Moodle site for $5 per month

Moodle site for $5 per month

by Ravi Murugesan -
Number of replies: 21
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

I work in international development. I wanted to explore how easily and cheaply an institution (or individual) can get started with their own Moodle site. So as an experiment I've set up a Moodle site (version 2.8) on the cheapest Digital Ocean VPS (512 MB RAM) and I pay $5 per month. I know this is a very basic site that can't take on many users (see Performance FAQ), but it could still be a big step forward for those at the starting line of online education. For $5 per month you can have your own fully working Moodle site online, hosted on a VPS (not a shared server), and you'll have root access. And with this solid setup you'll be in a good position to convince yourself and institutional authorities that Moodle is great!

For anyone who is interested, there are Moodle installation instructions on Digital Ocean, which nicely complement the instructions here on moodle.org.

I'd like to hear from others about whether it is worthwhile to recommend this approach as a "Moodle starter" for IT staff working with limited budgets in schools or universities in developing countries. The most obvious pitfall is of course that a Moodle site running on a 512 MB server is really for development or testing and not for production, but is there anything else to be concerned about?

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Ravi Murugesan

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

There are lots of these very cheap (or even free) services. You've really answered your own question. It's fine for some light use and experimentation. However, if all you want to do is to check out Moodle or you are a developer then you can run it locally on your laptop and save the five bucks a month...

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Ravi Murugesan -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

I have used the local installer but it didn't help me make a strong case for Moodle at a company I used to work for. To get buy-in at the institutional level it might help if a few Moodle 'champions' get together to demonstrate a Moodle site online, and I think $5 a month is not too high a price to pay for that smile

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Ravi Murugesan

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Bret Miller -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers

I moved our Moodle site from DreamHost VPS to Digital Ocean late last year. We're at the $10/month level which barely covers it with decent performance. I expect we'll have to move to the $20 level something this year or maybe next, but that's the beauty of VPS... you can upgrade the memory and disk space very easily to upgrade performance as you need it.

I'll note here that DreamHost has also matched the memory and disk space of Digital Ocean now, but they still don't offer a new enough MySQL engine to run Moodle 2.8 and newer.

The one "downside" of Digital Ocean is that you must learn to install everything yourself. That suits me fine, but for many on here, they barely handle Moodle itself so I think they'd struggle with installing Apache, PHP and MySQL or MariaDB on their own plus securing the server and keeping it upgraded. Just my 0.02.

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Bret Miller

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Andy Chaplin -

Hi Bret

I think you've highlighted one of the big hurdles for those who a getting ready to put a toe in the water regarding Moodle.  It was one of the reasons why I chose Siteground, as they have a script installation service called Softaculous, which lets you install a huge range of scripts - very painless for the beginner.  They also have pretty high traffic limits.  Add that to the cPanel admin interface and you have a pretty good deal,

As always in these things, everyone has their favourites, but I'd certainly plead for an installation service if you are starting out - it takes one more potential error out of the equation.

Just my two cents!

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Andy Chaplin

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Emma Richardson -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

I have some clients using Bluehost which seems decent.  I do NOT recommend the installation scripts for the following reasons:

If you are going to run Moodle, you are far better off to learn how to install from scratch so that if you decide to move to a host without an installer, you already know how to get a fresh version going.  Also, with installers, you are tied to the version that they want to install and you are never quite sure what they are doing (adding files to the install e.g.).

That being said, for a quick look at Moodle to see if that is something you want to go with, then an installer is a viable option but as said already, so is a local install on a laptop.


Average of ratings: Useful (3)
In reply to Andy Chaplin

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Usman Asar -
Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

The issue with script installers (Softaculous, Fantastico, Mojo marketplace etc) is, they dont offer updated minor versions, but only the major releases, and installing from script  installers brings loads of issues later like plug-in installations  may not go as smoothly, there could be issues with site backups and restores.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Usman Asar

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Bret Miller -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers

I agree. And as Emma said, I would second the suggestion that learning to install Moodle yourself is a much better option than relying on a script installer. I can truly say "been there, done that", but never with Moodle as I learned my lesson before my first install of Moodle.

Honestly, you need to understand Moodle enough to upgrade it or you are subjecting your school and students to probable information theft. Even then, if you're relying on your webhost to maintain the stack you might still get hacked--we did.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Andy Chaplin

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

I know it looks like we are ganging up on you here (sorry) but I don't trust these scripts. You have to take their word for it that the scripts are doing a proper job - which I doubt. You also don't really know what the scripts did which puts you at a big disadvantage from the support point of view. 

If you are building a site for production use (i.e. real users on the open web) then you get to take some responsibility for security and stuff - you just do, and it's nothing to do with Moodle. 

This is the trade-off. Time is money. Cheap hosting means that you get to do a lot more yourself (and have to learn more). This is why many users end up with "expensive" Moodle Partners so they don't have to worry and can get on with their teaching. 

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Ravi Murugesan -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

I think "cheap" is not necessarily bad. The server hardware that companies like Digital Ocean and Linode provide is top class: https://www.linode.com/linodes, https://www.digitalocean.com/features/technology/. I think they are among a new wave of cloud hosting providers that are making VPS a lot more appealing and accessible.

I have no doubt that professional support is needed for a Moodle site handling a large number of users, but my point is that one can get started with a Moodle site for $5 a month, and then upgrade as needed or transfer control to a service provider like a Moodle Partner.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Ravi Murugesan

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

Nobody said it was bad.

However, you tend to get what you pay for and what you are unlikely to get is much support. They company isn't going to be able to give you access to real people who know what they are talking about for $5 a month. Not much anyway. 

If you are happy and capable to look after yourself (using these forums for advice probably) then low-cost hosting can be the perfect option. If you are not then other options are available. 

Misery sets in when you do not have the budget to finance the kind of hosting that properly fits your requirements. 

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Andy Chaplin -

Hi Howard,

It's not a question of ganging up, but I feel that people are missing the key point of my post recommending the installation service.  I said it was for people starting out.  I think there are a number of problems with advocating the "pure" way for beginners:

  • The use of Moodle is driven and promoted by teachers, not IT admins.  Asking a language teacher (for example) to learn how to install a system on a server is a big reason for looking at other alternatives.
  • Teachers want to see what Moodle can do - using a script means that they can be pretty sure that the standard Moodle install is correct.  It takes away the worry, "did I do something wrong?"
  • Speed - From hearing about Moodle to creating a first basic quiz can be done in half an hour with pretty much zero prior knowledge.

To repeat, I'm talking here about getting people involved and removing hurdles.  There is plenty of time later for learning about the nuts and bolts.  I've installed maybe a dozen Moodles over the past eight or nine years, the majority using scripts, and I've only had one issue when upgrading one site (which was caused by me thinking I was smarter than the instructions).

In short, I gambled under $50 on trying Moodle for a year in 2006.  Within a day, I had enrolled a couple of students as guinea pigs.  The site is still running and services between 300 and 500 learners.  Nowadays, I do my own updates (scripts don't restrict that freedom) and have learned to tweak PHP and a few SQL settings thanks mostly to the tips in this forum, but I seriously wonder if I would have even started if I had had to learn about installing everything by hand?


Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Andy Chaplin

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

Quite - but as long as it stays that way. Missions do tend to creep and the next thing you know your 'test' site has two-thousand students and it is mission critical. Then you find some barrier to upgrading due to the way it was first installed. 

Clearly you can do whatever is prudent for your needs but just recognise that there is a world of difference between a small test/evaluation site (doesn't much matter if it breaks) and a full-blown production site.

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Bret Miller

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Ravi Murugesan -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

Digital Ocean provides a convenient one-click LAMP stack at the time of setting up a VPS, and there are also instructions to secure a server. I think anyone with basic Linux command line skills should be able to get a Moodle site running with all the tutorials on Digital Ocean and installation instructions on moodle.org. I have not tried any other hosting providers but I really like the flexibility of VPS and the learning opportunities it affords for the Moodle administrator.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Ravi Murugesan

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
We are talking about very many things:
1. Type of the server, VPS in this case
Yes, VPS could be right for many small to medium setups. Could even be more energy efficient than running dedicated hardware for no reason.

2. Cheap
There is nothing wrong about cheap, as long as it does what you want. This is not like vacation planning, where you have some amount of money and consider "how far can I go". It is the opposite, you want to go somewhere and estimating how much it would cost.

Some bad news: The cost. It is not as simple as $5 per month, the cost calculation is a complicated one!

3. One-click installation
Yes, sounds tempting.

More bad news: There is more work to come during maintenance. You can easily lost everything you've gained, if you don't know what that One-click did behind the scenes!

4. Which hosting provider
There are tens of thousends perhaps. I hope, those who recommend a particular provider, will disclose if they have any affiliation with that provider.

P.S. To top it all, the place for searching a hosting proder used to be the "Hardware and performance" forum. The entry page doesn't say that, https://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=596, but if you start a new thread https://moodle.org/mod/forum/post.php?forum=94 you'll see the text "Advice on finding an internet hosting service also belongs here." in the second line.
Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Ravi Murugesan -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

"This is not like vacation planning, where you have some amount of money and consider "how far can I go". It is the opposite, you want to go somewhere and estimating how much it would cost."

Totally agree, but when budgets are limited and VLE experience is scarce at a developing country university (this is the context in which I am firmly placed), sometimes it helps to get an answer to "What is the minimum I should invest to try out a VLE?" (They key phrase is "try out")

Also agree the cost calculation is complex. But it would surely help some people to know that a basic Moodle site can be hosted on a VPS for as little as $5 a month. Then it's up to them to figure out if they have the time or expertise to do this themselves.

As for one-click installation, I referred to the LAMP stack, not Moodle itself. Easy enough to skip this stage and install the stack in a few minutes manually. The kind of cloud hosting providers I have experience with don't force anything on you. I really do not have any affiliation with them by the way.

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Ravi Murugesan

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

Personally, I would never discourage anyone from "trying out" Moodle with a low-risk hosting solution (be that the "server under the desk" or low-cost hosting). That's exactly how many of us now running sites with tens of thousands of users started out. 

That's the big advantage of open source software. You can hack something together and give it a try without having to put your job/reputation on the line smile

Average of ratings: Useful (2)
In reply to Ravi Murugesan

VLE for a developing country

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Hi Ravi

You wrote:
>> This is not like vacation planning, where you have some amount of money and consider "how far can I go". It is the opposite, you want to go somewhere and estimating how much it would cost.
> Totally agree, but when budgets are limited and VLE experience is scarce at a developing country university (this is the context in which I am firmly placed), ...

Good that you mention developing countries, but then you should have mentionen it at the beginning. I have started a side-track with this new subject.

I have my connection to a developing country too and move around the place virtually and physically. There the academic network is solid and the local (University and other affiliated institutions') networks too. So the "cost" of a VLE is zero, it is a matter of installing Moodle on an already existing LAMP. Still the usage is highly diverse. Some institutions use the LMS heavily, others don't have them even. Why? The simple answer is the human factor. You need people with vision, influence with technical capabilities and an overall positive atmosphere. Unlike in the first world, where things are efficiently organized (regimented) you know well organized "our" sub-continent is!

> ... sometimes it helps to get an answer to "What is the minimum I should invest to try out a VLE?" (They key phrase is "try out")

This is a different question and is already answered (by Howard, for example).

> Also agree the cost calculation is complex. But it would surely help some people to know that a basic Moodle site can be hosted on a VPS for as little as $5 a month. Then it's up to them to figure out if they have the time or expertise to do this themselves.

If one has the technical capability, a $25 Raspberry Pi connected to your home DSL would make a Moodle site: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=312419#p1256208. The cheapest Moodle for me is the one running in my own Debian laptop! (Sure I make use of it as a server in the class, say delivering big files like CD/DVD as ISO images, but not as a Moodle server.)

I saw your profile and read some of the blogs linked there. Very nice to see somebody with Linux and Open Source knowledge being active in Mumbai as an entrepreneur. My (subjective/selective) impression of requests here originating from India is that they are (desktop) Windows based.
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: VLE for a developing country

by Marcus Green -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

I pay £45 a year for my Moodle hosting (vaguely around $US77). It came with Softaculous instant install of a wide range of scripts including Moodle which is OK ish for a play about. It did some slightly odd things that meant I did some other Moodle installs to get it just as I wanted. That was good enough to get 18 students taking a quiz at the same time. Well it was usually good enough, occasionally the performance went the way of all shared hosting performance and we would abandon the use of Moodle for that lesson (a fairly rare occurrence).

So if you want to "dip your toe in the water", cheap Moodle hosting is out there available and usable, but if you want scalability and consistent performance it will cost.





Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: VLE for a developing country

by Ravi Murugesan -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

Hi Visvanath - Good thing I updated my profile just a short while back smile I don't want to seem like someone meddling in matters out of one's depth, but I have an interest in showing at least one path to Moodle hosting to the audience I work with, keeping their constraints in mind (eg, limited budgets, limited VLE experience, no physical servers).

You might be interested to know that Sri Lanka is a partner country for INASP (the organisation I work for) and some of our local trainers there use our Moodle, eg, http://authoraid.info/en/news/details/674/

It is indeed hard to find open source enthusiasts here in India outside of the Linux user groups! So I was really glad when I recently got to meet someone in Mumbai who uses Ubuntu and Moodle in her school for tribal kids (https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=308213)

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Ravi Murugesan

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

Just a point here with my moderator hat firmly on. 

Other low-cost VPS solutions are available. I'm quite sure Ravi's enthusiasm comes from a positive personal experience rather than any other motivation but readers should satisfy *themselves* that any hosting arrangement properly meets their needs wink

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Moodle site for $5 per month

by Ravi Murugesan -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

Thanks Howard. You're right - I'm not affiliated with any hosting provider. I'm not a developer either. I'm mainly a Moodle teacher and site administrator.

Average of ratings: -