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What's the difference?

Paperclip Cloud: Hosted and managed by the Paperclip team. You sign up, and the infrastructure is handled for you — no servers to configure, no updates to apply, no backups to manage.

Self-hosted: You run Paperclip on your own VPS, cloud server, or local machine. You control everything — data, configuration, updates, and uptime.

Data control and privacy

Cloud: Your data lives on Paperclip's servers. This is standard for SaaS products. If you're in a regulated industry (healthcare, finance, law) or handle sensitive data, this may be a non-starter.

Self-hosted: Your data stays on your infrastructure. Agent conversations, task history, and company data never leave your server. You define the backup policy, retention period, and access controls.

Winner for data control: Self-hosted, no contest.

Cost

Cloud: Subscription pricing per seat or usage. Typically $15–50/user/month depending on the tier.

Self-hosted:

• Small VPS: $5–10/month total (not per user)
• More capable server for large teams: $20–50/month

For a team of 5, self-hosting costs $5–10/month vs. $75–250/month for cloud. For a team of 20, the difference is even more dramatic.

Winner on cost for teams: Self-hosted (significantly cheaper at any team size).

Exception: If you're a solo user and your time has value, the managed cloud may be worth paying for — no setup or maintenance time.

Setup time

Cloud: Create an account and you're in. Zero setup.

Self-hosted: Expect 30–90 minutes for a first-time setup (server provisioning, Node.js install, nginx, SSL). If you follow a guide, it's straightforward. If you've never set up a VPS, there's a learning curve.

Winner on setup: Cloud.

Maintenance burden

Cloud: Zero. The Paperclip team handles updates, security patches, database maintenance, and backups.

Self-hosted:

• Updates: Run npm install -g paperclipai@latest && systemctl restart paperclip (2 minutes, monthly or less often)
• Backups: Set up a cron job once; runs automatically
• Security patches: Linux security updates every few weeks (apt upgrade)
• Monitoring: Check that the service is running; set up uptime alerts

Realistic time commitment for self-hosted: 1–2 hours/month.

Winner: Cloud if you want zero maintenance. Self-hosted if you're comfortable with occasional Linux admin.

Customization

Cloud: You configure what Paperclip exposes — agent settings, workflows, etc. You can't change infrastructure-level settings.

Self-hosted: Full control. Custom domains, custom environment variables, database configuration, network policies, integrations with on-premise systems, air-gapped deployments.

Winner: Self-hosted.

Reliability and uptime

Cloud: Managed by a team with dedicated infrastructure and SLAs. Likely 99.9%+ uptime.

Self-hosted: Depends on your setup. A well-configured VPS on DigitalOcean or Hetzner runs at 99.9%+. A Raspberry Pi on home internet may be less reliable.

Winner: Cloud for guaranteed SLA. Self-hosted on a major cloud provider is roughly equivalent.

Team size guidance

| Team size | Recommendation | |---|---| | Just you | Either — cloud saves setup time, self-hosted saves money | | 2–5 people | Self-hosted on a $10–15/month VPS is significantly cheaper | | 5–20 people | Self-hosted — cost savings are substantial | | 20+ people | Self-hosted with managed Postgres and proper monitoring | | Enterprise / regulated | Self-hosted or private cloud deployment |

The technical comfort test

Ask yourself: Can you:

• SSH into a server?
• Set an environment variable?
• Run systemctl restart paperclip when told to?

If yes: Self-hosted is fine. If no: Cloud is probably better until you build that comfort.

Our recommendation

Self-host on Railway or a VPS unless:

1. You're a solo user who values convenience over cost, or
2. You're in a regulated industry that requires vendor compliance documentation, or
3. Your team has no technical members who can handle occasional VPS maintenance

For most developer teams, self-hosting Paperclip on a $6–10/month VPS is the right call. You get data control, lower cost, and flexibility — in exchange for occasional maintenance that's genuinely minimal.

Start with Railway's $20 free credit and the setup takes under 10 minutes.

This is an independent guide. Paperclip Hosting is not affiliated with the official Paperclip project. Guide steps are based on real deployments and are subject to change as the software evolves.