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.
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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