Craft Cloud alternative for Craft CMS hosting
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Craft hosting, untangled.
fortrabbit is a Craft Cloud alternative — independent Craft CMS hosting with full SSH and SFTP access, pay-after-use pricing, and human support.
Why pick fortrabbit as an independent Craft Cloud alternative?
fortrabbit is the independent Craft Cloud alternative. Craft Cloud is the official hosting platform by Pixel & Tonic, the makers of Craft CMS — launched in 2024, serverless, with the Craft license bundled into the plan. Buying CMS and hosting from the same vendor is convenient, but it concentrates everything in one place: one roadmap, one pricing model, one company your site depends on.
fortrabbit has hosted Craft CMS since the early days of the CMS — long before Craft Cloud existed. You get classic PHP hosting with full SSH and SFTP access, git-push deployments with Composer builds, and a free Craft plugin that automates setup checks, database syncs, and deploys. Apps run in EU (Dublin) or US (North Virginia) data centers. Pricing is per component and billed in arrears — a small Craft site starts around €5 a month, and the trial doesn't require a credit card.
Start a free trial — no credit cardHow does fortrabbit compare to Craft Cloud?
| Feature | Craft Cloud | fortrabbit |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Pixel & Tonic, the Craft makers | Independent, bootstrapped |
| Runs | Craft CMS only | Any PHP, Craft CMS included |
| Architecture | Serverless, read-only filesystem | Classic hosting, persistent storage |
| SSH / SFTP | No | Full SSH + SFTP |
| Deployment | Push-to-deploy | git push, atomic |
| Craft license | Included in plan | Bring your own |
| Regions | US, CA, EU, UK, SE, APAC | EU (Dublin), US (N. Virginia) |
| Pricing model | $120–$240 / mo plans, per project | Per component, billed in arrears |
| CDN | Global CDN included | Via Cloudflare or similar |
| Trial | Free trial | 7-day trial, no card |
| Support | E-mail + community | Human chat, all plans |
Craft Cloud's serverless design is a real architectural choice with benefits — auto-scaling, CDN image transforms, zero-config queues. It also means workflows built on direct server access don't translate: no SSH session, no rsync, no running craft commands straight on the host. fortrabbit keeps the classic model with modern tooling on top.
Pricing comparison
| Use case | Craft Cloud | fortrabbit |
|---|---|---|
| Small site (Craft Solo) | $120 / mo — Team is the entry plan | €5 / mo |
| Production site | $120 / mo, Team license included | €30 / mo + Craft license |
| Larger project, more environments | $240 / mo (Pro) | €60–€120 / mo + Craft license |
Craft Cloud bundles the license; on fortrabbit it's a separate purchase from Pixel & Tonic — Craft Solo is free, Team is $279 and Pro $399 one-time, plus $99 a year for updates after the first year. Even with a self-bought license, a production Craft site on fortrabbit lands at roughly half of Craft Cloud's Team plan or less. See fortrabbit pricing for the current matrix.
Migrating from Craft Cloud to fortrabbit
- Provision the app on fortrabbit. Pick a region — EU (Dublin) or US (North Virginia) — and a plan. The trial is enough to validate the move.
- Add the MySQL component. Export the database from Craft Cloud, import via fortrabbit's SSH tunnel — see MySQL import guide.
- Move assets to persistent storage. Point the Craft filesystem at a local volume instead of Craft Cloud's CDN storage and rsync the files in via SFTP / SSH.
- Remove the Craft Cloud extension. Take it out of
composer.jsonand drop the Cloud-specific config. - Connect your git provider. Install the fortrabbit GitHub App (or connect GitLab / Bitbucket) and link the repo — see deployment intro. Pushes trigger an automatic deploy; Composer runs as part of the build. The Craft guides cover the details.
- Move environment variables and set up the queue. Craft Cloud env vars map 1:1 to fortrabbit env vars; add a cron job for Craft's queue runner.
- Bring a Craft license. Craft Cloud plans include one; self-hosted sites need their own Team or Pro license from Pixel & Tonic — Solo is free.
- Cut over DNS. Add the domain in the fortrabbit dashboard, update the CNAME, and watch the certificate issue automatically via Let's Encrypt.
Why teams switch
- Full access. SSH, SFTP, console commands on the host, database tunnels — no abstraction layer in between.
- Smaller, fairer bills. Pay per component, in arrears, only for what the site actually needs — no bundled license for sites that don't need one.
- Human support. You chat with the engineers who run the platform, on every plan.
- Separation of concerns. CMS vendor and hosting vendor stay independent — if one changes pricing or direction, the other is unaffected.
For background on Craft Cloud itself, see our hosting guide entry. If you're earlier in the decision and still comparing categories, read how to choose the right hosting for your PHP project.
# Frequently asked
Is fortrabbit cheaper than Craft Cloud?For most sites
For most sites - Craft Cloud starts at $120 a month per project — the Craft Team license is bundled in, whether the site needs it or not. On fortrabbit, a small Craft site with a MySQL component starts around €5 a month, a production site around €30, and the Craft license is a separate purchase from Pixel & Tonic (Craft Solo is free). Billing is in arrears: use first, pay at the end of the month, cancel any time.
#Does fortrabbit offer SSH and SFTP for Craft CMS?Yes
Yes - Full SSH and SFTP access on every plan. Run Craft console commands directly on the host, tunnel into the database, rsync files, read logs. Craft Cloud's serverless architecture has a read-only filesystem and no SSH or SFTP; everything goes through their console and deploy pipeline.
#Do I need my own Craft license on fortrabbit?Yes
Yes - Craft Cloud bundles the license into its plans; on fortrabbit you bring your own. Craft Solo is free, Craft Team is $279 and Craft Pro $399 one-time, each with $99 a year for updates after the first year — billed by Pixel & Tonic, not by us. Two vendors, two bills, but also two independent decisions.
#How well does fortrabbit run Craft CMS compared to Craft Cloud?Very well
Very well - fortrabbit has hosted Craft CMS since the early days of the CMS, long before Craft Cloud launched in 2024. Deploys run via git push with Composer in the build, a free Craft plugin automates setup checks, database syncs, and deploys, and assets live in persistent storage. Craft Cloud is more deeply integrated — CDN image transforms, zero-config queues — at the price of a serverless architecture without direct server access.
#Can a Craft site be moved from Craft Cloud without a migration service?Yes
Yes - Migration is self-service for developers, with docs and personal support along the way, but there is no done-for-you migration service. Export the database, import it via the SSH tunnel, point the Craft filesystem at persistent storage, and connect the git repo for push-to-deploy.
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