The Northflank Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Northflank in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Northflank
The Insider’s Guide
Container platform for services, jobs, databases and GPUs
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among web hosts, read from Northflank’s own pages.
Made by Northflank · checked Nov 12, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Northflank’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Northflank’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Nov 12, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.6
GPA, above 114 of the 122 other web hosts we grade
Northflank runs containerized services, scheduled jobs and databases on its own cloud or in a cloud account you own. Billing is by the second with no seat fees, and a free Sandbox tier covers small projects. The pricing page also lists GPU instances, builds from Git and a Platform SDK.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Northflank, taken from its own pages and our grades.
You configure services, builds and cloud accounts.
- 1
Best for containers billed by the second, or in your own cloud
Northflank runs services, jobs and databases with per-second billing and a free Sandbox tier.
- 2
Paid plans start at $12 a month
As its pricing page puts it: $12 per month for 0.5 vCPU and 1 GB, billed by the second.
- 3
There is a free plan
Sandbox: free, no card needed, with 2 services, 2 jobs and 1 database, up to $20 a month of resources on Northflank Cloud, and 1 bring-your-own-cloud cluster up to 12 vCPU and 48 GB.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
Bring your own cloud
Workloads can run on Northflank Cloud or in your own cloud account, where compute is billed at $0.02083 per node vCPU hour.
- 6
Per-second billing
Every resource is billed by the second, with no seat fees and unlimited users on the paid plan.
- 7
GPUs
GPUs on Northflank Cloud range from an L4 at $0.80 an hour to a B200 at $5.87 an hour, and BYOC GPUs are billed at $1.00 per GB of VRAM a month.
- 8
A 2.6 GPA, above 114 of 122
That is against the other web hosts we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Your call
Northflank sits between: not beyond making, and not a weekend's work either.
Northflank at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $12 per month for 0.5 vCPU and 1 GB, billed by the second
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- None stated
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Northflank
- Category
- Web Hosting
- Our grade
- 2.6 GPA, good
The report card
Best for containers billed by the second, or in your own cloud
Northflank runs services, jobs and databases with per-second billing and a free Sandbox tier. Sandbox stops at 2 services, 2 jobs and 1 database, and SAML, SCIM and audit logging are Enterprise only.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | $12 a month for the smallest plan, billed by the second, with a 2 vCPU, 4 GB plan at $48. Egress is $0.06 per GB on Northflank Cloud. |
| Free plan and trial | B | Sandbox is free with no card: 2 services, 2 jobs, 1 database, always on, up to $20 of resources a month. |
| Features | B | Services, jobs, Postgres and Redis, autoscaling, RBAC, GPUs and bring-your-own-cloud. The listing names no core gap. |
| Ease of use | C | No store rating on record. You configure services, builds and cloud accounts. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web only, with AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Oracle, Postgres, Redis and an SDK. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Northflank is for
- Fits if you want container hosting billed by the second
- Works for teams that want to run in their own AWS, Google Cloud or Azure account
Who it is not for
- Tight if you stay on Sandbox: 2 services, 2 jobs and 1 database
- Watch out: SAML, SCIM and audit logging need Enterprise
- Watch out: egress is $0.06 per GB on Northflank Cloud
- Pricey if you size up, as the $12 figure is only the smallest compute plan
Good to know
Good for
- Teams that want container hosting billed by the second
- Companies that want to run in their own AWS, Google Cloud or Azure account
- Developers testing on a free tier before paying
Worth knowing
- Network egress is $0.06 per GB on Northflank Cloud, and ingress is free.
- The Sandbox tier is capped at 2 services, 2 jobs and 1 database.
- SAML, SCIM and audit logging need the Enterprise plan.
- The price depends on what you run; the monthly figures on the page are for always-on compute.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$12
A month to start. There is a free plan too
Northflank has a free plan. Paid plans start at $12 per month for 0.5 vCPU and 1 GB, billed by the second.
Sandbox
$0
2 services, 2 jobs and 1 database, always on with no sleeping, and up to $20 a month of resources.
Pay as you go
$12
per month for the smallest compute plan, billed by the second
Unlimited users, deployments and workloads. Compute is $0.01667 per vCPU hour, memory $0.00833 per GB hour; the page shows a 2 vCPU, 4 GB plan at $48 a month.
Enterprise
Custom
Platform fee, usage, support and SLA: your own VPC or air-gapped setup, SAML, SCIM, audit logging and a dedicated Slack channel.
The free plan
Sandbox: free, no card needed, with 2 services, 2 jobs and 1 database, up to $20 a month of resources on Northflank Cloud, and 1 bring-your-own-cloud cluster up to 12 vCPU and 48 GB.
Read from northflank.com on Nov 12, 2026.
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Container platform for services, jobs, databases and GPUs. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: public API, AI features.
Services, jobs, Postgres and Redis, autoscaling, RBAC, GPUs and bring-your-own-cloud.
- Bring your own cloud
- Workloads can run on Northflank Cloud or in your own cloud account, where compute is billed at $0.02083 per node vCPU hour.
- Per-second billing
- Every resource is billed by the second, with no seat fees and unlimited users on the paid plan.
- GPUs
- GPUs on Northflank Cloud range from an L4 at $0.80 an hour to a B200 at $5.87 an hour, and BYOC GPUs are billed at $1.00 per GB of VRAM a month.
- Databases and storage
- Postgres and Redis databases are listed, with NVMe persistent disk at $0.11657 per GiB a month.
- Autoscaling and RBAC
- Autoscaling, role-based access control and a Platform SDK are included on pay-as-you-go.
- Bill estimator
- A calculator on the pricing page estimates a month's bill from a chosen mix of services, databases and sizes.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- AWS
- Google Cloud
- Azure
- Oracle
- CoreWeave
- Nebius
- Postgres
- Redis
Northflank is made by Northflank.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
114/122
Other web hosts it is graded above
Northflank's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 114 of the 122 other web hosts we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 99 of 122) and worst on value for money (C, above 13).
Its paid plans start at $12 a month, against a middle price of $9.69 for the category: 64 of the 107 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 123 web hosts we grade, cut by the letter each got. Northflank’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 13 of 122
- BFree plan and trialAbove 99 of 122
- BFeaturesAbove 86 of 122
- CEase of useAbove 40 of 122
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 57 of 122
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 111 web hosts. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Northflank is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Your call
Northflank sits between: not beyond making, and not a weekend's work either.
What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. It costs $144 a year.
What you could make
- It runs in a browser, which is where something home-made would run too.
What you could not
- It plugs into other products, AWS, Google Cloud and Azure among them, and has an API.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: roles and permissions.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Northflank’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Render, Railway, Fly.io, Koyeb and DigitalOcean
The 5 tools Northflank is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.4GPA
Render
Free plan · from $25/mo
Cloud hosting for web services, databases and workers.
- Render also covers databases and workflow automation.
- 2.6GPA
Railway
Free trial · from $5/mo
App and database hosting billed by the second for usage.
- Northflank has a free plan. Railway does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Railway lists iOS and Android apps.
- Railway also covers databases and AI agents.
- 2.2GPA
Fly.io
Free trial · from $2.19/mo
Virtual machines and databases in 18 regions, billed per second.
- Northflank has a free plan. Fly.io does not, though it has a free trial.
- Fly.io also covers databases and AI agents.
- 1.8GPA
Koyeb
From $29/mo
Serverless platform for apps, APIs and GPU workloads.
- Northflank has a free plan. Koyeb does not.
- 2.2GPA
DigitalOcean
Free plan · from $4/mo
Cloud servers, app hosting and managed databases for developers.
- DigitalOcean also covers databases.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
13
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Northflank free?
Northflank has a free plan. Sandbox: free, no card needed, with 2 services, 2 jobs and 1 database, up to $20 a month of resources on Northflank Cloud, and 1 bring-your-own-cloud cluster up to 12 vCPU and 48 GB.
How much does Northflank cost?
Northflank lists 3 plans. Sandbox: $0.
What platforms does Northflank work on?
Northflank is available on Web.
Does Northflank have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Northflank is listed for Web.
Does Northflank have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Northflank is listed for Web.
Is Northflank open source?
Northflank is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Does Northflank have an API?
Yes. Northflank offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Northflank integrate with?
Northflank's listing names AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Oracle, CoreWeave, Nebius, Postgres and Redis.
Who makes Northflank?
Northflank is made by a company of the same name.
What are the alternatives to Northflank?
The closest alternatives to Northflank in our directory are Render, Railway, Fly.io, Koyeb and DigitalOcean.
How does Northflank compare with other web hosts?
Northflank's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 114 of the 122 other web hosts we grade, and level with 5.
Is Northflank good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Northflank C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $12 a month, against a middle price of $9.69 for the category: 64 of the 107 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Northflank?
Northflank sits between: not beyond making, and not a weekend's work either.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Northflank’s own pages on Nov 12, 2026, and the grades were given on Nov 12, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Northflank's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Northflank. Prices change, so check northflank.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
7,721
Tools graded, in 95 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
7,721
tools graded
95
categories
739
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Northflank, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/northflank
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Northflank: The Insider's Guide", checked Nov 12, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/northflank
Know someone choosing between web hosts?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/northflank/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded web hosts after Northflank, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Web Hosting Insider's GuideEvery one of the 123 web hosts we grade, compared
- Cloudflare Pages Insider's GuideGit-based hosting for static sites and full-stack apps2.8 GPA
- GitHub Pages Insider's GuideStatic site hosting built into GitHub repositories2.8 GPA
- Netlify Insider's GuideGit-based hosting for sites and web apps, priced by monthly credits2.8 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Northflank’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Northflank is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Northflank. Prices and plans change: check northflank.com before you buy.