Moved from AWS → Render → Hetzner + Dokploy. AWS: $100/mo, 3 services, IAM & networking hell, surprise bills etc. Render: $40/mo for very low/basic specs, meh control (but still nice to work with) Hetzner + Dokploy: $5-10/mo, full VPS, full control One-click deploys. Traefik reverse proxy. Auto SSL. Postgres/Redis included. GitHub Actions ready. Same app. 95% cost reduction. 10min setup. Actually fun. Next step: Raspberry Pi in my closet. Then I’ll grow up and over-engineer everything with K8s like a real adult