Looking for the best Node.js hosting for your next application project? In this post, I’ll share a variety of premium and free Node.js hosting services for users of all knowledge levels.
In total, the options that we’ll cover are:
Keep reading for a more detailed look at each platform!
In a rush? Here’s a summary of our findings:
Host | Price from | Pay by usage? * | Cloud-based? |
---|---|---|---|
A2 Hosting | $3.75 | ❌ | ❌ |
HostGator | $23.95 | ❌ | ❌ |
Heroku | $5 | ✅ | ✅ |
AWS | $0 | ✅ | ✅ |
DigitalOcean | $4.00 | ❌ | ❌ |
Glitch | $0 | ❌ | ❌ |
Google Cloud Platform | $0 | ✅ | ✅ |
Microsoft Azure | $0 | ✅ | ✅ |
Platform.sh | N/A | ❌ | ✅ |
NodeChef | $9.00 | ❌ | ❌ |
1. A2 Hosting (www.A2Hosting.com)
A2 Hosting is one of the few “traditional” hosts to offer a dedicated Node.js hosting package. That is, you’re typically looking at cloud or dedicated options for Node.js, but A2 Hosting lets you use their shared plans.
This makes A2 Hosting quite an affordable option, with plans starting at $3.75 per month for:
- Unlimited websites
- Unlimited databases
- Unlimited storage and transfer
- Free SSL certificate
- cPanel for server management
The $3.75 already offers great performance, but if you really wanted to up your performance game, then you could always opt for one of the higher level plans.
However, the downside of A2 Hosting is that it won’t be as easy to scale your application as it would be with one of the many cloud Node.js hosting providers on this list.
2. HostGator (www.HostGator.com)
HostGator is a household name when it comes to web hosting overall, but despite its popularity, you might not associate it specifically with the best Node.js hosting providers. That’s probably because HostGator doesn’t prominently advertise their Node.js hosting to the same degree as they do their other hosting packages. Perhaps they don’t see it as a big draw, but regardless of their own business rationale behind it, they do offer Node.js hosting as part of their VPS plans – and their VPS plans are first class!
Once you sign up for a VPS package, all you have to do is contact them and ask them to install Node.js for you and you’ll be good to go. From there you’ll not only have Node.js capabilities, but you’ll have all of the other elite features that come with their VPS plans.
The Snappy 2000 plan is their entry-level VPS option that supports Node.js, and it’ll set you up with some of the following benefits:
- 2GB of RAM
- 120 GB SSD
- LetsEncrypt SSL certificate
- Off-site backup of your private server data each and every week
- Host unlimited domains, create unlimited email addresses, databases, FTP accounts, and more
HostGator also makes it easy to scale as you grow, by adding more RAM, CPU, or disk space, but the Snappy 2000 plan is a solid start for most people. It starts off at $34.99 per month, and comes with a 30-day money back guarantee.
If that’s way more than you need or outside of your budget, then don’t worry, because the next several options on the list are significantly less expensive. Keep reading to find the best Node.js hosting option for your needs.
3. Heroku (www.Heroku.com)
Heroku is a cloud application platform that offers cheap Node.js hosting, for only $5 per month. That’s a pretty big draw in and of itself. Of course, you do get what you pay for, and there are some limitations. If you’re looking to do a serious Node.js project, then you’ll want to consider one of their higher level plans. However, if you’re just looking for cheap Node.js hosting to play around with, it’s a good place to start!
So what are the limits for Heroku’s entry-level Node.js hosting plan? Namely:
- 512MB of memory
- Sleeps after 30 minutes of inactivity
- No free SSL certificate
- Comes with a limit of 1,000 “dyno hours”
If those restrictions get in the way of your plans, Heroku’s higher level plans can still be affordable, starting at just $7 for the next plan above the entry level. For that extra $2 per month, your number of process types goes up from two to ten, and you get set up with a free SSL certificate for your custom domain.
Heroku is well-documented, offers easy scaling, and is just generally pretty developer friendly.
4. Amazon Web Services (AWS.Amazon.com)
You’ve probably heard of Amazon Web Services because it powers like…the entire Internet. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s pretty, pretty popular.
Through its many integrated services, AWS makes a great option for hosting Node.js applications.
While there are a lot of different services to choose from, you’ll most likely want to start with Elastic Beanstalk, which “makes it easy to deploy, manage, and scale your Node.js web applications using Amazon Web Services.”
You just need to upload your code, and then AWS handles deployment and provisioning. Plus, there’s no special charge for the Elastic Beanstalk service – you still only pay for the actual AWS services that you use.
Another interesting option is Lambda, which offers a serverless hosting approach.
If you aren’t super familiar with AWS yet, you can check out the “Deploy a Node.js Web App” project guide to learn the basics and get your app up and running.
5. DigitalOcean (www.DigitalOcean.com)
DigitalOcean, the popular cloud infrastructure service, also makes a good option for Node.js hosting and lets you spin up a new Node.js Ubuntu droplet with just a few clicks. Or, you can also create your own droplet and set everything up yourself.
It’s not the best option for inexperienced users because you’ll need to manage the infrastructure yourself, but the prices are affordable and DigitalOcean makes it super easy to scale your application as needed.
You can get started with a new droplet for as little as $4.00 per month, and you’ll have your choice of eight different data centers on three different continents.
Alternatively, you can also sign up for Cloudways and pick a hosting setup powered by DigitalOcean. Cloudways provides an easy to set-up interface for beginners which compensates for the price.
6. Glitch (Glitch.com)
If you’re looking for free Node.js hosting for a fun project, then Glitch’s free plan might be the tool for you. It’s great for fun apps or prototyping. For more serious projects, you’d want to consider their Pro plan, which runs for $8 per month (paid on an annual basis).
The free plan even lets you create an app anonymously, though you’ll need to log in via GitHub or Facebook if you want the project to stay active (anonymous apps expire in five days).
Additional limitations of the free plan include:
- Projects sleep after 5 minutes of inactivity
- 200MB disk space limit
- 512MB RAM
- Limited to 4,000 requests per hour
- Anyone with your project URL can view your app and the code
Glitch was acquired by Fastly in 2022, and shortly after began offering the Pro plan as a way to expand on the limits listed above. It was originally made by the same team as Stack Overflow, Stack Exchange, and Trello (before Trello was acquired by Atlassian), so it’s got some clout behind it.
7. Google Cloud Platform (Cloud.Google.com)
If you want to host your Node.js app on the same infrastructure that powers Google Search and YouTube, Google Cloud Platform might just be the best Node.js hosting for you.
Like Amazon Web Services, you’ll have your choice of a ton of different products and services. One that you’ll definitely want to consider is Google App Engine, which lets you “focus just on writing code, without the worry of managing the underlying infrastructure”.
And, like AWS, you’ll only pay for the resources that you actually use.
For a guide to getting started with hosting Node.js apps on Google Cloud Platform, check out Google’s Node.JS App Engine quick-start guide.
8. Microsoft Azure (Azure.Microsoft.com)
Another one of the big name cloud computing platforms, Microsoft Azure also offers a number of services that make it easy to host and deploy Node.js applications.
Specifically, Azure’s App Service offers a fully managed solution for hosting Node.js applications.
Another attractive thing about Microsoft Azure is that it offers 12 months of free core services, along with a $200 credit that you can use for additional services in your first 30 days. So while it’s not free forever, you can get a lot of mileage before you need to pay.
9. Platform.sh (Platform.sh)
If you hate managing infrastructure for your Node.js applications, Platform.sh might be the best Node.js hosting for your app.
As the name suggests, it’s a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that handles managing all of your app’s infrastructure.
It’s not technically hosting itself because Platform.sh partners with AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, etc. But it does make it a lot easier for you to run Node.js applications on that cloud infrastructure.
Platform.sh has a few main plans, with the entry-level one offering a free 30-day trial. You don’t need to enter a credit card to take it for a spin either. They stopped advertising the prices for their main plans though, so you need to contact them to ask.
10. NodeChef (www.NodeChef.com)
With plans starting at just $9.00 per month, NodeChef offers affordable Node.js hosting for your app using Docker containers on bare metal servers in your choice of four data centers on four continents:
- US-East
- EU-West (Paris)
- Singapore
- Sydney
You can choose between SQL and NoSQL databases, and NodeChef also offers easy scaling and automated SSL certificate provisioning.
NodeChef’s $9.00 per month entry-level plan gets you:
- 1 CPU
- 128 MB app memory
- 100 MB database memory
- 1 GB database storage
- Unmetered bandwidth
You can then scale up individual resources as needed.
What’s the best Node.js hosting for your needs?
To close out this post and help you pick the best Node.js hosting for your specific situation, let’s run through some scenarios:
First, if you’re technically-savvy, the big cloud infrastructure services make a good option, and they usually give you services that help streamline managing your app and eliminate a lot of the more tedious infrastructure requirements.
Of course, you have the big three here:
- AWS, along with Elastic Beanstalk
- Google Cloud Platform, along with App Engine
- Microsoft Azure, along with App Service
DigitalOcean and Heroku also offer good options, and Platform.sh offers a PaaS to help you with end-to-end development.
If you’re specifically looking for free Node.js hosting, Glitch’s free plan is a good option for non-mission critical stuff.
Finally, if you don’t want to go the cloud route, A2 Hosting offers an affordable entry point at $3.75 per month and is one of the few hosts that will let you run Node.js without getting your own VPS or dedicated server. And NodeChef also offers an affordable price point with its Docker container approach on bare metal servers.
Here’s the quick summary table again:
Host | Price from | Pay by usage? * | Cloud-based? |
---|---|---|---|
A2 Hosting | $3.75 | ❌ | ❌ |
HostGator | $23.95 | ❌ | ❌ |
Heroku | $5 | ✅ | ✅ |
AWS | $0 | ✅ | ✅ |
DigitalOcean | $4.00 | ❌ | ❌ |
Glitch | $0 | ❌ | ❌ |
Google Cloud Platform | $0 | ✅ | ✅ |
Microsoft Azure | $0 | ✅ | ✅ |
Platform.sh | N/A | ❌ | ✅ |
NodeChef | $9.00 | ❌ | ❌ |
By “Pay by usage”, we mean that you pay based on the actual resources that you use, rather than some set amount every month.
Any questions about picking the best hosting for Node.js? Ask away in the comments!
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Thanks! Any intel on what the current status of github is? We had a github-hosted Node.js/React system but it recently broke with no apparent warning. What was until recently our runnable system is now simply the Readme.md file from the repository:(
Hey Lee. Thanks for reading and for your comment. I’m not sure exactly. Have you looked here by chance for more info? 👇🏻
https://create-react-app.dev/docs/deployment/#github-pages
https://github.com/gitname/react-gh-pages
I would also maybe check this out for more specific node.js support on Git:
https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/.github/SUPPORT.md
I hope that helps point you in the right direction.