id": 50015495, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50015495", "by": "Brajeshwar", "date": "2026-10-09", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "happy customer of https://www.pikapods.com", "excerpt": "Not affiliated, happy customer of https://www.pikapods.com I find it easier to try out the common tools here first and then decide if you need something bigger, heavier to move to a VPS or your own server.", "context": "", "use_case": "Hosted self-hosted apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?"}, {"id": 800237344, "item_id": 50014834, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50014834", "by": "Beijinger", "date": "2026-10-09", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "To give you a start:", "excerpt": "To give you a start: https://www.pikapods.com/apps/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?"}, {"id": 792390561, "item_id": 49524410, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49524410", "by": "bananamogul", "date": "2026-09-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PikaPods also offers Monica hosting in your own container.", "excerpt": "Here you go: https://docs.monicahq.com/developers/setup-local-development That's linked from their GitHub: https://github.com/monicahq/monica PikaPods also offers Monica hosting in your own container.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "We are rebuilding Monica"}, {"id": 769964976, "item_id": 48122811, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48122811", "by": "hirako2000", "date": "2026-05-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's just a few clicks, starting at 2 bucks a month.", "excerpt": "it's just a few clicks, starting at 2 bucks a month. https://www.pikapods.com/apps", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I'm leaving GitHub for Forgejo"}, {"id": 769959953, "item_id": 48122497, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48122497", "by": "kryllic", "date": "2026-05-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've used Pikapods to host my Forgejo instance for about a year and have had absolutely no complaints.", "excerpt": "I've used Pikapods to host my Forgejo instance for about a year and have had absolutely no complaints. I use it for small Godot projects and have used the Git plugin in the Godot asset store to connect to it, so I don't even have to leave the editor to make commits or branches.", "context": "", "use_case": "Hosting self-hosted apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I'm leaving GitHub for Forgejo"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["managed hosting", "hosted self-hosted apps", "hosting apps easily", "hosting self-hosted apps", "managed hosting for self-hosted apps", "hosting listmonk"], "compared": [{"slug": "caprover", "name": "CapRover", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49985548", "title": "Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48121266", "title": "Why I'm leaving GitHub for Forgejo", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49582000", "title": "Cloud in a Bottle: making self-hosting accessible to everyone", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49509655", "title": "We are rebuilding Monica", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45811119", "title": "Stop Renting Your Audience: Run Your Own Newsletter with Listmonk", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {"compare": 1, "recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "quotes": [{"id": 800320320, "item_id": 50020020, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50020020", "by": "whitef0x", "date": "2026-10-09", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use pikapods so more like a managed VPS", "excerpt": "I use pikapods so more like a managed VPS but I run bitwarden along with a photos app on the server which is worth it to me", "context": "", "use_case": "managed hosting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?"}, {"id": 800247920, "item_id": 50015495, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50015495", "by": "Brajeshwar", "date": "2026-10-09", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "happy customer of https://www.pikapods.com", "excerpt": "Not affiliated, happy customer of https://www.pikapods.com I find it easier to try out the common tools here first and then decide if you need something bigger, heavier to move to a VPS or your own server.", "context": "", "use_case": "Hosted self-hosted apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?"}, {"id": 800237344, "item_id": 50014834, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50014834", "by": "Beijinger", "date": "2026-10-09", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "To give you a start:", "excerpt": "To give you a start: https://www.pikapods.com/apps/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?"}, {"id": 800149665, "item_id": 50009354, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50009354", "by": "bthallplz", "date": "2026-10-08", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "paying for self-hosted app instances on PikaPods, but then I learned could get a $5 VPS", "excerpt": "I started out \"self-hosting\" by paying for self-hosted app instances on PikaPods, but then I learned could get a $5 VPS and run most of the same apps there for less cost overall per month while knowing very little about how it all works (using CapRover on a DigitalOcean VPS). The main apps I run are Actual Budget (YNAB alternative), Wallabag (read-it-later service), and FreshRSS (RSS aggregator). I've also been using", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?"}, {"id": 793360192, "item_id": 49585012, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49585012", "by": "creesch", "date": "2026-09-06", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "which only offers a limited selection of available applications", "excerpt": "> Setting up and maintaining a server is easier today than it was decades ago, A LAMP at this time meant a lot of manual setup, IaC wasn't a thing, reproducibility wasn't a goal, versioning was confidential, documentation was scarce and often outdated, out of the box security was lower, ties to the OS were higher. Managing virtual hosts was clunky, updating OS/PHP was risky. I would not go back for anything. You are ", "context": "", "use_case": "Hosting apps easily", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cloud in a Bottle: making self-hosting accessible to everyone"}, {"id": 792390561, "item_id": 49524410, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49524410", "by": "bananamogul", "date": "2026-09-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PikaPods also offers Monica hosting in your own container.", "excerpt": "Here you go: https://docs.monicahq.com/developers/setup-local-development That's linked from their GitHub: https://github.com/monicahq/monica PikaPods also offers Monica hosting in your own container.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "We are rebuilding Monica"}, {"id": 769964976, "item_id": 48122811, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48122811", "by": "hirako2000", "date": "2026-05-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's just a few clicks, starting at 2 bucks a month.", "excerpt": "it's just a few clicks, starting at 2 bucks a month. https://www.pikapods.com/apps", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I'm leaving GitHub for Forgejo"}, {"id": 769959953, "item_id": 48122497, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48122497", "by": "kryllic", "date": "2026-05-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've used Pikapods to host my Forgejo instance for about a year and have had absolutely no complaints.", "excerpt": "I've used Pikapods to host my Forgejo instance for about a year and have had absolutely no complaints. I use it for small Godot projects and have used the Git plugin in the Godot asset store to connect to it, so I don't even have to leave the editor to make commits or branches.", "context": "", "use_case": "Hosting self-hosted apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I'm leaving GitHub for Forgejo"}, {"id": 769955248, "item_id": 48122203, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48122203", "by": "bombcar", "date": "2026-05-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Just like pikapods supports running things like actual budget for you", "excerpt": "Just like pikapods supports running things like actual budget for you - https://actualbudget.org/docs/install/pikapods Something similar from them or digital ocean or linode or Hetzner would be a win. Pika does offer Forgejo and Gitea.", "context": "", "use_case": "Managed hosting for self-hosted apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I'm leaving GitHub for Forgejo"}, {"id": 733951456, "item_id": 45871966, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45871966", "by": "solari", "date": "2025-11-09", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Pikapods is a good alternative to host Listmonk at around $2/mo", "excerpt": "Agreed Medium's being sneaky by no longer sharing your subscriber's email addresses, sigh. For those who don't want to dive into self-hosting, Pikapods is a good alternative to host Listmonk at around $2/mo... https://www.pikapods.com/apps#email Ray", "context": "", "use_case": "hosting Listmonk", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stop Renting Your Audience: Run Your Own Newsletter with Listmonk"}]}