# Contabo vs. Hetzner vs. Linode vs. Digital Ocean for Discourse Hosting Under $30/mo

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/contabo-vs-hetzner-vs-linode-vs-digital-ocean-for-discourse-hosting-under-30-mo/264943
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Tags:** hosting
**Created:** [May 14, 2023, 10:02am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/contabo-vs-hetzner-vs-linode-vs-digital-ocean-for-discourse-hosting-under-30-mo/264943 "2023-05-14T10:02:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 13

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### Author: ![JammyDodger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jammydodger/32/254611_2.png) [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/contabo-vs-hetzner-vs-linode-vs-digital-ocean-for-discourse-hosting-under-30-mo/264943/13 "2023-05-15T14:53:21Z")

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There’s the `dev:populate` rake task that may be of some use:

> [@Set up a staging server](https://meta.discourse.org/t/set-up-a-staging-server/225951/1):
>
> If what you want is a test server to see what Discourse is like, though, you might want to check things out with some fake data, and if you do, you can do this:
> 
> ```plaintext
> ./launcher enter app
> ALLOW_DEV_POPULATE=1 bundle install
> ALLOW_DEV_POPULATE=1 rake dev:populate
> 
> ```
> 
> This will seed your forum with some fake data so that you can see what things look like with whatever themes and plugins you want. If you haven’t started your forum yet, this will give you some idea what things are likely to look like.

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