DockHosting Blog
Ship apps,not servers.
Latest
/Comparisons/7 min read
The 7 Best Heroku Alternatives in 2026 (Free Tiers & Prices Compared)
Heroku has no free plan. We compared Render, Railway, Fly.io, Northflank, DigitalOcean, Koyeb and DockHosting on free tiers and prices, checked Nov 2026.
All articles
/Comparisons
The 7 Best Heroku Alternatives in 2026 (Free Tiers & Prices Compared)
Heroku has no free plan. We compared Render, Railway, Fly.io, Northflank, DigitalOcean, Koyeb and DockHosting on free tiers and prices, checked Nov 2026.
Doughmi ILYAS7 min/Comparisons
Free Backend Hosting in 2026: Sleep, Expiry and Credit Card Rules Compared
Which platforms still host a backend for free in 2026? Sleep timers, database expiry and credit-card rules for 9 hosts, checked on their own pages in Nov 2026.
Doughmi ILYAS7 min/Guides
Free Node.js Hosting That Doesn't Sleep (2026): What Actually Works
Why free Node.js hosts put your app to sleep, which ones still don't, whether keep-alive pings are worth it, and the cheapest way to stay always on in 2026.
Doughmi ILYAS5 min/Comparisons
Railway App Alternatives in 2026: Cheaper, Flat-Priced and Free Options
Looking past Railway's usage billing? Six Railway alternatives compared on free tiers, flat vs usage pricing and databases, with prices checked in Nov 2026.
Doughmi ILYAS5 min/Guides
Render Free Postgres Expired? How to Back Up and Move Your Database
Render's free Postgres expires 30 days after creation, then gets deleted. How to dump it with pg_dump, restore it elsewhere, and avoid it happening again.
Doughmi ILYAS5 min/Product
Why DockHosting? 9 Differences That Matter When You Pick a Host
A free database that never expires, always-on apps from $4/month, flat prices and one-command deploys: what DockHosting does differently, and when it won't fit.
Doughmi ILYAS5 min/Product
What's New on DockHosting: New Platform, the dock CLI and dockhosting.cloud
The new platform, the dock CLI, apps on dockhosting.cloud, storage per plan and lower prices in 42 countries: everything we shipped from 26 Oct to 2 Nov 2026.
Doughmi ILYAS5 min/Guides
How to Host a Discord Bot 24/7 (discord.js & discord.py, 2026)
Keep a discord.js or discord.py bot online 24/7: deploy it with one command, keep the token secret and add the health check that stops it going offline.
Doughmi ILYAS6 min/Guides
How to Deploy a Node.js App in One Command (2026 Guide)
Deploy an Express, NestJS or Fastify app from your terminal with dock deploy: a live HTTPS URL, managed PostgreSQL and logs, starting on a free plan.
Doughmi ILYAS5 min/Guides
502 Bad Gateway After Deploying? 8 Causes and How to Fix Each
Build succeeded but the URL shows 502 Bad Gateway? The 8 real causes (wrong port, localhost binding, crashes, memory, env vars) and how to fix each one.
Doughmi ILYAS4 min/Guides
How to Deploy a Django App to Production (2026 Guide)
Deploy Django with Gunicorn, PostgreSQL, WhiteNoise static files and automatic migrations: production settings, ALLOWED_HOSTS, CSRF and a one-command deploy.
Doughmi ILYAS4 min/Guides
Connect Your App to Managed PostgreSQL with DATABASE_URL (Node.js, Python, Go)
Connect Node.js, Python (Django, FastAPI, SQLAlchemy) and Go apps to managed PostgreSQL with DATABASE_URL: private networking, migrations and backups.
Doughmi ILYAS4 min/Guides
How to Deploy a FastAPI App for Free (2026, with PostgreSQL)
Deploy FastAPI with Uvicorn workers bound to PORT, async PostgreSQL via SQLAlchemy and settings from the environment, starting on a free plan with HTTPS.
Doughmi ILYAS3 min/Guides
How to Deploy Next.js with Docker (Standalone Output, 2026)
Ship Next.js outside Vercel as a small Docker image: output standalone, a multi-stage Dockerfile, HOSTNAME and PORT, and NEXT_PUBLIC variables at build time.
Doughmi ILYAS4 min/Guides
Deploy Laravel with Queues, Scheduler and Redis (No Extra Servers)
Run Laravel in production with queue workers, the scheduler, Redis and MySQL or PostgreSQL in one deploy: no Supervisor config, no cron entry, no extra server.
Doughmi ILYAS4 min/Guides
How to Deploy a Docker Container to the Cloud (Without Managing a Server)
Turn any Dockerfile into a live HTTPS app: production Dockerfiles, multi-stage builds, PORT and health checks, and managed databases on a private network.
Doughmi ILYAS4 min/Explainers
PaaS vs VPS vs Serverless for Side Projects (2026)
PaaS vs VPS vs serverless explained: who manages what, what each costs in time and money, and which one fits your side project, bot or API in 2026.
Doughmi ILYAS4 min/Comparisons/Updated
Render vs Railway vs Fly.io (2026): Pricing, Free Tiers and Which to Pick
Render vs Railway vs Fly.io in 2026: free tiers, always-on prices, Postgres costs and billing models side by side, with every price checked on 6 Nov 2026.
Doughmi ILYAS4 min/Guides
How to Host a Telegram Bot for Free with Webhooks (2026)
Host a Telegram bot for free with webhooks: why they beat polling, a complete bot in Node.js and Python, a secret-token check and a one-command deploy.
Doughmi ILYAS4 min/Guides
How to Deploy a Flask App to Production (Gunicorn + PostgreSQL, 2026)
Take Flask from app.run() to production: Gunicorn, configuration from the environment, PostgreSQL with Flask-SQLAlchemy, migrations and a live HTTPS URL.
Doughmi ILYAS3 min/Guides
How to Deploy a Spring Boot App (Java & Kotlin) Without a Dockerfile
Deploy a Spring Boot app (Java or Kotlin) with Maven or Gradle in one command: PORT binding, PostgreSQL settings injected for you and JVM memory tuning.
Doughmi ILYAS3 min/Guides
Deploy WordPress from Git with Managed MySQL (Step-by-Step)
Run WordPress like a modern app: Git deploys, managed MySQL, automatic HTTPS, persistent uploads and a step-by-step migration of an existing WordPress site.
Doughmi ILYAS3 min/Guides
Deploy an Express + MongoDB REST API to Production (Mongoose, 2026)
Build and deploy a production Express API with MongoDB and Mongoose: MONGODB_URI, validation, error handling, security middleware and graceful shutdown.
Doughmi ILYAS3 min/Explainers/Updated
Where to Host Your Backend When Your Frontend Is on Vercel
Vercel has no always-on servers and Vercel Postgres is gone. Where to run your API, workers, WebSockets and database, and how to wire them to a Vercel frontend.
Doughmi ILYAS4 min
Why DockHosting
Try every guide on this blog for free.
- 01
A free database that never expires
Free includes a managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB or Redis database (500 MB) that doesn't pause and isn't deleted after 30 days.
- 02
Always on from $4 a month
Hobby keeps your app awake 24/7 with 1 GB of memory and your own domain. Heroku's and Render's entry plans are $7.
- 03
Flat prices, no surprise bills
No bandwidth metering and no per-GB overage. Free, $4, $9 or $19 a month, and that's the bill.
- 04
No credit card to start
Sign up and deploy your first app and database without entering payment details.
- 05
One command, no Dockerfile
dock deploy detects Node.js, Python, Go, PHP, Ruby, Java and more, builds it and gives you an HTTPS URL.
- 06
Priced for your country
In 40 countries plans start at $2 a month, and India and Brazil pay in rupees and reais.
Topics
Browse by topic
- Guides16Step-by-step tutorials for deploying apps, bots and databases, with copy-paste code that runs.
- Comparisons4Honest, sourced comparisons of hosting platforms, so you can pick the right one for your project.
- Explainers2The concepts behind modern hosting, explained without the jargon.
- Product2What's new on DockHosting: launches, improvements and fixes.