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# Hardal vs In-house Cloud

Hardal compares to building server-side GTM, Meta CAPI, TikTok Events API, and first-party data infrastructure yourself on AWS, Azure, or GCP.

Source: https://usehardal.com/compare/cloud

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Hardal compares to building your server-side measurement stack in-house on AWS, Azure, or GCP. Running your own sGTM, Meta Conversions API, TikTok Events API, and data management pipeline means owning every server, integration, and update yourself. Hardal gives you the same first-party data ownership as an in-house build, fully managed, in days instead of months.

Building that stack yourself usually starts from the same problems: [Safari ITP](https://usehardal.com/safari-itp-guide), [cookieless GA4 with sGTM](https://usehardal.com/server-gtm-cookieless-ga4), and a [Meta Conversions API](https://usehardal.com/meta-conversions-api-gateway-setup) gateway. Hardal ships those without the 4–6 month cloud build.

|                     | Hardal         | In-house Cloud |
|---------------------|----------------|----------------|
| Data ownership | 100% first-party | Self-managed |
| Hosting regions | EU, US and Türkiye | Your cloud regions |
| Server-side Google Tag Manager (sGTM) | Managed | Build & maintain yourself |
| Meta Conversions API (CAPI) | Managed | Build & maintain yourself |
| TikTok Events API (eAPI) | Managed | Build & maintain yourself |
| Customer data unification | ✅ | ❌ |
| Web & mobile analytics | ✅ | ❌ |
| ETL / data governance | ✅ | Custom build |
| Auto PII hashing & redaction | ✅ | ❌ |
| Implementation time | 1-3 days | 4-6 months |
| Required expertise | None | DevOps + Cloud |
| Ongoing maintenance | Included | 10-20 hrs/month |
| Scaling | Automatic | Manual |
| Data accuracy | Up to 99% | 70-80% |
| Support | Dedicated | Internal team only |
| Monthly cost | From $249 | $3,500-$6,500+ |

> Details above are indicative, based on typical in-house implementation costs and timelines. Your own numbers will vary with team size, cloud provider, and scope.

## When to use Hardal vs an in-house cloud setup

- **Choose Hardal** when you want first-party data ownership, hosting in the EU, US, or Türkiye, and a complete sGTM, Meta CAPI, and TikTok eAPI setup without hiring a DevOps team or spending months in development. Hardal ships the same architecture you'd build on AWS, Azure, or GCP, fully managed, with automatic scaling, security updates, and compliance built in.

- **Choose an in-house cloud build** when you have a dedicated DevOps and data engineering team, need a fully custom architecture beyond standard server-side tracking, and have the budget and timeline (typically 4-6 months and $3,500-$6,500+/month) to build and maintain it yourself.

Both approaches give you first-party data ownership. The difference is speed, cost, and who carries the maintenance burden, your team or Hardal's.