What's the difference between self-hosted and hosted bug tracking?

Self-hosted means you run and maintain the bug-tracking software on your own infrastructure, giving you more control and data ownership but requiring you to handle setup, updates, scaling, security, and uptime. Hosted (SaaS) means the provider runs it, so you just use it, with no maintenance burden but less control and trusting the provider with your data. The trade-off is control versus convenience and maintenance.

What's the downside of self-hosting a bug tracker?

The maintenance burden. Self-hosting means you handle setup, configuration, updates, scaling, security, and uptime, running a service reliably is real ongoing work, and if it goes down, that's on you. That time and responsibility come out of making your game. The benefits (control, data ownership) appeal to teams with strict requirements, but for most developers the maintenance cost outweighs them, which is why hosted tools are the common choice.

Self-Hosted vs Hosted Bug Tracking

Q: Should I self-host or use a hosted bug tracker?

For most game developers, hosted, your time is better spent making your game than running infrastructure, and a hosted tool works immediately with no maintenance, updates, or uptime to manage. Self-hosting makes sense mainly for teams with strict data-residency or compliance requirements, or a strong need for full control that justifies the ongoing burden of running the service reliably yourself. For most indies, hosted's lack of maintenance is decisive.

Quick answer: Self-hosted bug tracking means you run and maintain the software yourself, more control but you handle setup, updates, and uptime. Hosted (SaaS) means the provider runs it, less control but no maintenance.

Bug tracking tools can be self-hosted (you run them) or hosted (the provider runs them), and the choice is about control versus maintenance burden. Here's how they compare and which suits most game developers.

What Self-Hosted Means

Self-hosted bug tracking means running the software on your own infrastructure, your servers, your control. The benefits are control and data ownership: your data stays on your systems, and you can customize and integrate freely. This appeals to teams with strict data-residency needs or a desire for full control.

The cost is that you handle everything: setup, configuration, updates, scaling, security, and uptime. Running a service reliably is real ongoing work, and if it goes down, that's on you. Self-hosting trades convenience for control, and the maintenance burden is significant.

What Hosted (SaaS) Means

Hosted bug tracking means the provider runs the software, you just use it. The benefits are convenience and zero maintenance: no setup of infrastructure, no updates to apply, no scaling or uptime to manage, you sign up and it works. The provider handles reliability and improvements.

Bugnet is a hosted tool, so you get crash reporting and bug tracking without running any infrastructure. The trade-off is less control and trusting the provider with your data, but for most teams the elimination of maintenance burden is well worth it.

Which to Choose

For most game developers, hosted wins, your time is better spent making your game than running bug-tracking infrastructure, and hosted gives you a working system with no maintenance. Self-hosting makes sense mainly for teams with strict data-residency or compliance requirements, or a strong need for full control that justifies the burden.

Bugnet's hosted model means no infrastructure to run. So choose hosted unless you have a specific reason to self-host (data residency, compliance, control needs that outweigh the maintenance cost), in which case take on running it deliberately. For most indies, hosted's lack of maintenance burden is the deciding factor.

Self-hosted gives more control and data ownership but you handle setup, updates, and uptime; hosted (SaaS) has the provider run it, no maintenance but less control. Most indies prefer hosted for the lower burden.