AWS Shield Alternative · DDoS Protection Included
An Alternative to AWS Shield for DDoS Protection
AWS Shield splits DDoS protection into free and paid tiers with added complexity. Hoststack includes network-level DDoS protection by default on every plan — one tier, no separate subscription.
See DDoS Protection DetailsHow the Approaches Differ
AWS Shield Standard is free but limited; AWS Shield Advanced adds broader coverage at significant additional monthly cost. Hoststack's protection is simpler.
One Protection Tier, Included
No Standard vs Advanced split — the same network-level DDoS mitigation applies to every Hoststack hosting, VPS, and dedicated server plan by default.
No Separate Subscription Cost
DDoS protection is bundled into your plan price — no additional monthly fee, unlike AWS Shield Advanced's separate significant cost.
Mumbai & Delhi Data Centers
Local Indian data centers, alongside Singapore and Germany, rather than routing through AWS's global edge network.
Root Access for Additional Hardening
VPS root access lets you layer your own firewall rules and rate limiting on top, similar in spirit to AWS WAF but self-managed.
Direct Support, No Tiered SLA
24/7 support via WhatsApp, Discord or ticket, without AWS's tiered support plan cost structure for faster incident response.
99.9% Uptime SLA
Published uptime SLA (99.5% for game servers) applies to the underlying infrastructure, DDoS protection included as standard.
Why Simpler Can Be Better for Smaller Teams
AWS Shield Standard, included automatically with AWS services, covers common network and transport-layer DDoS attacks. AWS Shield Advanced adds broader protection, DDoS cost protection, and access to a dedicated response team — but at a substantial fixed monthly cost that's hard to justify for smaller businesses or individual applications.
Hoststack takes a different approach: network-level DDoS protection is included on every plan, from ₹99/mo shared hosting through VPS and dedicated servers, with no separate subscription tier to opt into. For businesses that don't need AWS's specific enterprise-scale mitigation guarantees, this removes a decision point and a cost line entirely.
What you give up versus AWS Shield Advanced
AWS Shield Advanced includes cost protection against scaling charges incurred during an attack and a dedicated DDoS response team (DRT) engagement — features aimed at very large-scale, high-value targets. For typical websites, VPS-hosted applications, and game servers, Hoststack's included protection covers the realistic threat model most customers actually face.
Layering Your Own Protection on Top
Just as AWS customers often add a WAF (Web Application Firewall) on top of Shield for application-layer protection, Hoststack VPS customers with root access can configure their own rate limiting, Fail2ban, or WAF tooling on top of the included network-level DDoS protection — see our Anti-DDoS VPS page for specifics.
For e-commerce specifically, our e-commerce DDoS protection page covers considerations unique to checkout and sale-event traffic.
For a broader comparison of Hoststack against AWS beyond DDoS specifically, see our AWS alternative hosting page.
FAQ
AWS Shield alternative questions
Get DDoS protection included, no separate tier
Shared hosting from ₹99/mo, Linux VPS from ₹399/mo — protection included either way.
See DDoS Protection Details