Hosting & ownership
Your site, your account, your code
Your site runs in a Google Cloud project on your own billing account from day one, with us invited in to manage it. Your domain, Stripe account and email-sending account are in your name, and once the build is paid for, the code moves to your GitHub, free, whenever you ask.
Where your site lives
Your site runs on Firebase App Hosting, part of Google Cloud. Each change merged to the main branch on GitHub is built by Cloud Build and rolled out automatically. Pages are served from Cloud Run behind Google's CDN, and SSL certificates are managed for you. Data lives in Cloud Firestore, and when a project needs sign-in, Firebase Authentication handles it.
How a change reaches your visitors
GitHub
Your code, with every change on record. Merging a change to the main branch starts a rollout.
Cloud Build
Google builds the new version of your site from that change.
Cloud Run + CDN
Cloud Run serves your pages, and Google's CDN keeps copies of what can be cached close to your visitors.
Your visitors
They reach the site at your own domain over HTTPS. The SSL certificate is issued and renewed automatically.
What's yours, and when
Almost everything is yours from the first day of the project. The code follows once the build is paid for.
Choosing a developer, us or anyone? What to check before you sign
Two bills, explained
Looking after your site and running it are billed separately: one bill from us, one from Google.
Why two bills instead of one
- It keeps the site legally and practically yours: the account that runs it is in your name, not ours.
- You never pay a markup on Google. The bill goes from Google to you and never passes through us.
- Every Hosting & Care plan includes budget alerts on your Google Cloud project, so you hear early if spending runs higher than expected. Alerts warn you; they don't cap spending.
The detail behind Google's bill: what hosting a small business site on Firebase really costs
What we can access while we manage your site
Managing a site means having access to it. Here is exactly what that covers.
When you leave, or whenever you ask, we remove all of it.
Leaving us
We'd rather keep you because the work is good than because leaving is hard. Here is the whole process.
- 1
Tell us
An email or a call is enough.
- 2
We transfer the repository to your GitHub
With its full history, once the build is paid for.
- 3
We reconnect your site to it
Your Google project's link to GitHub moves from our organization to your account, and your site is pointed at the transferred repository. It's a short, planned switch that we schedule with you.
- 4
We remove our access
From your Google Cloud project and any account you invited us to, and we hand over any credentials we hold.
Moving any site, not just one of ours? What a good website handover includes
Honest about dependencies
There is no lock-in to us. Your site does run on Google's platform, though. It's a standard Next.js app, so it can move; the parts that use Cloud Firestore or Firebase Authentication would need rework to leave Google.
Why Firebase and GitHub
Every site we build runs on the same two platforms. Here is why we chose them.
Questions about hosting and ownership
Who owns the website?
You do. The Google Cloud project it runs in, the domain, and any Stripe or email-sending accounts are in your name from day one, and your content and data are yours.
The code is yours once the build is paid for. It lives in our GitHub organization while we manage the site, you can read it from day one, and we transfer it to your GitHub, free, whenever you ask.
Who pays Google, and how much?
You do, directly: Google bills its usage to the card on your own billing account. For a small site it's usually a few dollars a month or less. That's an estimate, because it depends on traffic.
The bill never passes through us, so there's no markup. Google publishes worked cost examples for App Hosting.
Can you see my customers' data?
While we manage your site, we have administrator access to your Google Cloud project, and that includes the data stored in it. We access your data only to do the work you've asked for, such as fixing a problem or restoring a backup. When we stop managing the site, we remove that access.
What happens if I stop my Hosting & Care plan?
Your site keeps running in your Google account, and Google keeps billing its usage to you, as it always has. The plan runs to the end of the period you paid for.
After that we stop managing the site and hand everything over: the repository (once the build is paid for) and any credentials we hold. We remove our access. From then on, updates are up to you or whoever you choose.
Do I need a Hosting & Care plan at all?
No, it's optional. If you don't choose one, we hand everything over at launch. If you do, it starts on the day your site launches, not before.
Can I host somewhere else?
Yes. It's a standard Next.js app, and Next.js runs on many hosts. Parts that use Cloud Firestore or Firebase Authentication would need rework to move off Google, and builds and SSL would need to be set up on the new host. Ask us and we'll tell you what's involved for your site.
Want a site that's yours from day one?
Tell us what you're building. We'll walk you through how your accounts would be set up and what each bill would cover.