FAQ
General
Section titled “General”What is Ownkube?
A cloud for personal software. Push a repo or a container and Ownkube builds, deploys, and runs it, with a live URL, managed Postgres, automatic TLS, logs, metrics, autoscaling, and rollbacks built in. No cloud account, no cluster to provision, no platform team. When you want your own data boundary, the same app runs in your own AWS account with the same workflow and dashboard.
Do I need a cloud account?
No. Ownkube runs your apps on infrastructure it owns and operates, and you pay Ownkube for what you use. Connecting your own AWS account is an option for when you want your own data boundary or your own bill, not a requirement.
How is this different from Heroku, Render, or Railway?
For managed compute it is the same kind of workflow: push code, get a live URL, no servers to manage. Ownkube is metered per minute (about a third under the equivalent Railway bill) with managed Postgres and autoscaling built in. What those platforms don’t offer is the option to run the same app in your own AWS account when you need it, with no rewrite and the same dashboard and observability.
Can I use Ownkube without a credit card?
You can sign in and look around without a card. Deploying on Ownkube-hosted compute needs a plan: Personal is $5/month on a prepaid wallet. Running in your own AWS account is an Advanced path with its own no-card option; see Clusters.
Deployments
Section titled “Deployments”What kinds of workloads can I run?
Web apps (HTTP services), workers (long-running background processes), jobs (one-off or cron), databases (managed PostgreSQL), and Functions (beta, serverless event handlers triggered by HTTP or a cron schedule). See Deployments.
What frameworks and languages are supported?
Anything that runs in a container. Build from a GitHub or GitLab repo (with or without a Dockerfile), or push an image to a connected registry. Node, Python, Go, Ruby, Rust, Java are all supported.
Are public hostnames and TLS automatic?
Yes. Toggle Make this deployment public on the deployment Settings tab and Ownkube assigns a generated hostname on a Cloudflare-backed domain with an automatically-provisioned TLS certificate and renewal. See Deployments.
Can I run cron jobs?
Yes. Create a Job deployment and add a schedule (standard cron syntax). See Deployments.
How do I deploy updates?
Push a new commit (for source deployments) or a new image tag, and Ownkube rolls new containers out and drains the old ones after health checks pass. A bad rollout is a one-click rollback to the last healthy revision.
Billing and costs
Section titled “Billing and costs”What am I paying Ownkube for?
On Ownkube-hosted compute, a prepaid wallet: Personal at $5/month or Team at $20/month, metered per minute at about $0.00041/vCPU-minute and $0.0001/GiB-minute for what your apps actually use. A mostly-idle app costs very little. See Pricing.
Is there a free tier?
Ownkube-hosted compute has no free tier; the smallest plan is Personal at $5/month. Running in your own AWS account has its own no-cost option on the Advanced path; see Clusters.
Can I cap my monthly spend?
Yes. Set a monthly budget and choose to be notified at the cap or to have your apps pause (scale to zero, data retained) when month-to-date spend reaches it. Spending alerts email the account owner at 50%, 80%, and 100% of the budget. See Spend limits.
Is there an Enterprise plan?
Yes, with custom pricing, volume discounts, SLAs, SSO, and advanced access controls. Contact us. Enterprise is not self-serve.
Running in your own cloud
Section titled “Running in your own cloud”Everything above describes Ownkube Compute, the default, no cloud account needed. When you want your own data boundary or your own AWS bill, the same app runs inside your own AWS account instead, with the same workflow and dashboard. That’s the Advanced path, covered on its own pages:
Security and compliance
Section titled “Security and compliance”Does Ownkube see my application data?
On Ownkube-hosted compute, your apps run in isolated, encrypted infrastructure Ownkube operates. See Security for the data boundary on the own-cloud path.
What IAM permissions does Ownkube need in my account?
For the own-cloud path, a scoped, least-privilege role, not admin access. See Connect AWS for the exact permissions.
Is my data encrypted?
Yes. At rest and in transit with TLS on every hop. Secret env vars are encrypted before delivery to the runtime secret store, which is itself encrypted at rest.
Can I meet SOC 2 / HIPAA / GDPR requirements?
Compliance posture depends on which path you run on. See Security for details.
Teams and access
Section titled “Teams and access”How do I invite teammates?
Open Settings, go to the Organization section, and invite by email. See plan limits for seat count on your tier.
Is there SSO?
SSO is part of the Enterprise plan. Contact us.