Nodion vs Laravel Cloud
Laravel Cloud is the official managed PaaS from the Laravel team. It is built first for Laravel, also deploys Symfony and a curated set of JavaScript, Python, Go and Ruby frameworks, and runs on AWS infrastructure. It offers managed databases, object storage, caching and a Cloudflare-powered edge network. Nodion is a European all-in-one PaaS that runs any application via Docker and Buildpacks, with managed databases, object storage, CDN, transactional emails and DNS integrated into a single platform.
What it costs per month
Always-on prices in USD per month, excl. tax: list prices, or estimates at list rates where a provider bills by usage. For every provider the cheapest plans that meet each minimum, in its cheapest region.
Small project
1 app with 512 MB RAM and the cheapest managed SQL database
68% less on Nodion
Nodion
App, 512 MB $2.40 + PostgreSQL, 256 MB RAM, 4 GB $1.80 (3.50 EUR)
Laravel Cloud
Flex, 512 MiB $6 + MySQL Flex, 512 MiB $6.60 + 5 GB storage $0.50
Growing app
2 app instances with 2 GB RAM each, a PostgreSQL or MySQL database with 4 GB RAM and 50 GB storage
59% less on Nodion
Nodion
2 × app, 2 GB $19.20 + PostgreSQL, 4 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 64 GB $28.80 (40 EUR)
Laravel Cloud
Growth plan net of credit $15 + 2 × Flex, 2 GiB $48 + MySQL Pro, 4 GiB $48 + 50 GB storage $5
Production at scale
4 app instances with 8 GB RAM and 2 vCPU each, a PostgreSQL or MySQL database with 16 GB RAM, 4 vCPU and 250 GB storage, without HA
45% less on Nodion
Nodion Standby available
4 × app, 8 GB, 2 vCPU $153.60 + PostgreSQL, 16 GB RAM, 4 vCPU, 256 GB $115.20 (224 EUR)
Laravel Cloud No standby
Growth plan net of credit $15 + 4 × Pro, 8 GiB, 2 vCPU $256 + MySQL Pro, 16 GiB, no HA $192 + 250 GB storage $25
Laravel Cloud in its cheapest region, US East (Frankfurt: $15.30, $133 and $541). The small setup runs on the Starter plan, whose $5 fee is offset by its included usage; the larger setups need the Growth plan ($20 including $5 of usage). MySQL is cheaper than Postgres on Laravel Cloud at these sizes. Laravel Cloud offers no database standby on its self-serve plans, so the production setup is priced without HA on both sides; on Nodion, an HA standby can be added as a second database node at the same package price. With scale to zero, mostly idle small apps can cost as little as the $5 Starter fee. Nodion: DS-G2 and GP-G2 packages from its public price book; an HA standby is billed as a second database node. List prices checked on October 12, 2026; usage beyond what is listed, such as traffic, is not included.
| Feature | Nodion | Laravel Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Stuttgart, Germany (EU) | USA (Laravel Holdings Inc.) |
| Where Apps and Data Run | EU (Frankfurt), US (Manassas, San Jose), APAC (Singapore) | 9 AWS regions in the US, Canada, EU, UK and APAC |
| Data Protection | EU company, self-service DPA | US company, DPA and EU-US DPF |
| Supported Frameworks | Any (Docker + Buildpacks) | Curated list on PHP, Node.js, Python, Go and Ruby |
| Managed PostgreSQL | Yes | Yes (Serverless Postgres) |
| Managed MySQL | Yes | Yes |
| Managed Valkey (Redis-compatible) | Yes | Yes |
| Object Storage | Yes (S3-compatible) | Yes (via Cloudflare R2) |
| CDN | Yes (30 locations) | Yes (Cloudflare edge) |
| Transactional Emails | Yes (SMTP) | No built-in mail service |
| Managed DNS | Yes (free, GeoDNS) | No |
| Billing Model | Per-second, no plan fee | Per-second + plan fee |
| Free Tier / Credit | Up to 15 EUR sign-up credit | No free tier; first 30 days of Starter free |
| Docker + Buildpacks | Yes | No (framework auto-detection) |
Curated Frameworks vs Any Container
Laravel Cloud is built first for Laravel and supports a curated list of frameworks on PHP, Node.js, Python, Go and Ruby, detecting the framework and building the image for you. Managed queues and the scheduler are available for Laravel and Symfony. Nodion runs any application that ships as a Docker image or builds with Cloud Native Buildpacks, including Laravel, so you are not limited to a list of supported frameworks.
EU Hosting and Data Sovereignty
Laravel Cloud is operated by Laravel Holdings Inc., a US company, and runs on AWS. While it offers European regions (Frankfurt, Ireland and London), the company itself operates under US jurisdiction. Nodion is a German company headquartered in Stuttgart, operating under EU law, and runs your apps and data in the region you choose, including Frankfurt for the EU. For European organizations where the legal entity behind the platform matters, Nodion provides EU sovereignty natively.
Pricing and Billing
Laravel Cloud's Starter plan costs $5 per month including $5 of usage, and its first 30 days are free. Running always on in Frankfurt, its smallest Flex compute instance costs about $7 per month and a MySQL database about $7.70 per month plus storage. The Growth plan, required for worker clusters and unlimited preview environments, costs $20 per month plus usage. On Nodion, the smallest application instance costs 1 EUR per month and a database starts at 1.50 EUR per month, with no plan fee. Earn up to 15 EUR in credit when signing up. Laravel Cloud's scale to zero can lower costs for applications that are idle most of the time.
Platform Breadth
Laravel Cloud provides managed MySQL and Postgres, Valkey, S3-compatible object storage via Cloudflare R2, a Cloudflare-powered edge network with WAF, managed WebSockets, queues and a scheduler. It does not include its own mail service or managed DNS. Nodion's platform includes transactional email via SMTP and managed DNS with GeoDNS alongside applications, databases, object storage and a CDN, all on one bill.
Earn up to 15 EUR in credit when signing up.
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