Choosing between FileMaker Cloud and on-premise hosting is one of the most consequential infrastructure decisions for a FileMaker deployment. Both options have genuine strengths, and the right choice depends on your organisation's specific requirements around cost, control, compliance, and technical capacity.
We've deployed FileMaker solutions on both platforms — from small on-premise servers for local businesses to AWS-hosted instances supporting hundreds of concurrent users for organisations like MCR Pathways. Here's what we've learned.
FileMaker Cloud: The Managed Option
FileMaker Cloud is Claris International's fully managed hosting service. It runs FileMaker Server on AWS infrastructure, but Claris handles the server provisioning, operating system maintenance, FileMaker Server updates, SSL certificates, and automated backups.
From a developer's perspective, FileMaker Cloud simplifies the infrastructure layer considerably. You upload your databases through an admin console, configure access privileges, and Claris takes care of everything underneath. Authentication is handled through Claris ID, which supports multi-factor authentication out of the box.
The trade-off is reduced control. You cannot access the underlying operating system, install custom plugins that require server-level access, or configure server settings beyond what the Cloud admin console exposes. You also cannot run server-side scripts that interact with the file system or call command-line tools — a limitation that matters for some integrations.
On-Premise and Self-Hosted Options
On-premise hosting covers a range of configurations: a physical server in your office, a virtual machine on your own infrastructure, or a cloud-hosted instance on AWS EC2, Azure, or another provider where you install and manage FileMaker Server yourself.
When we say "on-premise" in this context, we're really talking about any deployment where you have full administrative control over the server. An EC2 instance running FileMaker Server on Ubuntu is technically cloud-hosted, but it gives you the same level of control as a physical server in your server room.
This approach requires more technical expertise. You're responsible for operating system updates, security patches, SSL certificate management, backup configuration, firewall rules, and FileMaker Server updates. But it also gives you complete flexibility over the environment.
Cost Comparison
FileMaker Cloud pricing is straightforward — a per-user subscription that includes hosting, the FileMaker licence, and Claris's managed services. This makes budgeting predictable, but the per-user cost is higher than buying FileMaker licences separately and hosting the server yourself.
For a self-hosted deployment, costs break down into several components: FileMaker Server licence, individual user licences (or a site licence), server hardware or cloud compute costs, SSL certificates, backup storage, and the time required for ongoing maintenance. The total cost can be lower, particularly for larger deployments, but it's less predictable and requires someone with the technical skills to manage the infrastructure.
For small teams (under ten users) with straightforward requirements, FileMaker Cloud is often the more cost-effective option when you factor in the time and expertise required for self-hosting. For larger deployments or organisations with existing IT infrastructure, self-hosting typically works out cheaper.
Control and Customisation
This is where the differences become most pronounced. With a self-hosted server, you can:
- Install and configure server-side plugins (such as the BaseElements plugin or MBS plugin)
- Run server-side scripts that interact with the file system
- Configure custom SSL certificates (including wildcard certificates)
- Set up custom backup schedules with off-site replication
- Install additional software alongside FileMaker Server (web servers, databases, custom APIs)
- Fine-tune server performance settings at the operating system level
- Use External Authentication (Active Directory, Open Directory)
FileMaker Cloud restricts access to many of these capabilities. If your solution relies on server-side plugins, custom system-level integrations, or external authentication directories, on-premise is likely your only viable option.
Security and Compliance
FileMaker Cloud benefits from Claris's security infrastructure, which includes encryption at rest, encryption in transit, regular security audits, and compliance with SOC 2 standards. For organisations that lack dedicated security expertise, this is a significant advantage — Claris handles the security baseline for you.
However, some organisations have compliance requirements that mandate data residency within specific jurisdictions, or prohibit storing data on shared infrastructure. Government bodies, healthcare organisations, and financial services firms often fall into this category. In these cases, a self-hosted deployment — whether on-premise or on a dedicated cloud instance in the required region — may be necessary to meet regulatory obligations.
For self-hosted deployments, you bear full responsibility for security configuration. This includes hardening the operating system, configuring firewalls, managing access credentials, enabling audit logging, and keeping all software components up to date. It's more work, but it gives you granular control over every aspect of the security posture.
Backup and Disaster Recovery
FileMaker Cloud includes automated daily backups managed by Claris. You can download these backups, but the retention period and backup frequency are determined by Claris's policies rather than your own requirements.
With self-hosted servers, you design your own backup strategy. We typically configure progressive backups (hourly during business hours, daily full backups), with automated replication to a separate storage location — often an S3 bucket in a different AWS region. This gives us point-in-time recovery capabilities and protection against both data corruption and infrastructure failure.
For the MCR Pathways deployment on AWS, we implemented automated snapshots of the entire server volume alongside FileMaker's native backup schedules, giving us multiple recovery options at different granularity levels.
Performance and Latency
FileMaker Cloud servers are hosted in AWS data centres, which means performance depends on the network distance between your users and the nearest AWS region. For UK-based organisations, the London region provides good latency, but remote or rural locations with slower internet connections may experience noticeable lag, particularly with complex layouts or large container fields.
On-premise servers on your local network offer the lowest possible latency — data doesn't leave the building. This can make a meaningful difference for solutions with heavy data entry workflows or large datasets. For remote users, you can still provide access via VPN or by publishing through a reverse proxy.
Self-hosted cloud instances offer a middle ground. You can choose the AWS region closest to your users and select an instance type with the appropriate CPU, memory, and storage characteristics for your workload.
When Each Option Makes Sense
Choose FileMaker Cloud when: you have a small to medium team, you don't need server-side plugins, you want predictable costs with minimal IT overhead, and you're comfortable with Claris managing your infrastructure.
Choose self-hosted when: you need full server control, you rely on server-side plugins, you have specific compliance or data residency requirements, you have the technical expertise (in-house or through a partner) to manage the server, or you have a large deployment where the cost savings justify the additional management effort.
There's no universally correct answer. We've seen both options work extremely well when they're matched to the right requirements. The worst outcomes we've encountered have been when organisations chose an option based on assumptions rather than a thorough evaluation of their actual needs.
If you're weighing up your options, we're happy to walk through the specifics of your situation and recommend the approach that makes the most sense for your organisation.