Differences between free and paid plan
At UniHosted, we offer two primary plans to our customers – the Free Plan and the Business Plan.
Before we dive in we should note that the biggest difference is that a free plan is hosted on a shared server. This server is being shared with other customers from the free plan. This is perfectly fine for hobby projects or if you just want to test it before getting into a paid solution.
Pay per device
Our business plan is recommend for organizations that deal with networks. You will get a dedicated Virtual Private Server (VPS) for hosting your UniFi controller. The VPS is reserved for your use only.
If you sign up for the business plan we ask for an upfront first payment of $30 irrespective of the amount of devices you add. This $30 is credited to your account and allocated to your VPS purchase (servers cost money). At the end of the month the number of devices added will serve as the basis for determining your monthly fee.
Now lets dive into a detailed comparison between the free and paid plan:
Table of Contents
Free Plan
The Free Plan offers the following features:
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Hosting: Your UniFi controller is hosted on a shared server alongside other customers using the Free Plan. This, however, does not compromise the security of your data.
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Devices and Sites: Under this plan, you can operate a maximum of 5 devices under a single site. Each new user is added as a user, not an admin, to their site.
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Backups: The plan offers daily backups of all customers collectively. Restoring specific customer configurations to a previous state is not offered to avoid disruption of the shared server.
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Updates: Always up-to-date SSL certificates. Updates are provided after rigorous testing.
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Deployment and Support: The Free Plan offers quick deployment due to the pre-existing shared hosted controller. Custom support for the Free Plan users is not provided.
Business Plan
The Business Plan, with a starting cost of €30 a month, offers:
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Hosting: The plan offers a dedicated Virtual Private Server (VPS) for hosting your UniFi controller. The VPS is reserved for your use only.
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Devices and Sites: The plan allows for 30 devices as a starting point, with the capacity to include more at an additional cost. It also supports unlimited sites and grants the user admin rights.
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Backups: The Business Plan offers individual backups, per customer per server, daily. In case of a mistake or inadvertent removal, the system can revert to any previous state.
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Price Structure: The plan follows a pay-as-you-go pricing structure, becoming increasingly cost-effective with more devices.
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Updates: Prior to updating the system, every new version is thoroughly tested. Users receive an email notifying them of the update.
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Deployment and Support: Setup for a dedicated server might take a bit more time (up to 10 minutes). The plan offers timely email support from our team.
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Security & Monitoring: The servers are closely monitored 24/7 with immediate alert systems in case of abnormal consumption of resources or other potential issues.
Both plans guarantee robust security and privacy for user data. New users can start with the Free Plan to control up to 5 devices on a shared server and upgrade to a Business Plan when ready.
If you are looking to migrate from a free to a paid plan, check our documentation here.