@mrtoto
Depends. It is basically impossible to make it easier than it is with a freebsd server. Maybe NixOS is about to be as low-maintenance.
The cost overhead of cloud providers is completely obscene. You probably pay multiple times more, especially when you are using one of the big three. Infomaniak is my go-to host nowadays, they're extremely cheap for cloud stuff (and reasonable for "normal" hosting).
@nblr @dansup