GoToSocial is probably the best way to get yourself onto the fediverse at the lowest price possible. It's an excellent choice for solo instances and enables you to migrate both to and from Mastodon...
They don’t have pricing listed for GoToSocial, but judging by their Mastodon packages their entry options are very limited in capability. 2GB for the database and 10GB for media storage will fill up very quickly if you follow more than a few dozen accounts.
Yeah, I personally wouldn’t choose them, but I think they do fill a niche for non-techie users, who will gladly pay a (sometimes hefty) premium for having less hassle on the setup and maintenance sides, when compared to getting A VPS or dedicated server somewhere (or setting smth up at home).
Their videos are also usually pretty informative, including e.g. the one about managing mastodon storage - since it’s topical here.
I think the model is perfectly valid, so much so that I am also providing a similar service to serve this same niche. I just wanted to point out this in case someone comes to me and say “you are charging $14/month for GoToSocial, this is so much more than $COMPETITOR”. Yes, my base price is higher but I do not put any limits on the database and even my lowest capacity plans have a very generous soft-limit 100GB media storage.
Ah, that makes the context more understandable. Also, good job on providing that service, I think it’s actually great to have that in the ecosystem.
I do not put any limits on the database and even my lowest capacity plans have a very generous soft-limit 100GB media storage.
Actually, wow, yeah, having a quick look at your site, that is a very good and competitive offer for these prices and services provided, all things considered.
Well, sure, that’s the usual tactic: hook users into your platform and then after they already invested the time to get things set up, make them pay.
I really hope these strategies don’t become the norm. The amount of people who are willing to pay for hosting is still quite small, I don’t want to have to take Communick into some race to the bottom to compete for these customers.
Also, they do charge for media storage. So, even if you are not paying for the instance you may find yourself paying a significant bill because you follow a bunch of media-heavy accounts.
They don’t have pricing listed for GoToSocial, but judging by their Mastodon packages their entry options are very limited in capability. 2GB for the database and 10GB for media storage will fill up very quickly if you follow more than a few dozen accounts.
Yeah, I personally wouldn’t choose them, but I think they do fill a niche for non-techie users, who will gladly pay a (sometimes hefty) premium for having less hassle on the setup and maintenance sides, when compared to getting A VPS or dedicated server somewhere (or setting smth up at home).
Their videos are also usually pretty informative, including e.g. the one about managing mastodon storage - since it’s topical here.
I think the model is perfectly valid, so much so that I am also providing a similar service to serve this same niche. I just wanted to point out this in case someone comes to me and say “you are charging $14/month for GoToSocial, this is so much more than $COMPETITOR”. Yes, my base price is higher but I do not put any limits on the database and even my lowest capacity plans have a very generous soft-limit 100GB media storage.
Ah, that makes the context more understandable. Also, good job on providing that service, I think it’s actually great to have that in the ecosystem.
Actually, wow, yeah, having a quick look at your site, that is a very good and competitive offer for these prices and services provided, all things considered.
They say it’s free to use during beta, so that’s probably why there’s no price for it yet.
Well, sure, that’s the usual tactic: hook users into your platform and then after they already invested the time to get things set up, make them pay.
I really hope these strategies don’t become the norm. The amount of people who are willing to pay for hosting is still quite small, I don’t want to have to take Communick into some race to the bottom to compete for these customers.
Also, they do charge for media storage. So, even if you are not paying for the instance you may find yourself paying a significant bill because you follow a bunch of media-heavy accounts.