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. When it does run out, new billable actions (create, clone, restore) are blocked until you are back above $3, and your monthly invoice waits as pending. If the invoice stays unpaid we email a warning, stop your pods 2 business days later, and after 3 more business days back each pod up and delete it to free the capacity - the backups are kept (once paid backups start, each of those final backups is free for 60 days and then deleted, unless you keep it). Top up at any point (any amount) and things settle automatically: stopped pods restart, and deleted pods can be restored from their backups.

Do you charge for bandwidth / egress?

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

Do snapshots and backups cost anything?

Snapshots are free. Backups are free until paid backups start, on a date we announce by email at least 30 days ahead and show on the pricing page. From then, each new backup is billed by the hour for its size, per GB a month (see the pricing page), until you delete it, and there is no longer a limit on how many you keep. Backups taken before the start date stay free and are deleted 60 days after it, unless you click Keep next to the ones you want. See Paid backups.

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.

Can my pod send mail directly?

Not on port 25. Outbound connections on that port are rejected, because one compromised pod delivering straight to recipients' mail servers gets a shared address blocklisted for everyone on it. Ports 465 and 587 are untouched, so sending through an authenticated relay - ours, or any provider you already use - works normally. If you have a reviewed need for port 25, talk to 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.

How long does a new mailbox take to work?

A few seconds. Create it, and it is sending and receiving by the time you have switched to your mail app.

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 [email protected].

Is there a paid support tier?

No. Everyone gets the same support.