FAQ

General

What is MicroApps?

A container-based cloud hosting platform built for indie developers, students, and small teams. Real Linux containers, real SSH, hourly billing, no surprise invoices.

Who is it for?

People who want to ship small things without paying enterprise prices. Side projects, student work, bootstrapped SaaS, hobby tools, mail servers, small databases, dev environments.

How is it different from AWS / GCP / Azure?

Smaller, cheaper, simpler, and we are not optimised for Fortune 500 procurement departments. See Why MicroApps.

Billing

Are there contracts or commitments?

No. Top up what you want, run what you want, stop when you want.

Do you autorenew my card?

No. We deduct from prepaid credit. You top up when you want to, and nothing recharges automatically.

What's the minimum I can spend?

The minimum top-up is $3, and you need at least $3 of credit before you can start a billable resource. For current per-size prices, see the pricing page.

What if my credit runs out?

Set a low-credit alert in your notification settings and we email you before it happens. If it does run out, your pods keep running and nothing is deleted - but anything new that is billable (create, clone, restore) is blocked until you are back above $3, and your monthly invoice waits as pending until your balance can cover it. Top up enough to cover it and you are square.

Do you charge for bandwidth / egress?

Reasonable usage is included. If you are moving terabytes, talk to us first.

Is there a free tier?

No. We do not think free tiers are honest pricing - someone always pays. Instead we made the smallest tier cost about a dollar a month.

Technical

Can I run anything inside a pod?

Anything that runs in a Linux container. Web apps, databases, mail clients, bots, cron jobs, language runtimes - it is a real Linux environment.

Can I run Docker inside a pod?

For most workloads you do not need to - install software directly. If you have a specific need, contact us.

Do you offer Kubernetes?

No. MicroApps is intentionally simpler than that. If you need Kubernetes, you probably need a different platform.

Can I use my own SSH key?

Yes. Add it when you create a pod (paste it in, or pick one you saved earlier). Instance pods with a key attached skip the generated password entirely. You can also drop more keys into ~/.ssh/authorized_keys once you are in.

What's the difference between a snapshot and a backup?

A snapshot is an on-pod, point-in-time image that restores in place (the pod is stopped, anything you changed since is rolled back, and it stays stopped until you start it again). A backup lives off the pod's host, and restoring it creates a brand new pod while leaving the original untouched. Use snapshots for quick "before I break something" checkpoints and backups for durability. See Snapshots and Backups.

What happens to my data if I stop a pod?

Storage is preserved while the pod exists. You are billed for storage even when the pod is off. Delete the pod to release the storage.

Teams

Can I add other people to my account?

Yes. Invite team members by email and assign each one a role. There are four ready-made roles (Full access, Developer, Read-only, Billing) and you can build custom ones. See Team & roles.

Email

Is email hosting included?

Email hosting is offered on request. Contact us.

Will my email actually get delivered?

Yes. We generate proper SPF, DKIM, DMARC and MX records and walk you through publishing them. Deliverability depends on your domain reputation, but the technical basics are handled.

API and automation

Do you have an API?

Yes, a plain REST API that does everything the console does. See the API reference.

How do I authenticate a script?

Create an API key and send it as a bearer token. Keys can be scoped to specific permissions and locked to specific IPs.

Can my AI assistant manage my account?

Yes. The MCP endpoint exposes a set of tools (list pods, take snapshots, and so on) that any MCP client can call with an API key.

Do you have a CLI or SDK?

Not yet. The API is plain REST and JSON, so any language with an HTTP client will do in the meantime.

Support

How do I get help?

Open a support ticket from inside the console, or email support@microapps.io.

Is there a paid support tier?

No. Everyone gets the same support.