5 ms·

This is unbelievably overpriced. For $25/m you can get a VPS from Hetzner that has 8vCPU, 16GB mem, 240GB disk, and 20TB traffic. For $3/m on Heztner you can

This is unbelievably overpriced. For $25/m you can get a VPS from Hetzner that has 8vCPU, 16GB mem, 240GB disk, and 20TB traffic. For $3/m on Heztner you can get a VPS with 20GB disk and 20TB traffic, which is still a 4x multiple for storage and 100x multiple for traffic.

tinus_hn 6y ago
It includes managing the software. Administration isn’t free.
that_guy_iain 6y ago
You’re paying for it to be maintained. You’re not factoring in people costs.
sudhirj 6y ago
Yup. I'm offering sysadmin / ops / IT management services. If a business already has ops/devops folks they can use the Bitnami image or the Digital Ocean official image for $5 a month. Here I provide free bits of consulting, walk-throughs of all the setup you need to do yourself, handle everything else for you. Not really targeted at experts on HN, but if non-technical friends or family need a blog+site or substack alternative I can help.
iamben 6y ago
This sort of reminds me of all the comments on the Dropbox Show HN. "I can backup all my stuff by doing XYZ, why would I need this?" I'm not saying this product is as revolutionary, just that there's value in identifying a market and taking a punt. Assuming it's not much work for the OP, it could be a great side hustle, small business, or whatever else. Just because it can be done cheaper with a bit of effort doesn't mean someone won't pay for the convenience. Just my 2c!
- brtkdotse 6y ago
  "1. For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
- ccmcarey 6y ago
  I mean fair, but Ghost is extremely easy to manage.
virgilp 6y ago
Is it? Ghost.org seems to have much higher prices: https://ghost.org/pricing/ https://ghost.org/pricing/
ayewo 6y ago
You’ve made valid points but have failed to see who the target market is for a service like this: people who are not technical enough to stand up a Ghost server by themselves AND are too price sensitive to pay for the lowest tier of $29/mo [1] from the makers of Ghost. Essentially, the maker thinks their product will fill an unmet need for such customers, many of whom can be found in developing countries [2]. [1] https://ghost.org/pricing/ https://ghost.org/pricing/ [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25415538 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25415538
- miyuru 6y ago
  I have been reading the comments and and I agree with you. my thoughts are as below. 1) The poster has no market plan and is building one on the go. 2) Haven't done any kind of market research. 3) The poster does not seem to have an actual platform built. seems to only have the domain at this stage. 4) Very poor presentation of the product on the site. 5) Does not actually solve the problem the market has. Does not bring anything new to the table. I have done research on ghost hosting and there is a demand for low end ghost instances but the problem with ghost is its not profitable due to its scalability and management problems at lower scale.
  - sudhirj 6y ago
    All of the points are true, but to paint them negatively contradicts YC Startup School advice. This is a minimum usable product that does things that don't scale. If you email me, you'll get a Ghost install you can log in to and an invoice on Stripe. I'll walk you through everything, Collison brothers style, and give you ideas on how to set it up for your team and do low-key editing for you, early-airbnb style. If there are over a 100 people who want this, I'll build out a self service dashboard that automates everything, and get a designer. But I do think it would be idiotic to start this project by hiring a designer and writing thousands of lines of dashboard and automation / system state management code. Doesn't mean I can't do it (have done it professionally enough times). Regarding it not solving a problem the market has, that may be the case, in which case I'm down a landing page, will think up a new idea next month. But the world is a big place, and the market is bigger than we all think. Would be nice if we could be nicer to people - at the end of the day we're all still normal humans trying to figure out what to do after a pandemic has turned careers upside down. A simple downvote would have been enough.
tweetle_beetle 6y ago
WP Engine and Kinsta are operating in this equivalent space with equivalent "premium" pricepoints and seem to be doing very well for themselves.

tinus_hn 6y ago

It includes managing the software. Administration isn’t free.

that_guy_iain 6y ago

You’re paying for it to be maintained. You’re not factoring in people costs.

sudhirj 6y ago

Yup. I'm offering sysadmin / ops / IT management services. If a business already has ops/devops folks they can use the Bitnami image or the Digital Ocean official image for $5 a month. Here I provide free bits of consulting, walk-throughs of all the setup you need to do yourself, handle everything else for you. Not really targeted at experts on HN, but if non-technical friends or family need a blog+site or substack alternative I can help.

iamben 6y ago

This sort of reminds me of all the comments on the Dropbox Show HN. "I can backup all my stuff by doing XYZ, why would I need this?" I'm not saying this product is as revolutionary, just that there's value in identifying a market and taking a punt. Assuming it's not much work for the OP, it could be a great side hustle, small business, or whatever else. Just because it can be done cheaper with a bit of effort doesn't mean someone won't pay for the convenience. Just my 2c!

brtkdotse 6y ago
"1. For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
ccmcarey 6y ago
I mean fair, but Ghost is extremely easy to manage.

virgilp 6y ago

Is it? Ghost.org seems to have much higher prices: https://ghost.org/pricing/ https://ghost.org/pricing/

ayewo 6y ago

You’ve made valid points but have failed to see who the target market is for a service like this: people who are not technical enough to stand up a Ghost server by themselves AND are too price sensitive to pay for the lowest tier of $29/mo [1] from the makers of Ghost. Essentially, the maker thinks their product will fill an unmet need for such customers, many of whom can be found in developing countries [2]. [1] https://ghost.org/pricing/ https://ghost.org/pricing/ [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25415538 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25415538

miyuru 6y ago
I have been reading the comments and and I agree with you. my thoughts are as below. 1) The poster has no market plan and is building one on the go. 2) Haven't done any kind of market research. 3) The poster does not seem to have an actual platform built. seems to only have the domain at this stage. 4) Very poor presentation of the product on the site. 5) Does not actually solve the problem the market has. Does not bring anything new to the table. I have done research on ghost hosting and there is a demand for low end ghost instances but the problem with ghost is its not profitable due to its scalability and management problems at lower scale.
- sudhirj 6y ago
  All of the points are true, but to paint them negatively contradicts YC Startup School advice. This is a minimum usable product that does things that don't scale. If you email me, you'll get a Ghost install you can log in to and an invoice on Stripe. I'll walk you through everything, Collison brothers style, and give you ideas on how to set it up for your team and do low-key editing for you, early-airbnb style. If there are over a 100 people who want this, I'll build out a self service dashboard that automates everything, and get a designer. But I do think it would be idiotic to start this project by hiring a designer and writing thousands of lines of dashboard and automation / system state management code. Doesn't mean I can't do it (have done it professionally enough times). Regarding it not solving a problem the market has, that may be the case, in which case I'm down a landing page, will think up a new idea next month. But the world is a big place, and the market is bigger than we all think. Would be nice if we could be nicer to people - at the end of the day we're all still normal humans trying to figure out what to do after a pandemic has turned careers upside down. A simple downvote would have been enough.

tweetle_beetle 6y ago

WP Engine and Kinsta are operating in this equivalent space with equivalent "premium" pricepoints and seem to be doing very well for themselves.