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

Vantage runs in two deployments. They are the same software; what differs is
who operates it and how licensing, users and data lifecycle 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               | Written for you when you buy or create the instance | Pasted in, or claimed from HQ  |
| Team members          | Granted from HQ; the instance holds a projection    | Created in the instance itself |
| Free tier             | Yes, one per account                                | Yes, one per account           |
| Expired Free instance | Eventually deleted, after warning                   | Never deleted                  |

## Cloud

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

:::info The instance does not phone home
A grant writes a user row into the control plane once. After that the instance
authenticates that person entirely on its own. HQ being down does not stop
anyone signing in to a running instance.
:::

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

## Self-hosted

You run the Docker Compose stack on your own infrastructure. Nothing about the
control plane requires an internet connection to HQ at runtime a licence is a
signed file, verified locally.

Two ways to get one:

1. **Free** link the install to an HQ account and claim it
   ([Claim a Free licence](./claim-free-licence.md)).
2. **Paid** buy from HQ, which creates a placeholder, then paste the install's
   real instance UUID to bind and issue
   ([Self-hosted instances](../hq/self-hosted-instances.md)).

Self-hosted users are local (or OIDC). There is no projection from HQ, and the
three member endpoints in HQ refuse to touch a self-hosted instance at all.

## Which should you pick

Pick cloud if you want the thing running now and do not want to own a MongoDB.
Pick self-hosted if your policy requires the control plane inside your own
network, or the servers you manage cannot reach the public internet.

Moving between them is a migration, not a switch instances are bound to a
deployment at creation, and a licence binds to an instance UUID.

## Next

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