Why You Don't Need
a VPS for Claude Code

The VPS approach

You've seen the tutorials. "Set up a VPS, install Claude Code, SSH in from your phone." It sounds reasonable. Here's what they don't mention:

• $10–20/month for a VPS that sits idle 90% of the time
• 30–60 minutes of setup: SSH keys, fail2ban, UFW, tmux, cloudflared or Tailscale
• Ongoing maintenance: OS updates, security patches, disk space monitoring
• Limited compute: a $10 VPS has 2GB RAM. Your Mac has 16–64GB
• No native UI: you're using a raw terminal app on your phone with no accept/reject buttons, no file browser, no voice input
• tmux pain: scrolling doesn't work properly out of the box, you need config changes, and attaching/detaching sessions is manual

Your Mac is already the server

Think about it. Claude Code is already installed on your Mac. Your projects are there. Your Git repos, your node_modules, your entire dev environment. Why duplicate all of that on a VPS?

Claudaway connects your phone directly to the Claude Code running on your Mac. No middleman server. No duplication.

✓ Server running
✓ Encrypted tunnel active
✓ QR code ready

# Open the Mac app. That's it. No SSH keys. No tmux. No VPS bill.

The math

Let's compare the real cost:

But what about always-on?

Fair point. A VPS runs 24/7. Your Mac might sleep.

But here's the thing: Claude Code uses your Claude subscription, which has rate limits. You're not running it 24/7 anyway. You run it when you have an idea, review the output, accept or reject, and move on. That's a session-based workflow, not a server-based one.

And if your Mac is sleeping? Wake it with Apple's Find My, or just enable "Prevent automatic sleeping" in System Settings. Problem solved, no VPS needed.

The bottom line

Your $200/month Claude Max subscription is powerful. It can build entire applications. But it only works when you're at your desk — unless you connect your phone.

Don't spend $20/month and an hour of setup to access something that's already running on your Mac. Just scan a QR code.