Give me a moment to recover from reading your comment.... OK, "the alternative" is to run one's own servers. You know, servers are just computers running "server" software. You can do what GoDaddy does -- buy some server hardware (hardware is almost a commodity and is very cheap these days). SUMMARY: If the task is "dig a hole", there are two alternatives. 1) hire a man with a shovel (your alternatives) or 2) buy a shovel and dig the freakin' hole yourself. With your alternative (#1), you are not very independent since the man with shovel that you hire might walk off the job. #2 provides some degree of independence absent in #1. #2 is sort of the "if you want something done right, do it yourself" rule.