u/Mat_ChD

Running automation for a small group of 3 companies. Python scripts pull from a couple REST APIs (internal ERP + banking), dump everything into SQL Server Express on an office PC, and Power BI Pro reads from there via On-Premises Gateway. Works fine until the PC dies, which has happened.

Want to move to the cloud. Already pay for Power BI Pro.

My plan is DigitalOcean Droplet ($6/mo) for the scripts + cron, and Azure SQL Basic (~$5/mo) as the database. Main reason is Power BI has a native connector to Azure SQL so I can kill the gateway completely.

Looked at Postgres on DO (managed ~$15/mo or self-hosted on the same droplet) but Power BI needs a gateway for Postgres which feels like a step backward. Same issue with Supabase/Neon.

Data is tiny — maybe 500k rows total, daily incremental loads. Nothing fancy needed.

A few things I’m not sure about:

•	Is there something cheaper than Azure SQL that Power BI connects to natively without a gateway?

•	Anyone actually running DO + Azure SQL? Anything that bit you?

•	Is self-hosted Postgres + gateway on a cloud VM a realistic option or just more stuff to break?

~$11/mo total seems reasonable but open to hearing if I’m missing something obvious.

Hi!

Currently running a automation setup for a small business group (3 companies) that works like this:

•	Python scripts pull data from REST APIs (internal ERP)

•	Scripts load everything into a local SQL Server Express on an office PC

•	Power BI Pro connects via On-Premises Gateway and refreshes dashboards for a small internal team

It works, but the office PC is a single point of failure if it goes down, everything stops.

I already pay for Power BI Pro. The main goal is to move 100% to the cloud with the lowest cost possible.

My current thinking:

Option A: DigitalOcean Droplet ($6/mo) for Python scripts + cron jobs → Azure SQL Basic (~$5/mo). Power BI has a native connector to Azure SQL so I could drop the gateway entirely.

Option B: DigitalOcean Droplet → PostgreSQL on DO self hosted on the same Droplet. But Power BI + Postgres requires a gateway, which defeats the purpose.

Leaning toward DO + Azure SQL because of the native Power BI connector, but total ~$11-15/mo feels reasonable for what it does.

So the Questions for the community are:

1.	Is there a cheaper alternative I’m missing that still works natively with Power BI Pro without a gateway?

2.	Anyone running DO + Azure SQL in production? Any gotchas?

3.	Would Supabase (Postgres) or Neon make sense here or is the gateway requirement a dealbreaker?

4.	Is self-hosted Postgres on the DO Droplet + gateway on a cloud VM viable or too fragile?

Total data volume is small — maybe 500k rows across all tables, daily incremental loads. Not looking for Spark or anything fancy, just reliable and cheap.

Thanks!