Sleeping apps
Let a quiet app sleep after 15 minutes without visitors, paying only for its storage, and wake on the next visit. Off by default; keep business sites always on.
Updated 17 Oct 20262 min read
An app can sleep when nobody visits it. After 15 minutes without a visit, its web process stops, and the app pays only for its storage. The next visit wakes it by itself. Sleeping is off for every app until you switch it on.
Switch it on
Open the app's page.
In the Limits card, switch on Sleep when nobody visits.
That's all. Switch it off the same way to keep the app always on.
What happens
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| 15 minutes without a visit | The app's web process stops. Its files and disk are kept. The app shows Sleeping. |
| While it sleeps | It pays for its storage only, not for memory or processor time. |
| The next visit | It starts by itself. We hold that visit for up to 10 seconds while it starts, then answer it. |
| If it takes longer | The visitor sees our short "starting" page, which asks the browser to try again in 5 seconds. |
The first visit after a sleep is slower, by how long your app takes to start.
What keeps an app awake
A running worker. An app with a worker never sleeps, because the worker is always running.
Visits. Any visit to any of its addresses counts.
Scheduled tasks don't keep it awake, and still run on time while it sleeps: each run has its own sandbox.
When to use it
Sleeping is good for:
a hobby project, a portfolio or a demo few people open;
a test app you open now and then;
staging and previews, which sleep when nobody uses them.
A search engine, a payment provider's callback or a customer may meet your app while it wakes. For a shop, a company site or an API others depend on, leave sleeping off.
Example: Asha's two apps
Asha's shop web stays always on: it's her business. Her launch page, a small static site she rarely updates, has Sleep when nobody visitsreading today's prices
Sleeping, stopped and running
| State | What it means | What it pays for |
|---|---|---|
| Sleeping | Nobody visited for 15 minutes. The next visit wakes it. | Storage |
| Stopped | You chose Stop. Visitors see a "temporarily unavailable" page until you start it. | Storage |
| Running | Taking visits | Memory, processor time and storage it uses |