Looking at a Peavey MAX 208 2x8" 200-watt Bass Combo, for practice and likely ‘garage band’ use. I’m open to suggestions for alternatives. I want something for home practice that could also gig if the opportunity arises. 200w seems to be the minimum threshold for public playing?
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I question whether or not a 200w 2x8 combo will be anywhere near enough to handle gigs that are anything more than very low volume casuals or unplugged acoustic gigs. The exception might be using it as a personal monitor with a FOH PA doing the heavy lifting.
I’ve done rock gigs with 200w-400w heads into larger 1x15, 2x15, and 2x12 cabs but 8" speakers will greatly limit your bottom end projection. Even really good ones and a well designed enclosure. If you plan on playing with a full band at higher volumes I would suggest cabs with a 15" or dual 12"s or 10"s. JMHO
What kind of a budget do you have in mind?
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I really like my Ampeg BA-210 which is even better now as the RB-210. Better in that it’s lighter.
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I have a Fender Rumble 200 combo amp with a 115 extension cab. It kicks a$$ 
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I tried this amp at the local Musicstore. It has a hefty punch and is plenty loud.
The whole “can you gig with it” really depends on the genre, the band and the location. You can surely gig with this in smaller places like cafes and bars. It all depends on how large the room is and where you can put the amp.
For larger venues or outdoors, you need a PA, I wouldn’t go down that route of putting a stack behind you, unless you own a minivan. 
If you like it, why not? Have you tried it?
Cheers,
Antonio
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I use a JBL EON 710 PA system which I really like. For live I would go with the 712 or even 714. Bigger is basser 
The advantage of the JBL is a very neutral tone that can be achieved by the built-in DSP and the JBL app. I use REW to measure and calculate the settings, but that can be tedious and I use it only in my home setup. You could also setup “by ear”…
Of course you can set the PA to heavy bass response too … the sky is the limit!
PS The advantage of a PA system is that everything you feed it with sounds good, not only bass…
PPS The 712 is often discounted to the price of the 710. Thomann offers “used” models sometimes for a lower price. I got one of them and it was new!
FWIW…
I have a Peavey Max 150 as my ‘portable’ practice amp. If I’m going to a friend/family members place, and they don’t have a bass amp that I can use, I haul the Peavey around. For use in my bassment or where I need more power, I use my Markbass LM IV 300 and my Ampeg PF-115HE.
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Well, that would be swell… unfortunately, the old “garbage in - garbage out” still holds true 
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Looking at this video, I really don’t mind Garbage!
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Butch Vig, man. The guy had a golden touch.
Shirley didn’t hurt either
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Of course you cannot make bad stuff better - but every bad component will only worsen the sound. So I tend to stay “neutral” as much as possible, and let the bass and effects do it’s magic. Otherwise I only use tracks from good sources … you know, no vinyl, preferably HIRES flac…
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Haven’t , but local store has one on the floor I could test out.