Your agency hosts twelve projects: three WordPress, one Django app, two Node APIs, old custom PHP. Classic shared hosting suffocates. Alwaysdata promises multi-language, SSH, scaling and 100% France — but is it the right PaaS to migrate the whole zoo?
Migration to Alwaysdata makes sense when the project looks like a web application maintained by developers — not a Kubernetes cluster or brochure site without technical skill. Classic trap: migrating for French flag or price without verifying platform supports workers, cron and required language versions.
What Alwaysdata is — honest map
Our Alwaysdata sheet: Paris, FR support, Plus offer with unlimited sites/databases/email, SSH, auto backups.
| Layer | Alwaysdata | Out of scope |
|---|---|---|
| PHP, Python, Node, Ruby, Java | Yes | — |
| Standard WordPress | Yes | Premium managed WP |
| Git deploy, cron, SSL | Yes | — |
| K8S, massive serverless | Limited | Scaleway, Clever Cloud |
| 24/7 managed | Max offer (expensive) | — |
Alwaysdata sits between o2switch (brochure simplicity) and Clever Cloud (native SecNumCloud PaaS). That positioning explains both strengths and ceilings.
Projects that fit migration
Yes — relevant migration: Laravel/Symfony app with queues and cron; Django + PostgreSQL; agency managing multiple sites on one account; France GDPR + human FR support need.
No — other target: heavy WooCommerce WordPress → managed (Raidboxes, o2switch); containerised microservices → Clever Cloud or Scaleway.
Boundary is not "small vs large" — it is "dev team reading logs" vs "site installed once".
Realistic migration checklist
Inventory languages, versions, extensions, cron and env vars before any export. DB dump plus restore test on Alwaysdata staging. Lower DNS TTL before cutover. Email: Alwaysdata SPF/DKIM or external SMTP — test send before cutover. Monitor latency and 500 errors first forty-eight hours.
Cost and scaling
Entry ~€5, broader Plus offer, Max managed much pricier. Mostly vertical scaling vs Clever Cloud. Compare over twenty-four months — see Gandi vs Alwaysdata. Project doubling traffic in six months must anticipate vertical ceiling before committing.
What FR support changes — and does not
French support helps on vhost, cron, PHP versions and platform points. It does not replace application refactoring or poorly indexed database optimisation. Arrive at migration with clear inventory — support accelerates cutover, not business debugging. Finally plan cutover window with documented DNS rollback: if app fails after cutover, rolling back within an hour requires low TTL and tested procedure — see domain redirects for common pitfalls.
The peak: migrating to Alwaysdata is migrating to dev culture
Decide and move forward without blind spots
First list languages and dependencies — version incompatibility blocks migration before export. Then test Alwaysdata staging with real stack and validate cron, email and workers. Compare Clever Cloud if SecNumCloud or horizontal auto-scaling required. See Alwaysdata and directory to situate offer in French spectrum. Finally document DNS rollback plan if cutover fails.
Frequently asked questions
Is Alwaysdata real PaaS?
Advanced multi-language shared plus VPS plus Max managed. Not Kubernetes-as-a-Service — flexible application hosting in France, suited to teams wanting SSH without cluster.
Which projects migrate well?
PHP/Laravel, Django, Rails, Node API, agency multi-sites, FR data. Less: heavy Kubernetes, premium managed WP, containerised microservices.
Migration from o2switch/OVH shared?
Files plus dump, vhost, env vars, cron. Adapt versions and test email. FR support on platform — not application refactoring.
Alwaysdata vs Clever Cloud?
Alwaysdata = multi-language simplicity and moderate price. Clever Cloud = SecNumCloud PaaS, Git push, stronger auto-scaling. See Scaleway vs Clever Cloud PaaS.
Migrating to Alwaysdata makes sense the day your current host blocks a Python version — not the day you want cheaper hosting for the same business card.