Umbraco Cloud vs. Self-hosting
Explore the key differences between Umbraco Cloud and Azure self-hosting to find the perfect, high-performance infrastructure for your next project.
Explore the key differences between Umbraco Cloud and Azure self-hosting to find the perfect, high-performance infrastructure for your next project.
Umbraco Cloud provides the reliability of Microsoft Azure, but it offers far more than just a place to host your site. It is a fully managed infrastructure developed directly by Umbraco HQ. How does this compare to self-hosting on Azure, and which option is right for your project? This comparison will hopefully help you with this decision:
Umbraco Cloud | Self-hosting (Microsoft Azure) | |
Infrastructure and Management | ||
Hosting Environment | Fully managed and optimized by Umbraco on Microsoft Azure | Customer-managed Azure resources (VM, App Service, SQL) |
Setup & Deployment | One-click project setup, preconfigured environments | Manual setup and configuration of infrastructure, application, database, etc. |
Maintenance & Upgrade | Automatic platform and CMS upgrades and security patching | Customer/partner responsible for patching and version upgrades |
Backups & Monitoring | Built-in backups, uptime monitoring, and performance insights | Requires custom setup or Azurenative monitoring tools |
Scalability | Built-in global CDN. Resource scaling is available for shared or dedicated resources | Manual scaling via Azure configuration or buying an external CDN like Cloudflare Enterprise |
Security and Compliance | ||
Security Ownership | Shared responsibility - Umbraco manages infrastructure security | Partner/customer has full responsibility for setup, hardening, and updates |
Data Protection | Transport encryption via Cloudflare and Azure security controls, preconfigured by Umbraco and customizable when needed | Customer ensures encryption & compliance |
Web Application Firewall (WAF) | Included by default for custom hostnames. Uses Cloudflare managed rulesets | Not included out of the box. Customer must procure, configure, and maintain WAF rules (via Azure Front Door, Azure Application Gateway, or thirdparty solution) |
Compliance Certifications | Leverages Umbraco’s and Azure’s ISO/GDPR readiness | Depends on the customer’s Azure compliance setup |
Access & Identity | Integrated Umbraco identity management, custom identity management supported for Cloud portal and project access | Full Azure AD control is possible |
Developer experience | ||
CI/CD & Environments | Dev-Stage-Live with content and schema sync built in. Custom CI/ CD available | Must configure pipelines manually |
Version Control | Git is integrated by default | Manual Git setup |
Local Development | Clone locally, with support for schema and content synchronization | Standard local setup, no OOTB synchronization |
Debugging & Logs | Available via Cloud Portal | Managed via Azure tools |
Umbraco Cloud takes care of much of the platform operations involved in running Umbraco, but successful projects still depend on good implementation ownership. Umbraco manages the Cloud platform: infrastructure, deployment workflows, platform security, backups, monitoring, maintenance, and continuous platform improvements. Partners and customers remain responsible for the application layer, including architecture, custom code, integrations, third-party packages, content modelling, testing, performance of the implemented solution, and business-specific decisions.
Use case | Recommended option |
Streamlined setup with managed scalability | Umbraco Cloud |
Enterprise-grade hosting with governance handled by Umbraco | Umbraco Cloud |
Custom network architecture or legacy infrastructure integration | Self-hosting (Azure) |
Regulatory environments requiring full infrastructure ownership | Self-hosting (Azure) |
Custom network architecture or legacy infrastructure integration | Umbraco Cloud |
Umbraco Cloud is a secure, scalable, and managed platform built on Azure and Cloudflare. Operated by Umbraco, it offers streamlined deployment, predictable operations, and continuous updates while letting you retain full control over your implementation. It is ideal for organizations prioritizing speed and reliability for business-critical projects.
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