For a long time I didn't think much about hosting. Picked a shared plan, paid monthly, forgot about it.
Then one day I started reading about what hosting providers actually store. Not in a paranoid way. Just curious. And I didn't like what I found.
The shared hosting problem
Shared hosting is fine for most things. But the moment you start caring about who has access to your data — it gets uncomfortable fast.
Your IP, your email, your payment details, your traffic patterns. All sitting in someone's database. Most providers have a privacy policy. Most of them also comply with requests without telling you.
I'm not doing anything illegal. I just don't see why a hosting company needs to know more about me than my ISP already does.
Moving to a VPS
VPS was the obvious next step. More control, root access, you configure what you want.
But I quickly realized the VPS provider still knows who you are. You sign up with an email. You pay through a payment processor — which means a third party also knows. The server is yours but the account database isn't.
I started comparing providers specifically on this:
| Provider | Payment | Account DB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| IncogNET | No | Processor | Yes |
| AlexHost | No | Processor | Yes |
| 1984 Hosting | Yes | Processor | Yes |
| FlokiNET | No | Processor | Yes |
| VPSO | No | Direct on-chain | No |
I was skeptical about VPSO at first. Tested it with a small package before committing. Deploy was under two minutes. And there's genuinely nothing attached to me on their end — because there's no account to attach anything to. Your order ID is your identity. Nothing else.
The downside: costs more than a standard VPS. You're paying for the architecture, not just the compute.
What I actually learned
The question isn't just "does this provider have a good privacy policy."
What do they have that could be handed over if someone asked?
A provider with great policies but an account database still has your email, your IP at signup, your payment history. Policy doesn't delete data. Architecture does.
Order ID systems, direct on-chain payments, no email signup — these aren't marketing features. They're structural differences in what exists to be found.
Is this for everyone?
No. If you're running a business site and need a support ticket with your name on it — this isn't for you.
But if you're self-hosting projects where you'd rather not leave a trail, it's worth understanding the difference between a provider with good policies and a provider with good architecture.
Those are not the same thing.
Providers mentioned: IncogNET, AlexHost, 1984 Hosting, FlokiNET, VPSO. Tested most of these. VPSO linked because it's the one with direct wallet payment.
Top comments (0)