# DigitalOcean vs Communiteq
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Tags:** hosting
**Created:** [October 6, 2014, 9:25am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820 "2014-10-06T09:25:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@cregox](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cregox)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2014, 9:25am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820/1 "2014-10-06T09:25:48Z")
Hey @michaeld
Other than the obvious: [DH is a SaaS and DO is not]([https://meta.discourse.org/t/people-with-experience-bitnami-vs-[Communiteq](https://www.communiteq.com)](https://meta.discourse.org/t/people-with-experience-bitnami-vs-%5BCommuniteq%5D(https://www.communiteq.com)) (formerly DiscourseHosting)-com-s/15156/2?u=cawas); DH should not require any shell commands for having it [up, running and upgraded]([https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-quick-review-of-[Communiteq](https://www.communiteq.com)](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-quick-review-of-%5BCommuniteq%5D(https://www.communiteq.com)) (formerly DiscourseHosting)-com/13113) and they do help _migrating_ if you need it, I’m also wondering about the server technical stuff. I couldn’t find answers to a few questions which I asked them through email, and I later thought I should have asked here. (I just did it at first at the wrong topic!)
Continuing the discussion from [Communiteq (formerly DiscourseHosting) migration service for your existing forum](https://meta.discourse.org/t/communiteq-migration-service-for-your-existing-forum/12201/27):
> [@Communiteq migration service for your existing forum](https://meta.discourse.org/t/communiteq-migration-service-for-your-existing-forum/12201/27):
>
> 1. Which [extra features](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/docs/INSTALL-digital-ocean.md#add-more-discourse-features) do you offer built-in?
> I’d hope for all **oauth** logins and **email replies** , both of which are quite a pain to configure. Looks like you do have an SSO plugin to facilitate that when needed too… Pretty cool! I also read on the [FAQ](https://www.communiteq.com/faq/) that SSL we need to bring in, which is fine.
>
> 2. Do you also have [needed email](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/docs/INSTALL-digital-ocean.md#email-is-important) already setup? That’s also a pain to configure…
>
> 3. I read also on faq you do backups (probably from discourse setting). I suppose I still can set up a S3 backup with no problems, correct? It’d be great if you’d offer a dropbox or google drive backup sync.
>
> 4. Finally, I’ve read somewhere on meta your U$20 plan is generally superior to DigitalOcean’s U$20 one. How’s that? And what about more expensive plans, in case we need it, are they better to? I’d love to see a honest side-by-side comparison (maybe using the new [discourse’s own parameter](https://discourse.org/pricing/) with monthly page views, storage, etc), highlighting what’s better about the “officially” suggested hosting (DigitalOcean) which must have some advantage.
>
> 🙂
PS: I think [Communiteq](https://www.communiteq.com)really should copy DO’s referring model, 1 lower level plan free for the referree, 2.5 for the referrer! 😉
---
### Author:  [@altious](https://meta.discourse.org/u/altious)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820/5 "2014-10-06T15:07:03Z")
I like both apple and oranges.. just depending on where I want to eat them
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### Author:  [@michaeld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/michaeld)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820/6 "2014-10-06T17:38:18Z")
I don’t really think it’s fair to compare us to DO. We offer totally different services. Both services are called ‘hosting’ but they are very different. This is like calling a cab and asking whether it has manual or automatic transmission, and if the car will have a turbo engine or not. I don’t know where you read the comparison between us and the $20 DO plan.
So let’s see what we do for your $20 per month.
We take away the hassle of installing Discourse. I noticed you have started a trial today so you probably saw that your forum was up and running **48 seconds** after you entered the details like the desired hostname and admin username.
We host your forum and keep it up and running, up to date and secure. We monitor it for issues and performance. We guarantee a good performance of your forum.
We install plugins for you (on higher plans) and make sure they will keep working (as you might have noticed, Discouse plugins tend to break a lot when updating Discourse to a higher version).
We make backups which we keep offline and in a secure place. (No, they’re not the built-in Discourse backups, we implemented this before Discourse had backups).
We do other kinds of stuff, like migrations, customization, SSL certs etcetera for a fee.
> [@anon65304450](#):
>
> Database has only 5GB
> [@cawas](#):
>
> How limited is a 5GB in practice?
I’ve just checked. The database and files of our **largest** customer measure 1.4 GB. Database only: 500 MB. That’s 125 times the full text of the bible. So no - in practice it’s not limited.
Let me try to answer your questions:
> [@cawas](#):
>
> Which extra features do you offer built-in?I’d hope for all oauth logins and email replies, both of which are quite a pain to configure. Looks like you do have an SSO plugin to facilitate that when needed too… Pretty cool! I also read on the FAQ that SSL we need to bring in, which is fine.
We offer everything that a ‘normal’ Discourse instance offers. We’re currently working on the task of checking all existing plugins and including all plugins that behave correctly with our hosting for no extra cost. We disallow you to install your own plugins on the Basic plan because we need to be able to take responsibility for keeping your instance up and running.
> [@cawas](#):
>
> Do you also have needed email already setup? That’s also a pain to configure…
You will have to configure email replies yourself, but they are fully supported. We might include an incoming mail server in the future.
We haven’t put it up on our site yet, but we offer **free and pre-configured Mandrill** with all our plans.
> [@cawas](#):
>
> I read also on faq you do backups (probably from discourse setting). I suppose I still can set up a S3 backup with no problems, correct? It’d be great if you’d offer a dropbox or google drive backup sync.
We take our own backups. Connecting Dropbox, S3 or Google Drive will be possible in the future.
Yes, you can still take your own backups using the Discourse built-in functionality.
> [@cawas](#):
>
> Finally, I’ve read somewhere on meta your U$20 plan is generally superior to DigitalOcean’s U$20 one. How’s that? And what about more expensive plans, in case we need it, are they better to? I’d love to see a honest side-by-side comparison (maybe using the new discourse’s own parameter with monthly page views, storage, etc), highlighting what’s better about the “officially” suggested hosting (DigitalOcean) which must have some advantage.
Like I said, I don’t think you can compare our service with a plain VPS host. If you’re a big techie and you like playing around, go with DO. But keep in mind that you won’t be saving money: you’ll need at least two hours of maintenance each month. On the $20 DO plan, you will be doing it for no profit. On the $10 DO plan, you’ll be earning $5 per hour (and you’ll have some performance issues). So if you can earn more than $5/h anywhere else, it’s a wise decision to let us handle your hosting so you can focus on better things 😄
---
### Author:  [@cregox](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cregox)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820/7 "2014-10-06T18:19:53Z")
> [@michaeld](#):
>
> We take away the hassle of installing Discourse. I noticed you have started a trial today so you probably saw that your forum was up and running 48 seconds after you entered the details like the desired hostname and admin username.
You’re correct sir. I noticed there was a trial and decided to go forward. It had already answered most of my questions, but I wanted to see what you’d come up with (expecting you’d notice I did start it!) Awesome! 😃
I didn’t want to compare everything, just the technical aspect. I’ve gone 2 or 3 times with DO, and yeah, it’s a pain to maintain. To use your own analogy, to me it’s more like renting a car for 7 people and asking if it has enough space or if you’ll have to rent 2 cars. Both will get you there, but in quite different ways.
That being said, I think I got the glimpse. The point is, it will be running. If it doesn’t, we complain to you, and you fix it. No matter the technicalities. So, if the 2 cars aren’t working, you’ll replace it by a big one while we’re inside. Analogies… 🙂
I’ll probably bring basically all hosts I ever plan to do (which could be just 1 more), except my own one, to you soon.
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### Author:  [@badevguru](https://meta.discourse.org/u/badevguru)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820/16 "2014-10-24T00:30:57Z")
I see three different hosting options: basic, business, enterprise. Are plugins’ currently supported on the business tier?
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### Author:  [@michaeld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/michaeld)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2014, 6:50am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820/17 "2014-10-24T06:50:29Z")
Per [Discourse Hosting Plans and Pricing - Communiteq](https://www.communiteq.com/pricing/)
The business plan supports the plugins of your choice.
We are currently selecting a number of plugins that will be supported on the Professional plan as well. Suggestions are welcome.
On November 1st, we will be raising the prices for the Professional plans and above in order to make them more in line with the cost and effort involved. The basic plan will stay on the same level and existing customers will stay on their original subscription fee as well.
---
### Author:  [@cregox](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cregox)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820/18 "2014-12-19T21:32:48Z")
I just found [a great comparison chart](https://ghost.org/ghost-pro-vs-self-hosting/) which works to explain this very well… It’s basically the same thing as “free” wordpress versus hosted (or squarespace).
Also, I saw your ads on 9gag tv. Quite annoying, they don’t stop showing up in almost every video now! 😛
Finally, @michaelp, I think that ad is too technical. Same problem with discourse home, as [I just found out](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-use-discourse-over-linkedin-google-or-facebook-groups/10171/19).
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820/19 "2014-12-19T22:25:07Z")
That is a nice chart from Ghost. Differences with Discourse
- Install is 30 minutes (I can do it in 15)
- Backups are automatic
- Upgrades are one-click
Granted you do need to allocate time to _configure_ Discourse at the start. But we’re going to improve setup time in 2015 by adding wizards, etc to make that easier.
---
### Author:  [@badevguru](https://meta.discourse.org/u/badevguru)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820/20 "2015-01-14T03:10:23Z")
Not sure if you have another thread for the suggestions. I know Auth0 is a key plugin for my needs.
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### Author:  [@clay](https://meta.discourse.org/u/clay)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2015, 11:44am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/digitalocean-vs-communiteq/20820/21 "2015-01-14T11:44:54Z")
> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> - Backups are automatic
> - Upgrades are one-click
Both of these have been huge for adoption internally at my company. The backups to S3 (and to Glacier) from there are seamless. I have to admit that I experience a little anxiety every time I click the upgrade button, but it never fails. 😄