I tried the demo a few months ago and decided to give it a shot this weekend, and I'm pretty happy so far. These are some things that drew me to it:
Dozens of actively maintained deployments of (mostly) popular open source apps, a functional multi-user system with app SSO and ACS where possible, an integrated email server, multiple app instances, easy encrypted backup configuration to off-site s3/b2/nas/etc, simple automatic backup and retention policies, restore/clone down to a per-app basis, broad and deep documentation, complete published api, active forum
For me paying $15/$30 a month for the ability to self-host is ridiculous (I'd consider it if it was 10 times less, just for the conenience of 1-click installs).
However, when you need to install a more complex app like Taiga, it's often simpler to use the free Cloudron account to do it rather than install it by hand.
Indeed as you mention, complex apps like Taiga are quite time-consuming to package in a way to ensure proper updates for the future. In fact I am right now in the process to iron out the update to Taiga v6 and that price-tag allows us to focus on such things so our users get a smooth experience without missing out on updates (disclaimer, I am one of the Cloudron founders :D )
For sake of our vision we surely would like to make it more cost-effective in the long run, however we are bootstrapped and thus walk a thin line with a focus more on long-term sustainability not just blind growth. (10x cheaper though would realistically even pose an accounting problem with micro-payments or plain transaction fees taking large chunks)
“ridiculous” is a strong word.
Sure if you’re addicted to free, and being used as a product, $15 sounds crazy.
If you want to take control of your data and don’t have the time or inclination to do it all yourself, $15 isn’t so bad.
