we want a survival world thats always online so people can play when others arent on. some of us are on java and some on bedrock (switch and phone). is realms the only option or can we do our own thing? budget is basically nothing, i have an old laptop
realms doesnt do crossplay between java and bedrock so thats out unless everyone is on the same version
run a paper server on the old laptop and add the geyser plugin, that lets bedrock players join a java server. not perfect but works fine for a small group