Self-host vs. cloud
Same binary, same dashboard, same DSN format, same MCP server — the difference is who runs Postgres and how you're billed.
Cloud is coming soon and is not open for signup yet. Today you run Okapi yourself — see Quickstart. The cloud column below describes the planned hosted service, so you can see what is coming.
At a glance
| Self-host | Cloud (coming soon) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Your infrastructure | Our hosted infrastructure |
| Data location | Your Postgres, never leaves your network unless you ship it out | Shared multi-tenant Postgres, isolated per organization by row-level security |
| Billing axis | Seats only — everything else unlimited | Daily-sliced event/log quotas, seats, projects, retention (per tier) |
| MCP server | Included, every tier | Included, every tier |
| Multi-organization chrome | Off (OKAPI_MULTI_ORGANIZATION unset) — one organization per instance |
On — several organizations under one login, with an organization switcher |
| License/coverage model | 14-day trial, then license or locked-viewing | No lock state — subscription active or not |
| Ops burden | You patch, back up, and scale Postgres | None |
| Update cadence | You choose when to upgrade (subject to the migration gate — see Licensing) | Always current |
OKAPI_MULTI_ORGANIZATION is the cloud edition's switch. Leave it unset on self-host; the downloaded compose file does not pass it (see Setting variables the compose file does not list).
Pricing
Self-host (annual, per instance; seats are the only axis — everything else is unlimited on every tier). Available now — see Pricing.
| Tier | Price | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Solo | $79/yr | 1 |
| Team | $249/yr | up to 10 |
| Business | $599/yr | unlimited (priority support) |
Every self-host tier is the full product — there is no feature gating by plan, ever. Canceling a self-host subscription doesn't take anything away either: you keep the version you have, forever (see Licensing).
Cloud — planned pricing, not open yet. These are the plans cloud will launch with. You cannot buy them yet. Bands will be enforced as a daily slice with soft overage to 150% — see Quotas & usage.
| Tier | Planned price | Seats | Events/mo | Logs/mo | Retention | Projects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | $15/mo | 1 | 100k | 500k | 30 days | 5 |
| Team | $35/mo | up to 10 | 1M | 5M | 60 days | 15 |
| Business | $75/mo | unlimited | 5M | 25M | 90 days | unlimited |
When to pick self-host
- You need data to stay inside your own network or cloud account (compliance, contractual, or just preference).
- You're comfortable running Postgres and doing your own backups.
- You want a one-time-feeling annual cost with a hard floor — worst case, you stop renewing and keep running the version you have.
- You want to start today: self-host is the only edition you can run now.
When cloud may suit you, once it opens
- You don't want to operate Postgres or think about upgrades.
- You want multi-organization support (agencies, multiple client workspaces under one login).
- You'd rather have usage-based tiers than run and size your own instance.
Cloud runs the same binary, so pointing your SDKs at cloud later is a DSN change. Existing data (issues, history, rules, channels, members) does not move over. To get started now, see SDK setup, or Quickstart for the fastest self-host path.