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The always-on server keeps one instance of your app running at all times for an environment, so that environment never cold-starts: the app is always ready to answer a request. It is part of the Enterprise plan only.

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Getting it

There is no switch for it in the product, and it is not sold as an add-on or included with a hosting upgrade. On Enterprise, tell us which environment needs it (usually production) and Meridian turns it on for that environment. It is billed as part of your Enterprise agreement, not as a separate line. Most apps only want it on production. A staging or development environment can normally scale to zero, where a cold start on the first request costs a few seconds at most. To take it off again, ask us. The instance floor drops straight away.

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Earlier add-on purchases

The always-on server used to be sold as a per-environment add-on and was included with the Medium and Large hosting upgrades. Neither is offered any more:
  • If you bought the add-on, it keeps running until the end of the period you already paid for. It does not renew, and after that date the environment scales to zero like any other.
  • Medium and Large no longer include it. Apps that had it through their hosting upgrade now run without it. Their production environment still runs on the upgrade’s larger CPU and memory.

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Without it

Meridian still keeps the production environment of every deployed app warm on a best-effort basis by sending it a small request every few minutes (see Autoscaling). Most first requests are fast anyway. The always-on server is for when “most” is not enough: it reserves an instance for the environment, so even a Cloud Run maintenance event or a deploy never leaves a merchant waiting on a cold start.
Last modified on September 30, 2026