Your app doesn’t need to stay on 24/7 anymore.
Today, we’re releasing an update to our Flex compute class that enables your full Laravel Cloud stack—compute, databases, and cache—to scale to zero and wake as a unit in under 500 milliseconds. That’s 20 times faster than before.
Scheduled tasks still fire, and queue workers keep processing. When either needs handling, your app wakes faster than ever on Cloud and goes back to sleep when the work is done. Your end users won’t notice the nap, but you'll spot the difference in your monthly bill.
Along with the rebuilt Flex compute, we’re also addressing one of the most voiced concerns about Cloud: pricing predictability. Earlier this year, we surveyed thousands of developers and interviewed 20 more individually. They all gave similar feedback about wanting to be able to predict their costs up front.
We want you to start your month with the peace of mind that comes from knowing how much you’ll spend. That’s why we’re shipping a new $5/month Starter plan that includes $5 in usage credits, along with spending limits that set a hard monthly ceiling for every org.
Together, these changes make Laravel Cloud achieve its ultimate goal: to become a viable option for every developer, from those running side projects on a tight budget to engineering teams managing production SaaS with strict cost controls. See how you can get started.
Scale to Zero on Laravel Cloud
The original scale-to-zero implementation was slow for our standards. Wake times hovered around 10 seconds, long enough for your users to notice the lag. Databases and cache had to stay running regardless, which meant any app with real infrastructure couldn't actually take advantage of the sleeping compute and cost savings.
The new scale-to-zero Flex compute changes that entirely. The full stack now sleeps and wakes as a unit 20 times faster, so you’re not paying for an always-on app when nobody’s using it.
Flex compute will now come in three sizes: 512 MB, 1 GB, and 2 GB. Each size automatically scales vCPUs from one to four based on demand. If you’re already using Flex compute and want to upgrade to the new version, select one of the new Flex compute sizes and redeploy to unlock the faster cold starts.
New apps automatically get the benefits of the new Flex compute. Scale-to-zero Flex compute costs $1 more per month than the legacy Flex options, which will keep the 10-second wake-up delay.
In the coming weeks, scale to zero for MySQL databases will also be available.
Never Get a Runaway Bill Again
Pricing predictability now means you know your spending floor and your spending ceiling, so you can budget with precision.
The floor: The new Starter plan is $5/month with $5 in monthly usage credits included. For a developer running a few side projects that are mostly idle, those $5 go a long way. Now that an app can fully scale to zero, a dormant Flex app can often cost less than a $1 a month in effective compute, which means you can run and experiment with multiple apps. Plus, new Starter signups get their first month of $5 usage credits for free.
The ceiling: Set a hard monthly limit per org so you start your month knowing the maximum you'll spend. Laravel Cloud will send alerts at 50%, 75%, and 90% of that limit. When the limit is reached, new resource provisioning stops. The limit prevents new spending from accumulating without interrupting requests already being processed.
The Difference Between Spending Limits and Billing Alerts
Billing alerts were already available on Cloud, firing at 50%, 80%, and 100% of a threshold you set. Spending continues to accrue past that threshold unless you manually intervene. They're informational, not enforceable.
Spending limits, however, are enforceable and stop new spending. Both are available and work together: use alerts to stay informed, use the limits to guarantee you never exceed your budget.
You can check how much you’re spending on the updated Cloud’s usage page. You’ll see a to-the-hour breakdown of costs by app and by resource, alongside the monthly limits you set.
New Plans
To reflect these changes, we’re also revamping our pricing structure. Every new paid plan now includes $5 in monthly usage credits, drawn from a single pool covering compute, database, cache, storage, bandwidth, queue operations, and custom domains. Credits reset each billing cycle and do not roll over.
| Plan | Price | Credits | Compute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $5/mo | $5/mo (first month free) | Flex only, up to 1 GB |
| Growth | $20/mo | $5/mo | Flex + Pro, up to 32 GB |
| Business | $200/mo | $5/mo | Flex + Pro, up to 32 GB |
| Enterprise | Custom | — | Unlimited |
For more information on the features within each plan, visit the pricing page.
How Laravel Cloud Compares
If you haven’t tried Cloud yet and are evaluating managed Laravel hosting, the new cold start performance and scale-to-zero compute are now significant differentiators between platforms.
Cloud is the only managed Laravel platform that can scale your full stack to zero, with sub-500 ms wake times, working schedulers, and queues during sleep.
The table below summarizes each platform's cold-start times and scale-to-zero capabilities, along with a cost estimate for running a small, low-traffic application—such as a score tracker for a local pub quiz with 30 users that runs only a few times a month and is idle almost all the time.
We based cost estimates on the following Laravel Cloud configuration, replicated across other providers:
- Compute: Flex 512 MB, ~4 hours/month active, 1 replica
- Database: Serverless Postgres (0.25 vCPU, 0.5 GB storage)
- Scale to zero: Enabled on both compute and database
Getting Started
Every new application on Laravel Cloud gets scale-to-zero Flex compute, $5 in recurring usage credits, and the ability to set a hard monthly spending limit. That means lower bills, no idle waste, and a monthly ceiling for full control over your spending. See how you can get started.
If you're already on Cloud, Growth and Business tier users will automatically get $5 applied every month, no action needed.
For users with apps on Flex compute, you can select one of the new Flex compute options to take advantage of the improved wake times and full scale to zero. Otherwise, you can choose to stay on the legacy compute option. Pro apps remain always-on.
New signups can start on the $5 Starter plan with the first month free. If you like what you see, upgrading to a higher tier only takes a minute. And to keep costs in check from day one, head to your Billing page and set a monthly spend limit.