Uberspace alternative for PHP hosting
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Reviewedbyfl
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Hello Ubernauts!
fortrabbit is an Uberspace alternative for PHP developers who want app hosting and deploy automation rather than a shell account on a shared machine.
About Uberspace
Uberspace is a small, service-oriented, developer-friendly hosting service that sits somewhere between shared hosting and a VPS. It is based in Germany, has been selling accounts since 2011, and supports customers in German as well as English. We have heard good things about them, and they are popular in the Kirby CMS community. The German word "über" means "over" — Uberspace was founded long before the taxi service.
An account is a shell account on a shared machine rather than a control panel. The manual describes the platform as aimed at people who want to look behind the scenes and do things the hosts did not anticipate, and the stack follows from that: PHP next to Python, Node.js, Ruby, Go and more, with MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis and others on the same machine. Billing is monthly with no minimum term, and the price is the one you name.
On privacy we are on the same side of the argument. fortrabbit is a German company, GDPR applies, and we are specific in public about which infrastructure runs what. if a particular requirement needs checking before a move.
Should you swap Uberspace for fortrabbit?
Both are small independent hosts; the products are different. Uberspace sells a machine to be at home on. fortrabbit sells an app: git push, Composer build, atomic release, a staging environment beside production, and components that are booked and scaled one at a time.
Neither answer is better in general. A single Kirby site maintained by the person who built it is at home on Uberspace, and moving it gains little. A project that is deployed from CI or by an agent, handed to a client, staged before it ships, or scaled beyond one machine is the case fortrabbit is built for. Plans start at €2.50 per month and the trial does not require a credit card.
Start a free trial — no credit cardHow does fortrabbit compare to Uberspace?
| Feature | Uberspace | fortrabbit |
|---|---|---|
| Abstraction | Shell account on a shared machine | Managed PaaS |
| Runtimes | PHP, Python, Node.js, Ruby, Go, others | PHP only |
| PHP version | Switched from the shell | Pinned per app, switched in UI |
| Deployment | SSH, SFTP, rsync, own scripts | git push with a Composer build |
| Releases | Files replaced in place | Atomic, with a rollback |
| Staging | A second account, set up by hand | An environment beside the app |
| Database | On the same machine | A component, sized on its own |
| Scaling | The machine you are on | Per component, effective at once |
| Shell access | Yes, jailed | Yes, non-root |
| SSL certificates | Automatic Let's Encrypt | Automatic Let's Encrypt |
| Region | Germany | EU (Ireland) or US |
| Support | Human, German and English | Human chat on all plans |
| Pricing model | Pay what it is worth, from €6 / mo | Per component, from €2.50 / mo |
Pricing comparison
| Use case | Uberspace | fortrabbit |
|---|---|---|
| One small site | From €6 / mo, several projects per account | €5 / mo with a database |
| Production app with staging | A second account, priced the same | €30 / mo |
The models do not line up, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. Uberspace names a floor and leaves the rest to conscience; there is no larger plan to graduate to, because the account is the product. fortrabbit prices each component and each environment, which costs more for one small site and stays predictable as a project grows. See fortrabbit pricing for the current matrix.
Migrating from Uberspace to fortrabbit
- Create the app on fortrabbit. Pick a region and a plan; the free trial is enough to validate the move.
- Add a MySQL component if the project uses one. A flat-file Kirby site skips this step.
- Move the database.
mysqldumpover SSH from the Uberspace account and import through fortrabbit's SSH tunnel — see MySQL import guide. - Connect the repository. Link GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket and push; Composer runs as part of the deploy — see deployment intro.
- Move content and uploads. rsync from the Uberspace account into the app's persistent storage over SSH, the same command in the other direction.
- Move configuration. Anything that lived in the shell environment becomes an environment variable in the dashboard.
- Cut over DNS, watch the certificate issue, then cancel the Uberspace account — no notice period stands in the way.
Why developers switch
- The deploy is the product. Push, build, release, roll back — rather than a shell command remembered from last year.
- Environments beside the app. Staging is a setting, not a second account.
- Handover works. Teams, roles and billing are in the dashboard, so a client can own the app without owning the shell.
- Room above. Components scale one at a time when a project outgrows what one machine was doing for it.
# Frequently asked
Why use fortrabbit instead of Uberspace?Automation
Automation - Uberspace hands you a shell account on a well-kept shared machine and gets out of the way — how the code arrives and how it is released is your business. fortrabbit is built around the app: git push triggers a Composer build and an atomic release, staging environments are first-class, and components are sized one at a time. If the deploy is currently an rsync and a habit, that is the difference.
#Is Uberspace cheaper than fortrabbit?Usually
Usually - For one small site, usually yes. Uberspace asks what the account is worth to you, starting at €6 a month, and one account can hold several projects. A fortrabbit app with a database starts around €5 a month and each app is booked on its own. The comparison shifts once a project needs a build step, a staging environment or a component that scales without the rest.
#Does fortrabbit host in Germany like Uberspace?No
No - fortrabbit is a German company in Berlin, but the EU infrastructure runs on AWS in Ireland. Uberspace hosts in Germany. If specifically German data residency is the requirement rather than EU jurisdiction, that is a real difference and Uberspace has it.
#Does Kirby run on fortrabbit as well?Yes
Yes - Kirby is one of the frameworks fortrabbit has hosted longest, and both crowds overlap here. Flat-file content lives in persistent storage that survives deploys, no database component is needed, and content syncs over rsync the same way it does on a shell account.
#Can both be tried side by side?Yes
Yes - Uberspace runs a trial period before the first invoice; fortrabbit runs a seven-day free trial with no credit card. Nothing stops a project from being deployed to both before the decision is made — which is the honest way to compare two small hosts.
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