Should you Self-host or
Cloud-host your CMS?

Discover what hosting option suits your website the best.

By Pieti Kinnunen

October 7th, 2024

In today’s market of CMSs (content management systems), the options for cloud-hosted solutions are almost limitless, but anyone looking for a CMS might want to consider self-hosted options as well.

So maybe you have a website project and already know what CMS to use for it. Now, you may still be wondering about how you should host your website. Luckily, in this article we'll talk about cloud-hosting vs self-hosting your CMS.

Cloud-hosting your CMS means relying on a third-party provider to manage the server, offering convenience and scalability, while on the other hand, self-hosting gives you full control over the server but requires more technical expertise and maintenance.

There are multiple reasons to either option with both of them, but they also have their own downsides. Cloud hosting is easier and faster to set up, while self-hosting offers more control and uniqueness. Keep on reading for a more detailed discussion of the two options.

What does it even mean to host your CMS?

So you have a website. You need a CMS (content management system) for it. For the CMS to function properly you need a server environment where the CMS software can run and serve content to users over the internet.

A CMS allows users to create, manage, and modify content on a website without needing to manually code or interact with the backend infrastructure. Hosting the CMS involves ensuring that the software is accessible, secure, and functional, along with storing the website's content (text, images, etc.) and handling requests from users who visit the website.

What is a self-hosted CMS?

Self hosting means that you host your database and CMS backend on your own premises or a server platform of your choice. It's the opposite of cloud-hosting where another service hosts your database. With self-hosting you are the one who gets to choose the settings and definitions for your CMS’ backend.

If you have heard about a so-called VPS (Virtual Private Server), those can be considered a form of self-hosting too. It runs on a physical server but provides a dedicated environment that is isolated from other users and is only yours.

Why self-host your CMS?

Sticking to self-hosting comes with many benefits, especially if you have a developer by your side who knows how to maintain it. Let's look at more good reasons to self-host your CMS.

You'll have full control: When you choose to self-host your CMS, you are in control, which gives you all the opportunities for customization, configuration, features, security, and functionality of your CMS.

Customization: You can tailor the CMS to fit your specific needs without the limitations set by a third-party provider. However, the features of the CMS depend on the CMS option you choose for self-hosting.

Cost-effective: While there are upfront costs for hardware and setup, self-hosting can be more cost-effective in the long run, especially for large-scale operations. For example there is no mark-up on the server calls like there could be when a third party is managing the hosting.

Downsides of self-hosting

There may be some challenges with self-hosting your CMS, the biggest one being the amount of setup and configuration you need to do to get started and keep the system running. Your system may have more downtime than with a cloud-hosted system, since you are the one who is responsible for it whereas with a managed option you usually have an availability agreement with the provider. Let's have a closer look on the potential drawbacks below.

It'll be technically complex: "With great power comes great responsibility". The setup and launch requires a good understanding of server management, networking, and web technologies, which can be challenging for those without technical expertise.

Maintenance: You are responsible for all maintenance, updates, and troubleshooting. This could also be a positive side of self-hosting, if the provider you choose is slow in maintaining their service and your team could be quicker to handle any issues.

Downtime: There is a higher risk of downtime if you do not have a handy web developer by your side. "Downtime" means when the server is down and users cannot access your website.

Scalability: Scaling your infrastructure can become more advanced and costly.

Popular platforms for self-hosting

Amazon EC2: Allows users to rent a virtual computer, which can be utilized for hosting your website.

Google Cloud Services: Scalable cloud infrastructure for hosting CMS with managed services.

DigitalOcean: They have cloud-based hosting with simple, scalable solutions. Supports one-click installs for many CMSs. Good for small to medium-sized projects.

What is a cloud-hosted CMS?

Cloud-hosting uses virtual servers running on a network of interconnected physical servers hosted in data centers. This way you can outsource the the hosting of your your database without putting in too much effort. This differs from traditional hosting (which relies on one physical server) by offering scalability, redundancy, and better uptime. Services like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure are probably some of the most popular cloud hosting solutions out there

Cloud-hosting means that you pay for a third-party provider for hosting your CMS’s backend and database. It can be convenient because you don’t usually have to configure the database settings and other backend hosting service settings yourself.

Why cloud-host your CMS?

Getting started with cloud-hosted CMS options is without a doubt a lot quicker and easier than with a self-hosted CMS. Most providers have a way to get your system up and running with just a couple of command line commands or just by clicking a few buttons on a web interface. There's many good reasons to cloud-host as explained below.

It's easy and convenient: Getting started with cloud-hosted CMS options is, without a doubt, a lot quicker and easier than with a self-hosted CMS. Most providers have a way to get your system up and running with just a couple of command line commands or just by clicking a few buttons on a web interface.

Automatic optimization for performance: When there is servers and data servers all over the world that make sure your CMS can deploy closer to your audience, it reduces latency and load times. There's also so called Content Delivery Networks (DNS) that cache your content at geographically different locations, which also help load times.

Availability and reachability: Cloud providers have data centers around the globe which takes the worries of reaching your audience away.

Scalability: Cloud providers often offer easy scalability options to handle increased traffic and data.

Maintenance: The provider handles all hosting related maintenance, updates, and security patches.

Downsides of cloud-hosting

Cloud-hosted systems do also come with their downsides, let's take a closer look on those.

Costs can add up: Subscription fees can add up over time, especially for high-traffic sites. It's best to make sure those costs are worth it, in that case.

You become dependent on the provider: You have less control over the environment and may be limited by the provider’s features and policies.

Availability and reachability: Yes, this was already covered as a positive advantage, but in the worst case, depending on where your users are located and where your server is hosted, it can on the other hand lead to slow load times and latency.

Security: While providers offer all the security needs, you are still dependent on their measures and policies. Storing sensitive data on a cloud server can in the worst case be a big risk.

Popular platforms for cloud-hosting

Vercel: Vercel is a pioneer in hosting cloud-based, composable (or Jamstack) tech stacks.

Netlify: Not as big as Vercel, but Netlify is another cloud-based hosting platforms for the Composable Web.

AWS (Amazon Web Services): Yes, AWS can do it all. It's a great candidate for cloud-hosting larger projects.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP): A very popular one. GCP has all the compute options, global CDN, and storage solutions with easy integration for CMS hosting.

Microsoft Azure: Azure is another giant in the game. It's sort of an extensive ecosystem of services with integrations for CMS platforms. Especially suitable for enterprise users.

Table comparison

Verdict: What solution is best for you?

When choosing a CMS (content management system), both cloud-hosted and self-hosted options offer their advantages and drawbacks.

Self-hosting gives you more control over your CMS environment, allowing for greater customization and potentially lower long-term costs, but it requires more effort in setup, maintenance, and scaling. Self-hosting can be a better idea if you want a custom-tailored website you have full control over and don't want to become dependent on any providers.

On the other hand, cloud hosting offers convenience, ease of use, and scalability with less initial setup, because the provider manages the maintenance and updates for you. However, it may come with higher ongoing costs, less control, and dependency on the provider’s security and features. Choose a cloud-hosted CMS when you want a ready-made, managed platform without much need for technical management, especially when scalability and simplicity are priorities.

Another thing to address is that, whatever hosting solution you choose, we would recommend a headless CMS, since by decoupling your front-end from the back-end you'll have enjoy flexibility and scalability like with no other CMS's

If you’re in the market for a self-hosted CMS, you might be interested in checking out our article comparing the best self-hosted CMS options out there. If you think a cloud-hosted option is more suitable for you, we also have an article comparing the best options for you.