Upsun (formerly Platform.sh)

Overview

Upsun is a managed PaaS for teams building and running applications, with deployment choices across major cloud providers. It suits developers who need production-like preview environments and managed operations; its main trade-off is that the entry price covers only a small build allowance, while provisioned resources cost extra.

Key features

On-demand previews copy production configuration, code, and data into a separate environment. That can give teams a more representative place to review changes, but those additional environments make resource costs worth watching. Upsun supports 10 programming languages, including Node.js, Python, and PHP, plus frameworks such as Django, Express, Symfony, and Strapi.

Projects can deploy to AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, OVHcloud, or containerized application environments. GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket are native source integrations; activity scripts include utilities for HTTP requests, Slack, and Jira. A CLI, Console, and REST API provide different ways to manage projects, environments, workflows, and integrations. Deployment rollback and audit logs are supported, but rollout strategies are basic, which may not suit teams seeking more advanced release controls.

Each project receives two automated backups per day and has two manual backups available for recovery. Security features include read-only application filesystems, DDoS protection, automated TLS certificates, multifactor authentication, and a web application firewall. The Trust Center lists PCI Level 1, HIPAA, SOC 2 Type 2, and ISO 27001. Support is described as globally distributed and available 24x7, with standard, advanced, and premium options on the pricing page.

Pricing

Start for free: free, billed €0 to begin for a 15-day trial. It includes a monthly credit covering one project fee and one user license, full access to enterprise-grade features, and requires no credit card. This is a useful way to assess the platform, but the trial is time-limited and object storage is unavailable on trial projects.

Upsun Cloud pay-as-you-go: €9 a month, billed €9.00/project/month, with resources billed separately based on provisioned usage. Each project includes 2.5 CPU-hours and 5 GB-hours of build resources per month, 10 GB egress, and 500,000 ingress requests per month, plus 100 production domains and 100 Let’s Encrypt TLS certific. The included quotas make the base fee concrete, but teams with sustained compute, storage, or traffic needs should budget for separate resource charges. Managed Elasticsearch and MongoDB require a minimal commitment.

Platforms

Upsun lists API, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows platforms. Its cloud deployment targets span AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, IBM, and OVHcloud, alongside containerized application environments.

Who it's for

Upsun is best suited to development teams that want managed application hosting, multiple project interfaces, and production-derived previews. Its stated use for mission-critical applications by more than 16,000 developers signals a focus on team workloads, while the narrow included resource quotas make it less compelling for buyers seeking a fixed all-in monthly cost.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Production-to-preview copies include configuration, code, and data, giving teams a fuller review environment.
• Pros: Multiple cloud targets, three management interfaces, rollback, and audit logs support varied deployment workflows.
• Pros: Daily automated backups, security controls, and listed compliance standards strengthen its fit for consequential applications.
• Cons: Resources are billed separately from the €9.00/project/month fee, so the base price is not the full operating cost.
• Cons: Trial projects cannot use object storage, and managed Elasticsearch and MongoDB require a minimal commitment.
• Cons: Basic rollout strategies may fall short for teams needing more sophisticated release controls.

Alternatives

For a different deployment approach, compare Deployment Automation Software and Preview Environment Software.

• Railway is worth considering if its one-time $5 trial credit and listed replica, memory, CPU, and storage allowances better fit an initial evaluation.
• Northflank may suit teams looking for a free Sandbox with two services, one database, two cron jobs, and always-on compute.
• Argo CD is a free, self-managed option for declarative GitOps delivery on Kubernetes.
• Flux CD is a free open-source Kubernetes delivery project for teams that already require a Kubernetes cluster.
• Octopus Deploy is another deployment option to compare.
• Ploi is an alternative with a free plan capped at one server, one site, and five deployments per month.
• Coolify offers a free self-hosted plan with full feature access, provided you bring your own infrastructure.
• DeployHQ is an alternative with a free plan capped at three deployments per day, one project, five servers, one concurrent deployment, 30 build minutes, and one user.

Verdict

Choose Upsun if your development team values managed application hosting, production-derived preview environments, and a choice of major cloud targets. Its strongest case is the breadth of deployment and management options alongside stated security controls; look elsewhere if predictable, all-inclusive pricing or advanced rollout strategies are priorities.