In-depth Review: Should You Host Your Python Web App On PythonAnywhere

Back in 2016, I was doing a bit of Embedded C and PHP, when internet’s high decibel machine learning rush hit me. Realizing the limits of my skills, I pivoted to Python. One thing led to another and I decided to follow Lean Development Methodology to quickly launch a website and then improve it gradually. Flask was selected and I started with Flask Mega Tutorial.

Next came the search for Python web hosting service. After a few days of researched, I couldn’t really made up my mind. But since I really wanted to get started, I chose and signed up for PythonAnywhere.

Even after significant research on Python website hosting service, I could not understand various moving parts clearly. I selected Pythonanywhere based on a hunch.

PythonAnywhere is a web hosting company which offers hosting solution for Python web applications. One can use it to host Python wen apps and scripts. It’s a 7 years old company based in London.

I’m reviewing PythonAnywhere for following reasons:

1. I’ve been its user for three years.
2. When I started with Python-Flask web apps, I had to spend many days searching “Hosting services for Python website”. When a service is finally decided, I went in with a leap-of-faith, in-spite of all the research.
3. There are many people who keep asking in forums “where should I host my Python website and Python applications”.
4. A wrong decision in hosting a Python app, costs dearly, in time, performance, project growth and energy.
5. Internet’s signal/noise ratio is going down everyday. If I can help put even one thing in perspective, it will be a success.

The goal here is to simplify and present enough information so that you can take a well-informed decision, instead of relying on hunch or PR articles.

So if you are wondering “is PythonAnywhere good?” or “should I use PythonAnywhere for web hosting?”, sit tight, we are about to discover the truth.

What you can do on PythonAnywhere?

1. Code, run and host python app and scripts
2. Build & host Django web applications
3. Build & host Flask web applications
4. Build & host web2py web applications
5. Build & host Bottle web applications

These are the core offerings of PythonAnywhere. “Code, Run and Host” are the words they focus on.

This word-set means that you can open PythonAnywhere.com on any web browser to:

1. Write code for Python Applications in a web-based editor there [or in a console],
2. Save and run the code, validate its output,
3. Host the code on PythonAnywhere for ever.

What are PythonAnywhere’s big promises?

1. Start hosting quickly
2. Develop anywhere
3. Amazing support

In this review, we will see how PythonAnywhere fares on these promises among many other things.

Here is the link to complete in-depth review: In-Depth Review: Should you host Python website on PythonAnywhere?

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