ChatGPT answers, unedited

For a solo blogger whose traffic is normally modest but occasionally explodes from Reddit, X, Facebook, etc., I’d avoid paying for a large VPS just to survive the spikes.

My pick: static-first hosting + CDN

If your blog can be generated statically (Hugo, Jekyll, Astro, Next.js static export, etc.), Cloudflare Pages is probably the best bang-for-buck option. Its free plan currently includes unlimited static requests and bandwidth, which is unusually well suited to unpredictable social traffic. pages.cloudflare.com

That means a post going from 500 visits/day to 500,000 visits/day doesn't require you to suddenly upgrade a server just to serve HTML, images, and CSS.

Cloudflare Pages

If you're running WordPress

I'd choose a managed WordPress host with aggressive caching/CDN, rather than a cheap shared host.

The important architecture is:

Visitor → CDN/cache → your WordPress server

Most viral visitors should be served cached pages without touching PHP/MySQL. That's much more important for spike tolerance than simply buying a server with more CPU.

If you need a traditional application/server

DigitalOcean App Platform is an interesting middle ground. It starts at $5/month, and its current platform supports horizontal scaling and request-based autoscaling. Crucially for your use case, request-based autoscaling now works on shared as well as dedicated CPUs, so you don't necessarily have to pay for dedicated infrastructure just to get automatic scaling. docs.digitalocean.com

DigitalOcean App Platform

What I'd choose

For a solo blogger, my default recommendation is Cloudflare Pages if you can go static. You get essentially zero server-capacity anxiety during a viral post, while keeping your baseline hosting cost at $0. pages.cloudflare.com

If you're currently on WordPress, tell me that and roughly how much traffic you get normally vs. during a spike (e.g. 5k → 100k visits/day), and I can narrow it down to 2–3 specific hosting setups and their likely monthly cost.

For a solo blogger whose traffic is mostly normal but occasionally explodes from social shares, I’d avoid paying for a large always-on VPS. The sweet spot is CDN/caching + inexpensive managed hosting that can scale when needed.

My pick: DigitalOcean App Platform

DigitalOcean App Platform is a strong fit if you're comfortable with a slightly more technical setup.

• Starts at $5/month for a small shared container. docs.digitalocean.com
• It supports horizontal scaling, so additional instances can handle bursts.
• Its newer request-based autoscaling can scale based on requests/sec or P95 latency, rather than waiting for CPU to become saturated. docs.digitalocean.com
• You pay for the resources you actually run rather than maintaining an oversized server.

The important caveat: autoscaling isn't magic. For a WordPress blog, you'll want aggressive page caching/CDN caching so a viral article doesn't hammer your database on every visit.

Even cheaper if your blog can be static

If you're using something like Hugo, Astro, Jekyll, or another static-site generator, Cloudflare Pages is arguably the best answer. Its free tier currently includes unlimited static requests and unlimited bandwidth. pages.cloudflare.com

That makes it exceptionally well suited to "2,000 visitors today, 200,000 tomorrow" situations.

What I'd choose

For a typical solo blogger, I'd spend money on caching before spending money on CPU. If 95%+ of your blog pages can be served from cache, a relatively tiny origin server can survive traffic that would otherwise require a much more expensive setup.

If you tell me WordPress vs. static blog, your approximate monthly pageviews, and your budget (e.g. <$10, <$20, <$30/month), I can narrow it down to 2–3 specific hosting setups.

For a solo blogger whose traffic is usually modest but occasionally goes viral, I’d prioritize CDN caching + automatic scaling rather than paying for a large server 24/7.

My pick: Cloudflare Pages + a lightweight backend

If your blog can be static/generated (Hugo, Astro, Jekyll, Next.js static export, etc.), pages.cloudflare.com is probably the best bang for your buck. Static requests are unlimited on the free plan, as is bandwidth, so a sudden social-media spike doesn't translate into a huge hosting bill. Cloudflare Docs Cloudflare Pages

You can put dynamic functionality on developers.cloudflare.com if needed. The paid Workers plan starts at $5/month and has no additional egress/throughput charges; the free tier allows 100,000 requests/day. Cloudflare Docs Cloudflare Docs

If you're running WordPress

I'd lean toward a managed WordPress host with strong page caching/CDN, rather than a cheap shared host. The key is making sure the front page and posts can be served from cache during a viral spike, so 10,000 visitors don't mean 10,000 PHP/database executions.

Another good option: DigitalOcean App Platform

digitalocean.com is attractive if you want a conventional application/server setup without managing a VPS. It starts at $5/month, and request-based autoscaling can add/remove containers based on traffic. DigitalOcean DigitalOcean

The catch: unlike Cloudflare's static hosting, you're paying for compute and potentially bandwidth, so it's less compelling for a mostly-static blog.

What I'd choose

Bottom line: If you're comfortable moving away from traditional WordPress hosting, I'd build the blog as a static site and put it on Cloudflare Pages. You can get extremely high spike tolerance for essentially $0 in hosting costs, then add Workers or another backend only where you actually need dynamic functionality. Cloudflare Pages

If you tell me WordPress vs. another blogging platform, your approximate monthly traffic, and what a typical viral spike looks like, I can narrow this down to 2–3 specific setups and their expected monthly costs.

For a solo blogger whose traffic is normally modest but occasionally explodes from Reddit, X, Facebook, Hacker News, etc., I’d optimize for caching + elastic capacity, not a big always-on server.

My pick: WordPress + Cloudflare + managed hosting

If you’re on WordPress, I’d choose Cloudways if you expect genuinely unpredictable spikes. Its current Autoscale offering is designed to add server capacity during traffic increases, with a $99/month Growth tier and usage-based autoscaling charges beyond the baseline. www.cloudways.com

That said, $99/month may be overkill for many solo bloggers.

Best value if your site can be static

If your blog doesn't require WordPress/PHP on every page, Cloudflare Pages is hard to beat: the free plan currently provides unlimited static requests and unlimited bandwidth. pages.cloudflare.com

For a blog where posts are mostly static HTML, this is essentially the dream setup for social spikes: a post can suddenly get 100× its normal traffic without your origin server being hammered.

If you want conventional managed WordPress

Kinsta is an excellent "I don't want to think about infrastructure" choice, but it's pricier. Its entry single-site plan is $35/month, with CDN bandwidth included, and the site remains online if you exceed limits, although overage charges apply. kinsta.com

What I'd do in your shoes

One important point: don't buy hosting based on your peak traffic if most of that traffic can be served from a CDN cache. A properly cached blog can handle a social-media spike dramatically more cheaply than a dynamic WordPress site generating every page request at the origin.

If you tell me roughly your normal monthly pageviews, biggest spike (e.g. 10k → 500k visitors), and whether you're on WordPress, I can narrow this down to a specific ~$10–$30/month setup.

For a solo blogger whose traffic comes in unpredictable bursts from Reddit, X, Facebook, newsletters, or viral shares, you usually want elastic hosting + aggressive caching, not a big always-on server.

My default recommendation:

Best overall: static site hosting + CDN

If your blog can be generated as static pages (most blogs can), use:

Cloudflare Pages + Cloudflare CDN

Best fit for: solo bloggers, low budgets, occasional viral spikes.

Why:

• Traffic spikes are absorbed by the CDN instead of hammering your origin server.
• You avoid paying for idle server capacity.
• Good match for Hugo, Astro, Jekyll, Eleventy, and many headless CMS setups.
• Cloudflare's edge network is designed around serving cached content close to visitors. cadence.withremote.aisaascasebook.com

Typical cost:

• Often $0 to start.
• Small paid upgrades only when you add advanced features. www.harmonistrategy.comsaascasebook.com

A common setup:

Blog generator (Astro/Hugo/etc.)
          |
          v
     Cloudflare Pages
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          v
   Cloudflare CDN/cache
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          v
       Readers

If you use WordPress: use managed WordPress hosting

If your blog runs on WordPress with plugins, comments, memberships, WooCommerce, etc., don't put it on a cheap shared host and hope for the best.

Better options:

• Kinsta
• WP Engine
• Cloudways

Look for:

• built-in caching
• CDN integration
• automatic scaling or burst capacity
• staging environments
• backups

Managed WordPress hosts generally cost more than static hosting, but they save you from dealing with database crashes and plugin-related performance issues. www.techradar.com

Good alternative: Vercel

Best if:

• your blog is built with Next.js
• you like Git-based deployments
• you want excellent developer tooling

Vercel is very smooth for modern frontend frameworks, but for a content site with unpredictable viral traffic, cost predictability can be a bigger consideration than developer convenience. cadence.withremote.aigautamkhorana.com

What I would avoid for your situation

❌ $5/month shared hosting

• Looks cheap, but a viral post can overload your account.

❌ Small VPS you manage yourself

• You pay for capacity you rarely use.
• You become the sysadmin.

❌ Scaling only after a post goes viral

• By then, your server may already be down.

My pick by blog type

For a solo blogger trying to keep costs low while surviving social-media spikes, I’d choose Cloudflare Pages with a static blog generator unless you specifically need WordPress features. www.harmonistrategy.comsaascasebook.com

A couple of details would change the recommendation: Are you using WordPress, Ghost, Substack, or a static generator? And roughly how big are your spikes (e.g., 5k visitors/hour vs 100k visitors/hour)?

For a solo blogger whose traffic is usually modest but occasionally explodes from social shares, I’d avoid paying for a large VPS just to survive spikes. The key is CDN caching + elastic/scalable infrastructure.

My recommendation

If your blog can be static or mostly static: Cloudflare Pages is probably the best value.

• Static asset requests are free and unlimited on Cloudflare Pages, which is excellent for sudden bursts of visitors. developers.cloudflare.com
• The free tier can handle a lot of traffic without you having to pre-purchase server capacity.
• Pair it with a managed database/CMS only if you need dynamic functionality.
• This is especially attractive if your social traffic lands primarily on article pages that can be cached.

If you're using WordPress: I'd consider Kinsta if reliability during spikes is more important than minimizing the monthly bill. Its entry plan is $35/month and includes CDN bandwidth, managed WordPress infrastructure, WAF/DDoS protection, and caching-oriented performance features. kinsta.com Kinsta also says it doesn't charge for occasional, unplanned traffic surges, although regularly exceeding your plan's traffic allowance means you should move up a plan. kinsta.com

The sweet spot I'd choose

Vercel is another compelling option for a technical blog: its free Hobby plan includes a global CDN and 100 GB/month of fast data transfer, while Pro is $20/month with $20 of included usage credit. vercel.com

The bigger point: don't optimize for your average traffic. Optimize for the ability to absorb a 10×–50× burst cheaply. A CDN serving cached article pages can make that dramatically cheaper than buying enough conventional server capacity to handle the same spike.

If you tell me (1) WordPress vs another platform, (2) your normal monthly pageviews, and (3) roughly how big your social spikes get, I can narrow this down to the cheapest setup I'd actually use.

For a solo blogger with unpredictable spikes from Reddit, X, Facebook, newsletters, etc., I’d optimize for caching + CDN + low fixed cost, rather than buying a big server that sits mostly idle.

My pick: managed WordPress + aggressive CDN caching

If you're on WordPress, I’d choose Cloudways on DigitalOcean as the value-oriented option. Current comparisons put its entry point around $14/month, with managed caching and no visit-based cap, while letting you scale the underlying server when you actually need more resources. gautamkhorana.com

The important architecture is:

Visitor → CDN/cache → WordPress server

When a social post suddenly sends 10× your normal traffic, the CDN should serve cached pages to most visitors instead of making WordPress/PHP/MySQL process every request.

If you want the least technical hassle

Kinsta is a very good "I just want my blog to stay up" choice. Its single-site plan is currently $35/month monthly ($30/month annual), with 125 GB of CDN bandwidth, Cloudflare-powered CDN, WAF/DDoS protection, and managed WordPress infrastructure. kinsta.com

I'd pay for Kinsta if your blog earns enough that your time is worth more than the ~$20/month difference.

Cheapest option if your blog can be static

If your blog is generated statically (Hugo, Astro, Eleventy, etc.), Cloudflare Pages is hard to beat: its free tier currently offers unlimited static requests and unlimited bandwidth. pages.cloudflare.com

That is particularly attractive for social-driven traffic because a viral article can generate enormous numbers of reads without hammering a database.

What I'd avoid

I wouldn't start with:

• a dedicated server
• an oversized VPS
• expensive "high traffic" WordPress hosting
• a cheap shared host without a CDN/page cache

You don't need infrastructure sized for your peak. You want infrastructure that caches the peak.

Bottom line:

If you tell me roughly monthly pageviews, biggest spike you've seen (e.g. 5k visitors/hour), WordPress vs static, and your monthly budget, I can narrow this to a specific setup and estimate what you'd pay during a viral spike.

For a solo blogger with unpredictable traffic spikes from social shares, I’d optimize for caching + automatic scaling, rather than paying for a big server 24/7.

My pick: Cloudways

If you’re running WordPress, Cloudways is probably the best fit.

Its current Autonomous WordPress hosting is specifically designed for traffic spikes: it uses autoscaling, Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, Redis/object caching, and hourly billing. The Growth plan is $99/month, with additional autoscaling charged at $0.07/hour per server beyond the baseline. www.cloudways.com

That said, $99/month is probably more than a solo blogger needs initially.

A more economical setup would be:

• WordPress + inexpensive managed/cloud hosting around $10–20/month
• Cloudflare CDN/cache in front of it — Cloudflare's free plan includes CDN and unmetered DDoS protection. www.cloudflare.com
• Aggressive page caching so a viral post doesn't hammer PHP/database resources
• Image optimization/WebP or AVIF
• Keep WordPress plugins lean

Cloudways' regular managed hosting can be much cheaper than Autonomous; current pricing starts around $11/month on some configurations, although those plans don't give you the same automatic scaling. www.cloudways.com

If you're willing to go non-WordPress

If your blog can be static/generated (Hugo, Astro, Eleventy, etc.), I'd seriously consider Cloudflare Pages. It's arguably the best bang-for-buck architecture for your use case: the free tier has unlimited static requests and unlimited bandwidth, while Cloudflare's edge network is designed to absorb large traffic spikes. developers.cloudflare.com

That means a post suddenly getting 100× its normal traffic doesn't require you to provision a server capable of handling 100× traffic.

What I'd choose

The key is not necessarily autoscaling the server. For a blog, you want the pages themselves cached at the CDN edge so most social traffic never reaches your origin server. That's what makes a $10–20/month setup surprisingly capable of surviving a viral post.

If you tell me roughly monthly visitors, typical spike size (e.g. 5k → 100k visits/day), and whether you're on WordPress, I can narrow this down to a specific ~$10, ~$20, and ~$50/month setup.

For a solo blogger with unpredictable bursts from Reddit, X, Facebook, newsletters, etc., I’d optimize for cheap normal traffic + automatic scaling, rather than paying for enough server capacity to survive your biggest spike.

My pick: Cloudways Autonomous — if you're on WordPress

Cloudways Autonomous is probably the best fit if your blog runs WordPress and you don't want to manage infrastructure.

• It automatically adds server capacity during traffic spikes and scales back down afterward. support.cloudways.com
• The Growth plan is $99/month, with one baseline autoscale server, 150 GB bandwidth, and unmetered visits. Extra autoscaling is charged at $0.07/server-hour, so you aren't paying for peak capacity 24/7. www.cloudways.comsupport.cloudways.com
• It includes Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, caching, backups, SSL, and managed infrastructure, reducing the amount of technical work you'd have to do yourself. www.cloudways.com
• You can also set an autoscaling budget threshold to prevent an unexpectedly huge bill. www.cloudways.comsupport.cloudways.com

The catch: $99/month is not exactly "cheap" for a small blog. I'd choose it when a viral post going down would cost you more in lost traffic/revenue than the hosting does.

If your budget is tighter

If your blog can be made static, I'd strongly consider Cloudflare Pages instead. Its free tier currently provides unlimited static requests and bandwidth, making it exceptionally well suited to social-media traffic spikes. developers.cloudflare.com

That's particularly attractive for a blog where posts don't need server-side WordPress processing on every visit. You can put dynamic functionality—comments, forms, search, etc.—on separate services.

What I'd avoid

I wouldn't pay for a large conventional VPS "just in case" you go viral. You're effectively paying for your worst day every day. A CDN/cache in front of your site is also extremely important: cached requests don't have to hit your origin server, dramatically reducing the load created by a social-share spike. developers.cloudflare.com

Bottom line:

If you tell me roughly how many monthly visitors you get, your biggest spike (e.g. 10k → 100k visits/day), and whether you're using WordPress, I can narrow this down to the cheapest setup I'd actually use.

For a solo blogger with unpredictable traffic spikes, I’d avoid paying for a large server 24/7. The sweet spot is good caching/CDN + hosting that can scale when the spike actually happens.

My pick: Cloudways Autonomous

Cloudways Autonomous is probably the best fit if you're running WordPress and don't want to become a server administrator.

• True autoscaling: it can add resources/pods when traffic surges and remove them afterward. support.cloudways.com
• Cloudflare Enterprise CDN included, plus Redis/object caching. support.cloudways.comwww.cloudways.com
• The current Growth plan is $99/month, with additional autoscaling charged at $0.07/hour per extra server/container; you can also set a budget threshold for autoscaling. www.cloudways.comsupport.cloudways.com
• Billing is usage-based/hourly, so you're not necessarily paying the full monthly amount if you only use it part of a month. www.cloudways.comsupport.cloudways.com

The catch: $99/month is not exactly "cheap" for a personal blog. If your spikes are occasional and your normal traffic is modest, I'd first consider a cheaper architecture.

Cheapest sensible setup

If your blog can be static or mostly cached, use a normal inexpensive host for the origin and put Cloudflare in front of it.

Cloudflare's free plan includes CDN and unmetered DDoS protection, while Cloudflare Pages provides unlimited static requests and bandwidth on its free tier. pages.cloudflare.com

That means a social post sending 50,000 people to an already-cached article doesn't necessarily translate into 50,000 expensive requests hitting your origin server.

What I'd choose by situation

One important point: if your blog is WordPress, caching is more important than simply buying a bigger server. A cached article can serve enormous numbers of social visitors without every visitor consuming PHP/database resources.

If you tell me roughly monthly visitors, your biggest spike (e.g. 10k/100k/1M visitors in a day), and whether you're on WordPress, I can recommend a specific setup and approximate monthly cost.

For a solo blogger whose traffic is normally modest but occasionally explodes from social shares, I’d optimize for burst capacity + caching, rather than paying for a large server 24/7.

My pick: managed WordPress + Cloudflare

Best balance: Cloudways with Cloudflare in front of it.

Cloudways currently has a $35/month Small plan with 1 WordPress site, 15 GB storage and 100 GB bandwidth. More importantly for your use case, its newer WordPress offering has true autoscaling: the Growth tier is $99/month and can add servers as traffic rises, with additional autoscaling charged hourly. www.cloudways.com

But I wouldn't necessarily pay $99/month from day one.

The cheaper setup I'd actually start with

$10–20-ish/month hosting + Cloudflare caching, provided your blog is mostly normal WordPress articles.

The key is that social traffic usually consists of lots of people requesting the same handful of articles. If Cloudflare caches those pages, most requests never reach your WordPress server. Cloudflare explicitly supports caching HTML with Cache Rules, and caching reduces traffic hitting your origin. developers.cloudflare.com

So your architecture becomes:

Social share → Cloudflare CDN/cache → WordPress host

rather than:

Social share → WordPress server → PHP/database → page

That distinction can make an enormous difference during a viral spike.

What I'd choose by situation

I wouldn't jump straight to a VPS just because you get traffic spikes. A VPS gives you more control, but you're also responsible for more of the infrastructure, and a poorly configured VPS can still fall over when a post goes viral.

Also, don't buy hosting based solely on the host's advertised "monthly visitors." Concurrent requests, cache-hit rate, uncached PHP requests, database load, and CPU/RAM limits are much more relevant to surviving a sudden spike.

Bottom line: start cheap, put Cloudflare in front, aggressively cache anonymous article pages, and upgrade to autoscaling only when your actual traffic justifies it. Cloudflare can also hide the origin IP and absorb/cache requests before they hit your server. developers.cloudflare.com

If you tell me roughly your normal monthly pageviews + how big your biggest social spike gets (e.g. 5k → 50k visitors in a few hours), I can recommend a specific hosting tier and estimate the monthly cost.

For a solo blogger with unpredictable traffic spikes from social shares, I’d optimize for caching + cheap baseline hosting, rather than paying for a large server 24/7.

My pick: WordPress + Cloudflare + inexpensive managed hosting

If you're using WordPress, I’d start with Cloudways Flexible or a similar managed WordPress host, with aggressive page caching and Cloudflare in front.

• Cloudways Flexible: currently lists a small WordPress plan around $35/month with 30k unique visits and 100 GB bandwidth, but its infrastructure supports vertical scaling if you outgrow the baseline. www.cloudways.com
• Kinsta: excellent if reliability and hands-off management matter more than price. Its entry WordPress plan is $35/month and includes 35k visits or 20 GB server bandwidth, plus 125 GB CDN bandwidth. Importantly, Kinsta keeps the site online when you exceed limits, charging overages rather than immediately cutting you off. kinsta.com
• Cloudflare Pages: if your blog can be generated as a static site (Astro, Hugo, Eleventy, etc.), this is potentially the cheapest and most spike-resistant option. Cloudflare says static asset requests on Pages are free and unlimited. developers.cloudflare.com

What I'd choose by situation

The key is caching. If a Reddit/X/Facebook/Instagram share suddenly sends 20,000 people to one article, you don't want 20,000 requests hitting PHP and your database. A CDN/page cache can serve the already-generated HTML instead.

I would not jump straight to a VPS or dedicated server. You're paying for capacity you may only need for a few hours per month.

If you tell me roughly your normal monthly traffic + how big your biggest spike gets (e.g. 5k/month normally, 30k visitors during a viral post), I can give you a much more specific $10–$40/month setup and explain exactly how I'd configure it.

For a solo blogger whose traffic comes in unpredictable social-media spikes, I’d favor CDN-first, serverless/static hosting rather than traditional shared hosting.

My pick: Cloudflare Pages

Cloudflare Pages is probably the best fit if your blog can be generated as static pages (Astro, Hugo, Jekyll, WordPress-to-static, etc.).

• $0 to start
• Static requests and bandwidth are effectively unlimited on the Pages plans. developers.cloudflare.com
• Cloudflare's global network absorbs sudden traffic surges rather than making your blog server handle every visitor. www.cloudflare.com
• The Free plan currently allows 500 builds/month, which is plenty for a typical solo blog. developers.cloudflare.com
• If you eventually need more, Cloudflare's Pro plan is $20/month annually ($25 monthly). www.cloudflare.com

The important trick: make the actual article pages static and put them behind the CDN. A viral post going from 500 visitors/day to 100,000 visitors in a weekend then becomes primarily a CDN-delivery problem, not a "my $10/month VPS just died" problem.

Good alternative: Vercel

Vercel is excellent if you're using Next.js. Its Hobby plan is free and includes a global CDN, 100 GB/month of data transfer, and 1 million function invocations. vercel.com

I'd choose Vercel over Cloudflare if you're already deeply invested in Next.js and want its framework-specific features. For a straightforward blog, though, Cloudflare is more attractive when traffic volume is highly unpredictable, because its static bandwidth model is especially friendly to viral spikes.

What I'd avoid

For your particular traffic pattern, I wouldn't make a cheap shared WordPress host the foundation unless you specifically need WordPress's dynamic functionality. A sudden social spike can overwhelm the underlying server even if your normal monthly traffic is tiny.

Bottom line:
Static blog → Cloudflare Pages Free
Next.js blog → Vercel, starting free
Dynamic WordPress → managed WordPress + aggressive CDN/page caching

If you tell me what you're using to publish the blog (WordPress, Ghost, Substack, Hugo, Astro, Next.js, etc.) and roughly how big a viral spike can get, I can narrow this down to a specific setup and monthly cost.

For a solo blogger with unpredictable traffic spikes from social shares, I’d optimize for low baseline cost + automatic scaling + caching, rather than paying for a large VPS 24/7.

My pick: DigitalOcean App Platform + CDN

DigitalOcean App Platform is a particularly good fit if you're comfortable with a somewhat technical setup.

• Starts at $5/month for a small shared container.
• It now supports request-based autoscaling on shared CPUs, so you don't have to jump to an expensive dedicated instance just to get autoscaling. docs.digitalocean.com
• You can scale horizontally when requests spike and scale back down afterward. docs.digitalocean.com
• You get a monthly bandwidth allowance; overage is currently $0.02/GiB. docs.digitalocean.com
• HTTPS, DDoS mitigation and a global CDN are built in. www.digitalocean.com

The important part: put your images/static assets behind a CDN and aggressively cache blog pages. A viral post should ideally generate mostly cache hits rather than hammering your application server.

If you're using WordPress

I'd actually lean toward managed WordPress hosting with good page caching/CDN rather than building the App Platform setup yourself.

For a solo blogger, the extra $5–$15/month you might spend can be worth it because you're buying simplicity: backups, WordPress updates, caching, security and support.

If your blog is mostly static

Then Cloudflare Pages can be extremely hard to beat on cost. Static asset requests are free and unlimited on both its free and paid plans. developers.cloudflare.com

You could use a static-site generator (Astro, Hugo, Eleventy, etc.), deploy to Pages, and have your social traffic absorbed by the CDN rather than your origin server.

What I'd choose

For your specific situation, I'd avoid a traditional $30–$80/month VPS just for "headroom." You're paying for capacity you only need during spikes. Autoscaling + caching gives you a much better cost profile.

If you tell me WordPress vs. static site, your approximate monthly pageviews, and what a typical viral spike looks like (e.g. 5k → 100k visits/day), I can recommend a concrete setup and estimate the monthly cost.