Hosting
Choose the hosting model that fits the work
Medusa Cloud, another managed platform, and infrastructure you run yourself solve different operational problems. We help you evaluate the trade-offs, then build and support the commerce application and integrations around whichever choice you make.
What each option handles, and what it still requires
Read these as responsibility splits rather than a ranking. The right answer depends on your team, your region, and your integrations.
Medusa's own managed platform: deployments connected to your GitHub repository, with managed PostgreSQL, Redis, and S3 alongside environments and preview builds.
Fits when
- You want the application infrastructure and its data services maintained for you
- You want a preview environment created for each pull request
- You want custom domains with automatically provisioned and renewed SSL
- Your team would rather spend its time on the storefront and integrations than on platform operations
What it still requires
- Medusa operates the environments and the managed data services
- Your code stays in your own GitHub repository
- You own environment variables, domains, and environment configuration
- Plan limits, regions, and compliance requirements are yours to verify
Cloud features, plan limits, and supported storefront frameworks change — confirm current details in Medusa's official documentation before committing.
Custom and published plugins and modules can be used, but each integration still needs its own compatibility check against your Medusa version.
Medusa Cloud documentationRun Medusa on a platform or cloud provider you already use — a container service or application platform with managed backing services alongside it.
Fits when
- You already have a cloud footprint, billing, or compliance posture you need to stay inside
- You want to use provider-native networking, secrets, and observability
- You need to run services that a single managed platform does not cover
What it still requires
- Environment configuration, CI/CD, and scaling rules stay an explicit task — ours or yours
- Backups, restore testing, and patching remain work someone owns
- Capacity planning and cost control stay with you
Platform selection depends on your region, integration, and operational constraints. We assess it per project rather than recommending one platform for everyone.
Read the deployment guidesRun Medusa on infrastructure you control, from a single VPS running Docker Compose to a multi-service cloud architecture.
Fits when
- You need specific regions, data residency, or network topology
- You need to connect to on-premise systems
- You want direct control over instance types, scaling thresholds, and platform limits
What it still requires
- Infrastructure design, security patching, and upgrades
- Backups and restore exercises you have actually run
- Monitoring, alerting, and incident response
- Database, cache, object storage, and networking operations
Our guides cover AWS, DigitalOcean, Railway, and a VPS with Docker Compose.
Self-management is a real ongoing operational commitment — decide who carries it after launch before you choose this path.
Read the deployment guidesWhat to decide before you choose
- Who owns day-to-day operations after launch?
- What data residency or regional requirements apply to you?
- Which external systems must the store reach, and over what network?
- What traffic and order volume must the platform absorb?
- What are your recovery time and recovery point expectations?
- How much of the cost should be fixed rather than usage-based?
- What support boundary do you want from u11d?
There is no default answer here, and we do not earn anything from the hosting decision. Development, integration, and storefront work is scoped from your commerce requirements — we can help with it on whichever platform you run.
Cloud capabilities described on this page were checked against Medusa's official documentation on 15 September 2026. Plan features, regions, and supported frameworks can change — confirm current details before you commit.
Planning an integration, storefront, migration, or operational improvement?
Tell us what needs to change and we'll respond within 24 hours with a straight assessment — including whether the work is a fit. Or start with the open-source packages we maintain and the deployment guides we publish.
Development, integrations, deployment, and ongoing support — scoped in writing.