Should I replace my VPS with a Mac mini?
I've had a Hostinger KVM 4 for a while with 4 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM and 200 GB NVMe with the following applications:
| Project | 7d CPU | 7d RAM | Allocated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coolify | 9% | 660 MB | host |
| Langfuse | 21% | 1.8 GB | 7 GB, 5 CPU |
| Hermes | 3% | 1.1 GB | 2 GB, 1.5 CPU |
| Forgejo | 1% | 210 MB | 2 GB, 1.5 CPU |
| Multica | — | 270 MB now | 5 GB, 1.5 CPU |
| Garage | 0% | 40 MB | 1 GB, 1 CPU |
| 5 side projects | 8% | 1.4 GB | 14 GB, 11 CPU |
My next 2-year renewal is R$3,119.76, or roughly R$130/month, so I started checking what else I could get for the same money. I originally got it during a Black Friday promotion for around R$55/month
VPS alternatives
I compared a few options with roughly the same amount of RAM.
| Provider | CPU | RAM | Storage | ~Price/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netcup VPS 2000 G12 | 8 vCore | 16 GB | 512 GB NVMe | R$65 (€10) |
| Hetzner CX43 | 8 vCPU | 16 GB | 160 GB | R$95 (€16) |
| OVH VPS-4 | 8 vCore | 24 GB | 200 GB NVMe | R$120 (US$23) |
| Hostinger renewal | 4 vCPU | 16 GB | 200 GB NVMe | R$130 |
| HostGator NVMe 16 | 6 vCPU | 16 GB | 400 GB NVMe | R$160 |
I'm considering Hetzner mostly because of how popular it is with developers and the self-hosting community.
HostGator would be an option if I wanted to keep the server in Brazil, but I would probably only consider it if a good promotion or discount appeared.
What about a Mac mini?
Then I started wondering where buying my own hardware starts to make sense.
A Mac mini M4 with 16 GB for around R$5,000 is roughly in this territory:
| Option | Initial cost | Monthly | ~4 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostinger VPS | R$0 | ~R$130 | ~R$6,200 |
| Mac mini M4 | ~R$5,000 | ~R$12 power | ~R$5,600 |
So the hardware cost can roughly catch up with the VPS after around 4 years.
The comparison isn't exactly fair, though. A machine at home also means dealing with power outages, CGNAT, internet availability, backups and hardware failures.
I don't think I would use it as a direct replacement for production infrastructure.
What I'm considering instead is keeping production and services/products that people pay for on rented VPS infrastructure, while eventually having a dedicated machine at home for hobby projects.
And you, how much are you paying for your own hosted solutions and hobby projects?
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