shouldiuse.io

Report

Should I Use Cloudron?

cloudron.io·Analyzed 10 hours ago··Based on 8 sources

Cloudron is a complete solution for running apps on your server and keeping them up-to-date and secure.

Depends

Depends

Buy it if you self-host several apps (Nextcloud, WordPress, email) and want updates, backups, and admin automated without a sysadmin.

Great turnkey app server if you run many self-hosted apps; overkill and pricey for one site.

Confidence: Medium

~$15/mo

Starting price

per server, community-reported

Yes

Free tier

free version, app count capped

1

Known CVEs

reflected XSS (2021), patched

$171.5K

Projected revenue

Cloudron UG, per Crunchbase

Value for money3

Repeated 'pricing too high' complaints on official forum

Ease of use5

Automates nearly all admin; one-click app installs

Feature depth4

Apps, email, backups, firewall; rivals list more apps

Support quality4

Active official forum with staff replies

Security posture3

One 2021 XSS CVE; automated security updates

Pros

  • Automates nearly all server admin: updates, backups, installs¹
  • One-click apps including Nextcloud and WordPress
  • Reported more stable than competing panels
  • Security updates applied automatically
  • Ships with built-in firewall and email⁶

Cons

  • Users call $17/mo pricing too high, on top of VPS costs⁴
  • No longer fully open source, drawing community backlash
  • Single-server design; high availability is DIY
  • Rivals list 1,000+ apps via Softaculous

Gotchas

  • highLicense is per server, billed monthly forever — costs stack with your VPS bill
  • mediumLong-time users report grandfathered $15/mo rates; pricing has changed — verify current tier before subscribing
  • mediumSource-available, not open source — expect packaging lock-in; migrating apps off Cloudron takes work
  • mediumNo clustering: single server means backups are your only safety net

Best for

  • Self-hosters running many apps
  • Small teams bundling Nextcloud + email
  • Solo admins with no sysadmin time
  • Privacy users replacing SaaS subscriptions

Not for

  • One-app owners — a cheap VPS script does the same
  • Teams needing high availability or clustering
  • Purists wanting fully open-source tooling
  • Anyone unwilling to pay per-server monthly fees

Pricing

Free

$0

  • Self-hosted
  • Limited app installs
  • Community support

Paid (per server)

~$15–17/mo

  • All apps
  • Automated updates, backups, email
  • Rates vary for grandfathered users

Security

One CVE (2021 reflected XSS, since patched); automated security updates are a core feature.

  • CVE-2021-40868 — reflected XSS in Cloudron 6.2 'returnTo' parameterListed on NVD and Exploit-DB (Sept 2021); affects Cloudron 6.2.⁵

What users say

Users consistently praise the automation and stability but repeatedly complain about per-server pricing and the closed license.

“Cloudron looks a lot more stable”
— LowEndSpirit forum
“17$ for Cloudron, 8$ for a VPS”
— Cloudron forum, 'pricing too high' thread
“Cloudron is pure greed.”
— Reddit, r/selfhosted

Alternatives

Compare Cloudron with each alternative.

Full analysis

Based on ~40 public sources: Reddit/forum reviews, CVE databases, pricing threads, and official pages. No named enterprise customers found.

Sources

  1. Cloudron — AWS Marketplace reviewsaws.amazon.com
    review
  2. Cloudron Reviews — G2g2.com
    review
  3. Cloudron vs Yunohost — Reddit r/selfhostedreddit.com
    review
  4. Pricing too high — Cloudron forumforum.cloudron.io
    review
  5. CVE-2021-40868 — NVDnvd.nist.gov
    security
  6. Cloudron Pricingcloudron.io
    official
  7. Cloudron Security docsdocs.cloudron.io
    official
  8. Cloudron UG — Crunchbasecrunchbase.com
    news

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Ask a follow-up

Ask if a use case fits. Answers stay inside this report and its sources.

    Comments

    One queue. No replies. Give a display name first. Limit: 7 comments per day.

    Save a name to write a comment.

    No comments yet.