I have extensively utilized Amazon AWS for various applications, ranging from operating an EKS cluster for our Televet product at Cooper Pet Care, to hosting my personal blog on Amazon Amplify.
Regrettably, deployments to my blog on Amazon Amplify ceased functioning unexpectedly. Instead of troubleshooting the issue, I opted to try out Render.com, a relatively new hosting platform I’ve frequently heard about.
One advantage of Render is its free hosting for static websites, in contrast to the annual cost of $20-30 I’ve been incurring on Amazon Amplify.
And the first impression of Render was pretty good.
Setting Up on Render
The setup process on Render was remarkably efficient and user-friendly. Within a mere five minutes, I managed to sign up, authenticate via Github, select my static blog’s repository, and deploy a fresh instance of the Jekyll site. Render adroitly identified the command required to convert Jekyll assets into static files. Following successful deployment to a Render subdomain, my remaining task was a simple DNS settings update for my domain.
One notable feature is Render’s automatic creation of SSL certificates. This further simplifies the process, contributing to a seamless user experience.
The user interface in Render is notably user-centric, providing an intuitive, easy-to-navigate layout. This stands in sharp contrast to the more convoluted interface of AWS, which can at times be daunting.
One specific Render feature I found useful was the capability to add a cron job without necessitating a standalone server. However, be aware that this is a paid feature and necessitates upfront credit card details.
As such, this blog is now proudly powered by Render.
Conclusion
I’m certainly pleased with using Render for my personal projects and pet endeavors. However, for larger-scale or more critical tasks, I’d prefer to reserve judgment and assess Render’s performance over a longer duration.