Cloud Foundry vs Fasthosts

What Cloud Foundry is

Cloud Foundry is an Apache-licensed, openly governed application-platform ecosystem. Developers push supported application code through the cf CLI and platform API; operators provide routing, buildpacks, container scheduling, identity, logs, quotas and service integrations. The software has no license fee, but a production foundation still requires infrastructure, load balancers, DNS/TLS, databases, blob stores, monitoring, backups, updates and skilled operations—or a separately priced commercial distribution or managed provider. Certification verifies required core components for a specific program year; it is not the same as generic API compatibility or an uptime guarantee.

What Fasthosts is

Fasthosts is a UK hosting provider; this record focuses on its managed shared Web Hosting rather than its separately governed VPS, cloud or dedicated-server products. The Start plan currently advertises £1 per month for the first three months and then £5.75 per month, excluding VAT, with one site, 100 GB SSD storage, one first-year domain, one mailbox and uncapped bandwidth. Packages renew under the contract and payment terms. A 30-day guarantee covers named hosting products but excludes domain-registration cost and many server or add-on services. Customers remain responsible for maintaining current independent backups.

What Cloud Foundry is built to do

cf push workflow

Stages supported source or artifacts with buildpacks and schedules application instances.

Organizations and spaces

Scopes applications, routes, services, quotas and role-based access for multiple teams.

Service broker model

Provisions and binds managed services through the Open Service Broker API.

UAA identity

Provides OAuth-based platform identity with configurable LDAP and SAML federation.

What Fasthosts is built to do

Shared web hosting

Hosts one or more sites on managed infrastructure with SSD storage and a provider control panel.

Databases and apps

Includes MySQL or MSSQL allowances and a one-click application installer by plan.

Domain and email bundle

Selected plans include a first-year domain and a plan-specific mailbox allowance.

Initial refund window

Eligible named hosting products can be cancelled through the documented 30-day guarantee process.

Choose Cloud Foundry if

• Large application portfolios that conform to buildpack or supported container workflows
• Organizations prioritizing consistent developer experience across infrastructure choices
• Internal platforms with dedicated owners for upgrades, security, observability and disaster recovery

Skip Cloud Foundry if

• The organization has only a few simple services and no platform-operations capacity
• Applications require privileged hosts, unusual kernels or infrastructure-level control
• The selected distribution has no verified lifecycle, support, certification or backup responsibility

Choose Fasthosts if

• Brochure sites and small CMS deployments within the selected plan's resource limits
• Customers who prefer a bundled UK hosting, domain and mailbox workflow
• Teams that maintain independent backups and understand renewal pricing before purchase

Skip Fasthosts if

• The application needs root access, custom daemons, elastic infrastructure or guaranteed compute isolation
• The buying decision only works at the short introductory price
• The recovery plan depends on Fasthosts exposing its internal archival copies

Cloud Foundry: pros & cons

• Developer abstraction: A consistent cf push workflow hides much of the infrastructure configuration from application teams.
• Open governance and source: Foundation projects use open contribution, design and governance processes.
• Infrastructure choice: Cloud Foundry can be deployed on multiple IaaS environments or consumed through commercial offerings.
• Platform controls: UAA identity, RBAC, orgs, spaces, quotas, routing, logs and service brokers provide multi-team governance.
• Free software has real operating cost: Production topology, infrastructure, upgrades, security and recovery need a platform team.
• Provider experience varies: Buildpacks, services, extensions, support, certification and pricing differ among distributions.
• State remains external: Databases and bound services need their own durability, credential and restore strategy.
• Not general compute: The opinionated application model is a poor fit for workloads needing unrestricted hosts or unusual system dependencies.

Fasthosts: pros & cons

• Clear starter bundle: Shared plans combine site space, databases, mailbox, domain promotion and a control panel.
• Uncapped bandwidth positioning: The current shared-hosting page does not impose a stated traffic cap on these packages.
• Low-friction trial period: Eligible initial hosting purchases can use the documented 30-day money-back process.
• UK-oriented service: UK infrastructure and local-market support suit small organizations targeting that jurisdiction.
• Promotion is temporary: The low introductory price rises to the displayed standard monthly rate.
• Guarantee exclusions matter: Domains, servers, add-ons and later account changes are not covered like the initial eligible hosting order.
• Backup ownership stays with the customer: Provider archives are not a promised on-demand recovery source.
• Shared-hosting limits remain: Runtime, storage, database and acceptable-use constraints can make heavier applications unsuitable.