Self-hosting on a VPS in Europe

Updated 2026-10-30

A self-hosting VPS on Wolkra is a cloud server in Frankfurt where you run your own apps instead of renting them as services, with unmetered traffic, one-click apps such as Docker and WireGuard, and billing by the hour.

You keep your data on a machine you control in Germany, without the hardware, power and upload limits of a server at home.

Why self-host in the cloud

• Your data, your rules. Files, notes, code and passwords live on your own server, not inside a dozen subscriptions.
• Always on. No home outages, no dynamic address, no router port forwarding.
• Real upload speed. Ports up to 10 Gbit/s, shared, instead of a home upload line.
• Unmetered traffic with fair use. Syncing photos or streaming your own media carries no per-GB fees.
• In the EU. Servers in Frankfurt, Germany. See EU VPS and GDPR.

Popular things to self-host

The linked items are one-click apps, ready a few minutes after boot. Everything else installs with Docker or the project's own packages.

A simple self-hosting stack

Most self-hosters end up with the same shape:

1. One server with the Docker app.
2. A reverse proxy such as Caddy in front, giving every app its own subdomain and HTTPS. See reverse proxy with Caddy.
3. A Compose file per app, kept in Git. See deploy with Docker Compose.
4. A firewall that opens only 80, 443 and SSH. Wolkra firewalls are free.
5. A VPN for admin tools that should never be public.
6. Backups turned on, plus off-server copies of important data.

If you'd rather click than edit YAML, Coolify gives you a dashboard for the same thing.

Picking a plan

• A few light apps: a small Standard plan.
• Ten or more containers, or Nextcloud with several users: 4 GB of memory or more.
• Media libraries, search indexes, GitLab: a memory-optimised (m) plan.

Prices are per started hour from a prepaid balance, capped at the monthly price. Large file libraries belong on a block storage volume, billed per GB, which grows online up to 10 TB.

Keeping it safe

Self-hosting means you are the admin. A short routine goes a long way:

• Use SSH keys and disable password sign-in.
• Apply security updates automatically. See secure an Ubuntu server.
• Put admin dashboards behind the VPN.
• Turn on daily backups for 20% of the server price, with 7 restore points, and snapshot before upgrades.
• Turn on two-factor authentication for your Wolkra account.

Our backup strategy guide explains how to keep copies of self-hosted data off the server.

Connecting home and cloud

Many people keep some services at home and others in the cloud. A WireGuard tunnel between your home router or a home server and the VPS links them privately. The VPS can then publish selected home services through its reverse proxy, so you never open ports on your home router.

Growing your setup

• Split heavy apps onto their own servers in a private network.
• Move public entry points behind a load balancer or a floating IP.
• Draw and price the whole thing in the Composer before you build it.

Keeping track of updates

Self-hosted apps need updates. Subscribe to release notes for each app, update on a fixed day each month, and take a snapshot before you start so you can roll back if an upgrade goes wrong.

Play by the rules

Self-hosting is welcome. Running open relays, public proxies or anything that harms others is not. See the Acceptable Use Policy.

Start self-hosting

Create an account, launch the Docker app in Frankfurt, and move your first service home to your own server.