It is with a very heavy heart that after 16 years we have made the incredibly difficult decision to retire Afterburst. Before my longer form text here's the key details you need:
- Soft-shutdown / Services wind-down begins: 1st May 2026
- Second soft-shutdown: TBC - between 15th May and 20th May
- Hard shutdown (all services terminated): 25th May 2026
- All customer data permanently wiped: 31st May 2026
Please ensure you have migrated your services and retrieved any data you need well before the hard shutdown date. Do reach out if you need any help with this.
The full picture: the explosion in AI demand has made sourcing hardware at reasonable prices incredibly difficult. We're effectively priced out of the hardware market currently. At the same time a number of our servers are reaching the end of their lives, replacing them in the current situation would be extremely difficult.
Finally, being brutally honest, both of us have also reached a point in our lives/careers where we cannot dedicate the time needed to address these without compromising the quality of service you've come to expect from us and that's something we're not willing to do.
Rather than let things slowly degrade, we'd rather be straight with you and give you the time to make a clean transition.
Moving forward: we're deliberately not making recommendations on alternative providers, as every customer's needs are different and we wouldn't want to steer anyone in the wrong direction. That said, if you need any help during the transition the support desk will remain open.
Running Afterburst (or: FanaticalVPS back in the day!) for the past 16 years has been an absolute privilege. Many of you have been with us for years, some from the very beginning, and we genuinely mean it when we say it has been a pleasure serving you. Thank you for your trust, your loyalty, and your support. It’s been one hell of a ride!
With gratitude,
Nick & Jack
Friday, May 1, 2026
