Start with your workload, not your budget
The cheapest plan is rarely the best choice if it forces premature migrations or performance firefighting. Choose a baseline that supports stable response times and healthy headroom.
Checklist
- NVMe storage for database-heavy apps.
- A clear upgrade path with predictable pricing.
- Backups and snapshots (and a tested restore plan).
- DDoS protection and basic security hygiene.
- Support you can actually reach when production is down.
Managed vs unmanaged
If you do not have an on-call rotation, managed instances can be cheaper than downtime. It is a good fit when you want patching, monitoring, and best-practice hardening. .