# Ploi review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Server and site management panel for PHP and Laravel apps Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Ploi is a panel for provisioning and running your own servers, with site management, deployments, databases, firewall, queues and cron jobs in one dashboard. It detects Laravel apps and also handles WordPress sites, on servers at providers such as DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr and AWS EC2. Pricing is flat per month by server count, and server fees are not included. - **Category:** Web Hosting - **Made by:** Ploi - **Website:** https://ploi.io - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Tight if you stay free: 1 server, 1 site and 5 deployments a month. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Ploi has a free plan, and paid plans start at $10 per month (Basic, up to 5 servers). - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** 1 server, 1 site and 5 deployments per month. - **Free trial:** 5-day trial of the Pro plan, no credit card required; it then drops to the free plan. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | Up to 1 server and 1 site, with 5 deployments a month. | | Basic | $10 per month, billed monthly | Up to 5 servers, unlimited sites and deployments, and 60 API requests a minute. | | Pro | $16 per month, billed monthly | Up to 10 servers, unlimited sites and deployments, and 120 API requests a minute. | | Unlimited | $36 per month, billed monthly | Unlimited servers and sites, and 240 API requests a minute. | Read from https://ploi.io/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Ploi before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **10% off with yearly billing** (Annual discount): The pricing page says yearly pricing saves 10%: Basic is $108 a year, Pro $172.80 and Unlimited $388.80 in dollars as displayed. Source: https://ploi.io/pricing - **Student discount** (Education): The FAQ says Ploi offers student discounts and points to a requirements page. Source: https://ploi.io/pricing ## Key features - **Server installation:** Servers are provisioned with NGINX, PHP and Redis/Valkey by default, on providers including DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr and AWS EC2. - **Laravel-aware site management:** The panel detects Laravel apps, and also lists WordPress support, deployments, queues, cron jobs and multiple PHP versions. - **Load balancing and status pages:** Traffic can be spread over several servers, and custom status pages keep customers informed. - **Teams and access:** Servers can be shared with co-workers, and the pricing table lists team management, domain aliases and tenants. - **API and MCP server:** An API and an MCP server let AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor manage servers. - **Mobile app:** The features menu lists an app for managing sites and servers on the go. ## Good for - Laravel and PHP developers running their own servers - Freelancers who need a single free server and site - Small teams that want flat pricing per server count ## Worth knowing - Ploi does not include server fees; you pay your server provider separately. - The pricing page prices in euros and shows dollar figures converted at an exchange rate that can vary. - There is no 24/7 support, according to the pricing page FAQ. - Team management, backups, monitoring and other features are listed by plan in a comparison table; the free plan stops at 1 server and 5 deployments a month. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Ploi manages servers and sites for PHP and Laravel apps, with a free plan for one server and one site. The free plan is 5 deployments a month, servers are billed separately, and there is no 24/7 support. - **Value for money: C.** Basic is $10 a month for 5 servers, Pro $16 and Unlimited $36, with server costs paid to your provider. Prices are set in euros and converted. - **Free plan and trial: C.** Free for 1 server, 1 site and 5 deployments a month, plus a 5-day Pro trial with no card. 5 deployments is a cap you'll hit. - **Features: C.** Provisioning, Laravel-aware sites, queues, cron jobs, load balancing, an API and an MCP server. It does the server-panel job fully, but that's a smaller job than hosting. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. You connect a provider and set up servers and sites. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web only, with a mobile app listed, plus DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr and AWS EC2. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Ploi's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among web hosts - Ploi's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 31 of the 54 other web hosts we grade, and level with 13. - It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 24 of 54) and worst on features (C, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $10 a month, against a middle price of $9 for the category: 28 of the 52 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 3 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/web-hosting ## Keep it, or make your own? **Your call.** Ploi 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 $120 a year. - You could make: It runs in a browser, which is where something home-made would run too. - You could not: It plugs into other products, DigitalOcean, Hetzner and Vultr among them, and has an API. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. - You could not: Sharing with other people, which means accounts and invitations. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr, AWS EC2, Laravel, WordPress **Tags:** Public API, AI features ## Alternatives - [Laravel Forge](https://toolgpa.com/tools/laravel-forge): Server management and deploys for Laravel, PHP and Node apps. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/laravel-forge-vs-ploi) - [RunCloud](https://toolgpa.com/tools/runcloud): Web server control panel for PHP sites on your own cloud servers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/ploi-vs-runcloud) - [SpinupWP](https://toolgpa.com/tools/spinupwp): WordPress server management for servers you rent yourself. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/ploi-vs-spinupwp) - [GridPane](https://toolgpa.com/tools/gridpane): WordPress server control panel with a free core plan. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gridpane-vs-ploi) - [Cloudways](https://toolgpa.com/tools/cloudways): Managed cloud hosting on DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cloudways-vs-ploi) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://ploi.io/pricing - https://ploi.io/ - https://ploi.io/features/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/ploi Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).