[vidarh]

I often starts that way, yes. And then you end up accreting more and more.

I usually tell people that if they don't want something on-prem, then at least pick a cheaper provider.

But as long as it's a VM and you don't build in reliance on other AWS services, at least you can move off it as you scale. The real problem comes when you start depending on a single cloud.

Not only do you lose the ability to do an easy move, but you also lose almost all negotiating leverage as your bill increases.