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Netlify alternative

Aria Cloud vs Netlify. A site host, or the whole stack.

Netlify is a very good home for sites and front ends, billed in credits. Aria Cloud runs the site and everything behind it: the API, the workers and the database, together on one private server.

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Can Kosmaz

Head to head

Aria Cloud and Netlify, side by side

Netlify hosts sites and functions, billed in credits. Aria Cloud runs the site, the API, the workers and the database together, at a flat monthly price.

Aria Cloud Netlify
What you getOne private VPS per plan, set up and run by AriaHosting, a CDN, serverless and background functions, a database and storage, on Netlify’s platform
How you payOne flat monthly price per server, £9 to £60 ex VATA plan with monthly credits: Free $0 (300), Personal $9 (1,000), Pro from $20 (3,000), then credit packs
What uses creditsNothing: the server is the priceProduction deploys 15 credits each; compute 10 credits per GB-hour; bandwidth 20 credits per GB; web requests 2 credits per 10,000
When credits run outNot applicableFree: projects pause. Personal and Pro: buy packs or turn on auto recharge, or projects pause
Team membersNo per-seat feePro: unlimited members; Free and Personal are for individual use
Always-on servicesServices and workers that run all the timeNot described on the pages read: compute covers serverless, scheduled and background functions
Postgres and RedisOn the same server, included at no extra costNetlify Database for structured data and Blob storage; Redis not described
Preview deploymentsA staging project sits beside productionDeploy previews and branch deploys cost 0 credits
Free optionEvery plan is a private server that runs all the timeFree plan with a hard credit limit
AI coding agentsAria AI built in, then MCP for your own coding agent, under approval rules enforced on Aria’s serversCLI, API and agent tooling
Where it runsA location you choose, yours aloneNetlify’s global platform

The reference stack

What does the same stack cost?

The reference stack is one web service (about 1 GB of memory), one background worker (about 0.5 GB), a Postgres database (about 2 GB) and Redis (about 0.25 GB), for a team of three developers with modest traffic. Netlify's pages read describe functions billed per GB-hour, not an always-on web service, worker and Redis, so the stack does not map to a listed product and no total is given.

Aria Cloud

£9 a month

Starter, ex VAT. Everything on one server, with room for an estimated 3.3 GB of memory.

Netlify

Not priced

Credits for functions; always-on services and Redis are not described.

Aria Cloud (£, ex VAT)Netlify ($, ex tax)
Plan for 3 developersIncludedPro: from $20 a month, unlimited members, 3,000 credits
Web service and workerOn the same serverFunctions at 10 credits per GB-hour; always-on services not described
Postgres and RedisOn the same serverNetlify Database is included in plans; Redis is not described
TotalStarter (4 GB), £9 a month ex VAT (estimated 3.3 GB of memory)Cannot be priced from Netlify’s pages

Different currencies, nothing converted. For scale only: at 10 credits per GB-hour, 3.75 GB of memory held for a 730-hour month would be 27,375 credits, far more than the 3,000 on Pro. That is not a claim that Netlify can run the stack that way; it shows why memory that stays on is a poor fit for credit pricing.

How Netlify charges

Netlify moved to credit-based plans. Each plan includes monthly credits, and different things use them at stated rates. A production deploy is 15 credits. Compute, which covers serverless, scheduled and background functions and preview servers, is 10 credits per GB-hour of memory held while it runs. Bandwidth is 20 credits per GB. Web requests are 2 credits per 10,000. Deploy previews and branch deploys are free in credits, and failed deploys and rollbacks cost nothing.

The plans are Free at $0 with 300 credits, Personal at $9 a month with 1,000 credits, and Pro from $20 a month with 3,000 credits and unlimited team members. Enterprise is priced on request and adds a 99.99 per cent SLA. On Free, running out of credits is a hard stop: all projects pause and visitors see a "Site not available" page. On Personal and Pro you can buy credit packs or turn on auto recharge, which adds 1,500 credits for $10 on Pro; without either, projects pause in the same way.

This is a clear model for sites. A static site with modest traffic costs very little, and unlimited members on Pro means a team does not pay per seat.

How Aria Cloud charges

Aria Cloud charges for a server. A plan is one private VPS, from Starter (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB disk) at £9 a month to Scale Plus (16 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 400 GB disk) at £60 a month, ex VAT, in pounds. Nothing is charged per seat, per app, per database or per request, and there is no credit balance to run out of. If a stack outgrows the server, a bigger plan grows it with one restart.

One server runs up to 5 apps, and one aria.yaml holds up to 12 services and 6 databases.

Where the two products meet

On Netlify, the marketing site and the front end live in one place, and an API and database run somewhere else. Aria Cloud puts them together: the site, a Node, Python or other API, a worker that consumes a queue, Postgres, Redis, or the official self-hosted Supabase, all on one server.

The overlap is a Next.js or other full-stack app. On Netlify the server-side parts run as functions. On Aria they run as a long-lived service with HTTPS, and a worker is a service that stays up, with no function time limit.

Agents and approvals

Netlify offers a CLI and an API. Aria AI, built into the Mac app and the web dashboard, writes aria.yaml, sets things up, reads logs and fixes things. A coding agent outside Aria connects over MCP. The same rules apply to both, and Aria enforces them on its own servers, not in a prompt. Reading (status, logs) runs straight away. With a read key, every change waits for your approval. With an operate key, routine deploys run straight away, while environment variables, launches, DNS, GitHub pushes and anything destructive always wait for you. Deleting needs your approval, or the typed name in the app.

What changes when you move

Aria hosts static sites and front ends too, so the whole product can move, or you can start with the API, workers and database. Write an aria.yaml for the repository, let Aria recommend the smallest plan before you pay, add your environment variables once, launch, and point your domain.

A Netlify function becomes a route in a long-running service, or a separate worker if it ran in the background. Aria AI or your coding agent can make that change.

What Netlify does best

Netlify is excellent for sites and front ends. Branch and preview deploys cost no credits and are a core part of review, and the Free plan is real. Pro includes unlimited team members, and Netlify Database and Blob storage are included in every plan.

Our recommendation

Choose Aria Cloud when

  1. Your product has an API, workers or a queue that must run all the time.
  2. You want Postgres, Redis or Supabase beside the app, on the same machine.
  3. You prefer a flat monthly price to a credit balance.
  4. You want Aria AI or your own coding agent to deploy under rules enforced on the server.

Moving from Netlify to Aria Cloud

  1. Decide what moves

    Decide what moves first: the whole site, or the API, workers and database.

  2. Describe your stack

    Ask Aria AI or your coding agent to write aria.yaml for it.

  3. See the server that fits

    Aria recommends the smallest server that fits, before you pay.

  4. Launch

    Add your variables once, launch, and point the front end at the new API.

Questions

What people ask when they compare Aria Cloud with Netlify.

Is Aria Cloud a Netlify alternative?

Yes. Aria runs your site, API, workers and databases on one private server, and one server can run several websites.

Does Aria Cloud use credits?

No. A plan is a server at a flat monthly price. There is no credit balance and nothing pauses when one runs out.

Can I run Netlify functions on Aria?

A function becomes a route in a long-running service, or a worker. Aria AI or your coding agent can make the change.

How do I keep a staging version on Aria?

A staging project sits next to production, with its own server or on the same one.

Which is cheaper?

Netlify has a Free plan with a hard credit limit. For an always-on API and database, a flat server is easier to predict than credits that charge for memory held over time, and one server can run several websites.

How much does Aria cost compared with Netlify?

Aria charges one flat monthly price per server, from £9 a month ex VAT, in GBP, with no charges per seat, per app, per database or per request. Netlify’s pricing is on its own pricing page (https://www.netlify.com/pricing/); the figures on this page were read on 31 October 2026 and are in US dollars, while Aria’s are in pounds, so nothing is converted.

Sources and what could not be checked

Read on 31 October 2026

What could not be checked

Netlify’s pages read do not describe always-on servers, Redis, regions, or function time limits, and do not give the price of credit tiers above 3,000, so none of those is claimed. Whether commercial use is restricted on the Free plan was not stated.

Aria Cloud publishes this page. Prices change, so check each source for current figures. Aria’s own figures come from the pricing page and its sizing estimate for the reference stack, which is an estimate and not a measurement. Logos are trademarks of their owners, shown only to name each platform.

How the price works

One server. One price.

An Aria plan is one monthly price for one private VPS. Run several apps, workers and databases on it, up to the server’s memory, and invite your agents too: there are no charges per seat, per app, per database or per request. Sending email with Aria Mail is the one usage add-on.

Your own server. Your AI runs it.

Choose Aria Cloud. Aria AI writes aria.yaml, or your coding agent does it over MCP, and you see which server fits your stack.

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