---
id: cloud-vs-self-hosted
title: Cloud or self-hosted
sidebar_label: Cloud or self-hosted
---

Vantage runs in two ways. It is the same software; what differs is who runs it,
and how licensing and user accounts work.

## At a glance

|                       | Cloud                                       | Self-hosted                    |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| Who runs it           | We do                                       | You do                         |
| Where you sign in     | `<your-slug>.vantage.hostxtra.co.uk`        | Your own hostname              |
| Database and backups  | Ours                                        | Yours                          |
| Licence               | Installed for you                           | You paste it in                |
| Team members          | Granted from Vantage HQ                     | Created in the instance itself |
| Free tier             | Yes, one per account                        | Yes, one per account           |
| Expired Free instance | Eventually deleted, after warning emails    | Never deleted                  |

## Cloud

You create an instance from the Vantage HQ portal and it is ready seconds later,
already licensed. People you grant access to get a real account inside that
instance, but Vantage HQ owns their password and role. See
[People and roles](../hq/people-and-roles.md).

Your instance keeps working whether or not Vantage HQ is reachable. Signing in
and managing servers never depend on it.

Cloud instances on the Free tier are deleted some time after their licence
expires, with warning emails first. See [Free tier](../hq/free-tier.md).

## Self-hosted

You run Vantage with Docker Compose on your own infrastructure. It needs no
connection to us at runtime, because a licence is a signed file your install
checks for itself.

Two ways to get one:

1. **Free.** Link the install to a Vantage HQ account and claim it. See
   [Claim a Free licence](./claim-free-licence.md).
2. **Paid.** Buy from Vantage HQ, then paste your install's instance ID to have
   the licence issued. See
   [Self-hosted instances](../hq/self-hosted-instances.md).

People who sign in to a self-hosted install are created in the install itself,
either with a password or through single sign-on. Vantage HQ cannot add them for
you.

## Which should you pick

Pick cloud if you want it running today and would rather not run a database.
Pick self-hosted if your policy requires the control plane inside your own
network, or the servers you manage cannot reach the internet.

Moving between the two means migrating your data, and a new licence, since a
licence is tied to one instance.

## Next

- [Self-hosted install](./self-hosted-install.md)
- [Accounts and signup](../hq/accounts-and-signup.md), if you are going cloud