Guide: self-hosting
Self-host your websites on a server you actually control
Shared hosting and managed platforms decide your PHP version, your limits and your price rise. Your own server puts every one of those decisions back in your hands. The catch has always been the setup and the upkeep. ServerMaid takes both off you.
Server setup £99 £49.50 plus Websites and SSL £79, £39.50 per server for twelve months, unlimited websites. 30-day money-back promise.
Why developers self-host
Control, mostly. Your own server runs the PHP version you choose, the extensions you need and as many websites as it can carry, with no per-site fee and no ticket to raise when you need a setting changed.
Cost comes next. One Windows VPS can host a portfolio of client sites or side projects for the price of a couple of managed plans, and your files, databases and logs never leave a machine you control.
What stops most people is the blank server: IIS, PHP, a database, a firewall that does not lock you out, certificates and backups, all by hand. That is exactly the part ServerMaid does for you, the same way every time.
How it works
Your own server in three steps
Rent the server
Any Windows Server 2019, 2022 or 2025 VPS or dedicated server from any provider. You own the configuration from the first minute.
Build it once
Press BUILD MY SERVER. IIS, PHP, MySQL or MariaDB, a hardened security baseline, the firewall and scheduled backups, previewed before anything changes.
Add every site you host
One form per website, each with its own folders, application pool, database account and a free certificate* that renews itself.
* Free SSL certificates need the Websites and SSL module (included in Agency and Enterprise licences) on a licence within its twelve-month period. Certificates come from Let's Encrypt; new websites get one while the licence is in date, and certificates already issued keep renewing.
What you take on when you self-host, and what ServerMaid carries
- Security. Remote Desktop limited to your own addresses, account lockout, a local-only database and a versioned hardening baseline. ServerMaid applies it and warns you if it drifts.
- Certificates. Free Let's Encrypt certificates on every website, installed with an HTTPS redirect and renewed automatically.
- Backups. Files, databases and configuration on a schedule, each run proved by a real restore test, with a warning when a run is missed.
- Updates. ServerMaid tells you when Windows updates are pending and keeps its own signed updates coming while your licence is in date. Installing Windows updates stays your decision.
- Knowing when something is wrong. A health score with reasons, in plain English, and a Fix button beside anything ServerMaid can put right itself.
- Getting back in. Every firewall change that could affect your access runs on a timer that undoes it unless you confirm you can still connect.
Questions about self-hosting
Is self-hosting cheaper than shared hosting?
Usually, once you host more than a couple of sites. A Windows VPS is a flat monthly fee from the provider, and ServerMaid covers unlimited websites on the server for one yearly price.
Do I need to be a sysadmin?
No. ServerMaid asks where your websites should live and which database you want, shows the plan in plain English and builds the server. Adding a website is one form.
Can I self-host from home instead of renting a server?
You can, and there is a guide for it, but a rented VPS gives you a fixed public address, proper uptime and no home network exposed to the internet. Most people are better off renting.
What happens if I stop paying for ServerMaid?
Your server and websites keep running exactly as they are. ServerMaid becomes a read-only adviser that inspects and reports but makes no new changes until the licence is renewed.
Does ServerMaid need a cloud account or an inbound port?
No. Everything runs on your server. Your licence is activated with servermaid.com and updates come from a signed feed, but nothing about your websites or databases leaves the machine.
Your sites, your server, your rules
Pick the modules you need, pay for twelve months, and your licence and installer are in your account within minutes.