Not every company needs its own server for CRM and 1C. If customer data can live with the vendor, Bitrix24 cloud runs without any hardware of yours, and 1C connects to it through a data exchange. Your own server and the on-premise edition make sense when security policy keeps data inside your perimeter, when you need code-level changes, or when you need deep integrations with internal systems. The choice comes down to three questions: where the data sits, what you will have to customise, and what ownership costs per year, not just the licence.
Where the data lives and what the law says
Part 5 of Article 18 of Russia's Federal Law No. 152-FZ prohibits recording, organising, accumulating, storing, updating and retrieving personal data of Russian citizens in databases outside Russia, with a few exceptions listed in Article 6 (text of the article, in Russian). For Bitrix24 cloud in the .ru zone, the vendor states that data is kept on servers in Russia, in Moscow data centres (Bitrix24 help article, in Russian). So the cloud does not break the law on its own. Your duties as a personal data operator stay with you: notifying Roskomnadzor, collecting consent, managing staff access.
When the cloud is enough and when you need a server
The cloud fits when your processes work with standard tools: pipelines, automation rules, workflows, apps and webhooks. The vendor handles updates and backups, and you can go live in a day. Consider your own server if at least two of these apply:
- security policy says customer records and documents must stay in your own perimeter or data centre;
- you need custom modules and logic that an app cannot deliver;
- you run many internal systems (ERP, accounting, telephony) that need direct exchange inside your network;
- you have hundreds of staff, branches and several legal entities in one system;
- you must meet FSTEC requirements, which the on-premise Enterprise edition is built for.
1C does not depend on the CRM choice: the database can sit on your server or in 1C's cloud, and Bitrix24 and 1C integration works with both a cloud portal and an on-premise install. Your own server only makes one thing simpler: the exchange stays inside your network.
Your own server is not "free forever". It is a licence plus hardware, backups, updates and someone who looks after them. Always count the full cost of ownership for a year.
What it means for your budget
At vendor prices as of 23 October 2026, the Standard cloud plan for 50 users costs 5,590 RUB a month on annual billing, or 67,080 RUB a year. The on-premise Corporate Portal for 50 users costs 159,000 RUB for the licence, and on top of that you pay for a server, environment setup and support. At 250 users the gap almost disappears: cloud Enterprise starts at 27,190 RUB a month (326,280 RUB a year) against 349,000 RUB for on-premise. All prices are on the Bitrix24 licences page.
The budget takeaway: for up to about a hundred staff with no special data perimeter rules, the cloud usually wins on cost and time to launch. On-premise pays off when you are paying for customisation, integrations and control over data, not for owning a server as such. Deployment and migration work is billed at 3,900 RUB an hour; see how we install on-premise Bitrix24 on a client's server.
Common mistakes
- choosing on-premise out of fear for data without checking where the cloud actually stores it;
- counting only the licence and forgetting the server, backups and updates;
- buying a server "to grow into" without sizing users and load;
- installing on-premise with no support plan, so nobody applies security updates.