Cloud Hosting FAQs
Why is AWS so much more expensive for bandwidth?
AWS, GCP, and Azure charge a premium for "Data Transfer Out" (egress) to the public internet, often around $0.09 per GB after the free tier. If your app streams video, serves large images, or handles heavy API responses, this can quickly become your largest expense. Providers like Hetzner or DigitalOcean bundle terabytes of free bandwidth into their base server costs.
Can I scale a SaaS without AWS?
Absolutely. Many highly profitable SaaS companies scale to millions of dollars in ARR using simpler, predictable providers. You can also use a hybrid approach: using AWS for specific managed services (like S3 for storage) while keeping your compute and databases on a more affordable provider.