Paperclip hosting cost breakdown

Hosting pricing is always more complex than the headline number. Here's what you actually pay to run Paperclip on each platform — including the costs that don't appear on the pricing page.

What costs are actually involved

Running Paperclip typically involves: a server or platform fee (the main monthly cost), a domain name (~$10–15/yr), and optional costs like managed databases, additional storage, or a CDN. Most Paperclip deployments can run without the optional extras, especially at small scale.

Hostinger cost reality

Hostinger's KVM VPS plans use tiered pricing with frequent sale prices. The KVM 2 plan (2 vCPU / 8 GB RAM) is often available for $3–5/mo on promotion, renewing at a higher rate (~$7–10/mo). The base price for a Paperclip-capable plan lands around $4–8/mo depending on when you buy and what renewal terms you accept. Bandwidth is generous (unlimited on most plans). No per-request charges.

Railway cost reality

Railway uses consumption-based pricing. The Hobby plan costs $5/mo base plus usage. A typical small Paperclip instance uses roughly $2–5 in compute per month on top of the base fee, landing at $7–10/mo total. Costs grow with traffic and background job intensity. The free Starter tier has a 500-hour limit per month, which isn't enough for a persistent deployment.

DigitalOcean cost reality

DigitalOcean Droplets are straightforward: $6/mo for 1 vCPU / 1 GB RAM, $12/mo for 2 vCPU / 2 GB. No consumption-based surprises. Bandwidth is 1–3 TB/mo depending on plan, which is far more than a typical Paperclip deployment needs. The App Platform managed option changes the model significantly — costs start higher and scale differently.

Hidden costs to watch for

Hostinger: renewal pricing after the first term can be 2–3x the promotional price — always check the renewal rate before committing. Railway: background jobs or scheduled tasks that run continuously will show up in your usage bill. DigitalOcean: if you add managed databases (Postgres, Redis) to your Paperclip setup, plan costs jump significantly.

Long-term cost comparison

Over 12 months at steady state: Hostinger lands at roughly $50–100/yr (depending on plan + renewal), Railway at $84–120/yr (based on usage), and DigitalOcean at $72–144/yr. Hostinger wins on pure cost if you accept the manual server management trade-off. Railway wins if your time is worth more than the price difference.