5 Reliable MEAN Stack Hosting Platforms

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Top 10 MEAN Hosting Platforms for Building Modern Web Applications

The MEAN stack – consisting of MongoDB, Express.js, Angular, and Node.js – has become an increasingly popular choice for building modern, dynamic web applications. By using JavaScript across the entire stack, MEAN enables developers to rapidly build and deploy high-performance, scalable web apps.

However, to get the most out of the MEAN stack, it‘s crucial to choose the right hosting platform that can provide the necessary performance, scalability, ease of use, and support for your MEAN-powered applications. In this in-depth guide, we‘ll take a look at the top 10 MEAN hosting platforms on the market and help you choose the best one for your needs.

What is the MEAN Stack?

Before diving into MEAN hosting, let‘s take a quick look at what the MEAN stack is and how it works.

MEAN is an acronym that stands for:

  • MongoDB – a NoSQL database
  • Express.js – a web application framework for Node.js
  • Angular – a JavaScript framework for building web applications
  • Node.js – a server-side JavaScript runtime environment

These components work together to enable full-stack JavaScript development:

  • Angular is used to build interactive, single-page web UIs
  • Express.js and Node.js handle the backend server and API
  • MongoDB is used as the database to store and retrieve data

One of the key benefits of MEAN is using a single language – JavaScript – across the entire application stack. This enables developers to rapidly develop apps, easily switch between frontend and backend, and reuse code.

Benefits of the MEAN Stack

There are many reasons why MEAN has become a popular choice for modern web development:

  • Rapid development – By using JavaScript across the stack and leveraging the huge ecosystem of open source tools and libraries, MEAN enables very fast development of web apps.

  • High performance – Node.js is designed for building fast, scalable network applications, while Angular enables highly responsive and interactive web frontends. The non-blocking I/O model of Node.js enables high throughput.

  • Easy to learn – Since MEAN uses a single language, it is relatively easy for developers familiar with JavaScript to transition to full-stack development with MEAN. The MEAN components are also well-documented with strong communities.

  • Flexibility and extensibility – The MEAN stack is highly flexible and extensible. The components are loosely coupled and there are many options for adding additional tools and frameworks as needed.

  • Full-stack JavaScript – Using JavaScript across the stack has many benefits including code reuse, the ability to switch between frontend and backend more easily, and leveraging the huge JavaScript ecosystem.

  • Cloud-native – MEAN is well-suited for deploying applications on cloud platforms that support Node.js. The stateless nature of Node.js and the ability to easily containerize Node.js apps make MEAN a good fit for microservices architectures and serverless computing.

  • Scalability – MEAN apps can be scaled horizontally by adding more server instances behind a load balancer to handle more traffic. MongoDB and Node.js are both designed to support horizontal scaling.

Choosing a MEAN Hosting Platform

When choosing a platform to host your MEAN application, there are several key factors to consider:

  • Ease of getting started – How easy is it to deploy a MEAN app on the platform? Is there clear documentation, tutorials, and quick start templates?

  • Performance and scalability – Can the platform provide the necessary performance and scalability to handle your application traffic and growth?

  • Pricing – How much does the platform cost? Is there a free tier or trial available?

  • Deployment options – Does the platform support automated deployment pipelines? What options exist for CI/CD?

  • Managed services – Does the platform provide managed services for components like MongoDB to simplify operations?

  • Add-on ecosystem – How extensive is the ecosystem of add-on tools, frameworks, and services that integrate with the platform?

  • Support and community – What kind of support options and SLAs does the vendor provide? Is there an active community around the platform?

Top 10 MEAN Hosting Platforms

Now let‘s take a look at the top MEAN hosting platforms, along with an analysis of their key features, benefits, and tradeoffs.

  1. MongoDB Atlas

MongoDB Atlas is a fully-managed cloud database service built and maintained by the team behind MongoDB. It offers an easy way to host and scale MongoDB clusters in the cloud.

Key features:

  • Automated provisioning, setup, and deployment of MongoDB clusters
  • Multi-region deployments with automatic failover and cross-region replication
  • Automated backup, restore, and patching
  • Enterprise-grade security with end-to-end encryption and network isolation
  • Real-time performance monitoring and optimization
  • BI Connector for connecting MongoDB to SQL-based BI and analytics platforms

Pricing: MongoDB Atlas offers a free tier that includes 512 MB of storage. Paid clusters start at $0.08/hr.

Pros:

  • Fully managed service simplifies MongoDB operations
  • High availability and turnkey scalability
  • Strong security and compliance
  • Integrates with major cloud platforms

Cons:

  • Less control than self-managed MongoDB
  • Can be more expensive than self-hosting at scale
  1. Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a suite of cloud computing services that includes hosting for MEAN applications.

Key features:

  • Virtual machines via Compute Engine to deploy and scale MEAN apps
  • Managed MongoDB hosting via MongoDB Atlas or Compute Engine
  • App Engine for fully managed Node.js hosting
  • Built-in CI/CD via Cloud Build
  • Robust monitoring, logging, and diagnostic tools via Stackdriver
  • Serverless computing via Cloud Functions

Pricing: GCP offers a free tier and $300 in free credits to get started. Compute Engine and App Engine have usage-based pricing.

Pros:

  • Extensive set of tools and services for building MEAN apps
  • Robust performance and scalability
  • Flexible deployment options

Cons:

  • Can be more complex than fully managed platforms
  • May require more setup and configuration
  1. Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is Microsoft‘s cloud computing platform that offers a range of services for hosting MEAN apps.

Key features:

  • Virtual machines for deploying and scaling MEAN apps
  • Azure Cosmos DB for fully managed MongoDB hosting
  • Azure App Service for simplified Node.js hosting
  • Robust DevOps and CI/CD tooling via Azure DevOps
  • Serverless computing via Azure Functions
  • Enterprise-grade security and compliance certifications

Pricing: Azure offers a free 12-month trial with $200 in credits. Most services have usage-based pricing.

Pros:

  • Comprehensive set of cloud services
  • Flexible hosting options for MEAN apps
  • Strong focus on hybrid cloud and enterprise

Cons:

  • Can steeper learning curve than other platforms
  • Some services can be more expensive
  1. Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is Amazon‘s market-leading cloud platform that provides extensive services for hosting MEAN apps.

Key features:

  • Virtual machines via EC2 for deploying and scaling MEAN apps
  • Managed MongoDB hosting via MongoDB Atlas or Amazon DocumentDB
  • Simplified Node.js hosting via Elastic Beanstalk
  • Serverless computing via AWS Lambda
  • Managed Kubernetes via Amazon EKS
  • Extensive DevOps and CI/CD tooling

Pricing: AWS offers a 12-month free tier. Most services have usage-based pricing.

Pros:

  • Market-leading cloud platform with extensive services
  • Flexible deployment options
  • Large ecosystem of third-party tools and integrations

Cons:

  • Can be overwhelming for new users
  • Pricing can be complex
  1. Heroku

Heroku is a fully-managed platform that simplifies deploying, scaling and managing MEAN applications.

Key features:

  • Easy deployment of MEAN apps with Git
  • Automatic scaling and load balancing
  • Fully-managed MongoDB hosting via mLab MongoDB
  • Extensive add-on ecosystem
  • Streamlined CI/CD with pipelines
  • App metrics

Pricing: Heroku has a free tier for small projects. Paid tiers start at $7/month per dyno.

Pros:

  • Simplified deployment and scaling of MEAN apps
  • Extensive add-on marketplace
  • Strong focus on developer experience

Cons:

  • Less control over infrastructure than IaaS platforms
  • Can be more expensive for high-traffic applications
  1. DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean is a developer-focused cloud platform that offers simple and affordable hosting options for MEAN.

Key features:

  • Virtual machines via Droplets for deploying MEAN apps
  • One-click MEAN app installation via Marketplace
  • Managed MongoDB hosting via MongoDB Atlas or DigitalOcean Databases
  • Kubernetes support via DigitalOcean Kubernetes
  • Simplified pricing
  • Developer-focused tutorials and documentation

Pricing: DigitalOcean Droplets start at $5 per month. Managed databases start at $15 per month.

Pros:

  • Simple hosting for developers
  • Affordable pricing
  • Easy scaling

Cons:

  • Fewer managed services than major cloud platforms
  • Limited add-on ecosystem

The other top MEAN hosting platforms to consider include:

  1. Linode – A developer-focused alternative to DigitalOcean with affordable virtual machines for hosting MEAN apps.

  2. IBM Cloud – IBM‘s cloud platform with hosting options optimized for MEAN like the IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service and IBM Cloud Databases for MongoDB.

  3. MEAN.JS – A full-stack JavaScript boilerplate for building MEAN apps. It can be hosted on any cloud platform that supports Node.js.

  4. Bitnami – Provides one-click installers and packaged apps for MEAN that can be hosted on any major cloud platform.

Tips for Getting Started with MEAN Hosting

  1. Start with a managed platform like MongoDB Atlas for your database to simplify operations and scaling.

  2. Use a platform with good MEAN documentation and tutorials to accelerate development.

  3. Consider using a boilerplate or CLI tool like Angular CLI or MEAN.JS to jumpstart development.

  4. Implement automated testing and CI/CD to catch bugs early and streamline deployments.

  5. Leverage the JavaScript ecosystem. MEAN works well with a wide range of JavaScript frameworks and tools.

  6. Design with scalability in mind from the start. Use loose coupling, stateless components, and consider serverless computing.

  7. Monitor your application proactively. Use tools like Prometheus or Retrace for end-to-end visibility.

Alternatives to MEAN Hosting Platforms

While using a managed MEAN hosting platform is a great option for many projects, it‘s not the only way to host MEAN apps. Here are a few alternatives:

Self-hosting with IaaS – You can self-host your MEAN app on any cloud platform using infrastructure-as-a-service components like virtual machines and self-managed MongoDB. This gives you full control, but requires more time investment to setup and manage.

On-premise hosting – For organizations with strict security or compliance needs, hosting on-premise may be required. MEAN can be hosted on-prem, but will require significant setup.

Serverless – For some use cases, a serverless architecture with AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions or Azure Functions may be a better fit than a full MEAN stack app. Serverless enables extreme automatic scaling and a pay-per-use model.

Containers – MEAN is well-suited for containerization with Docker and orchestration with Kubernetes. Hosting a containerized MEAN app provides high portability.

Conclusion

MEAN is a powerful stack for building modern web applications, and selecting the right hosting platform is a critical part of making your MEAN project successful. The right platform will provide the necessary performance, scalability, developer experience and support you need.

The 10 platforms covered in this guide are all strong options. MongoDB Atlas is a great choice for managed MongoDB hosting. Major cloud platforms like AWS, GCP, and Azure provide robust, full-featured hosting. Heroku and DigitalOcean offer easy, developer-focused hosting.

Ultimately, the right choice depends on your specific needs. Consider your budget, performance requirements, developer skills, and productivity needs. Don‘t be afraid to start small, and scale-up your hosting as your app grows. With the right MEAN hosting platform, you‘ll be able to rapidlt build and scale your web app.

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