Hosting Options

This page covers hosting providers and options for running a Nostr relay.

Requirements

Minimum Specs

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	1 core	2+ cores
RAM	1 GB	4+ GB
Storage	20 GB SSD	100+ GB SSD
Bandwidth	1 TB/month	Unmetered
OS	Ubuntu 20.04+	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Network Requirements

• IPv4 address (static preferred)
• Port 443 (HTTPS/WSS)
• Low latency connection
• Stable uptime

Value Providers

Budget-friendly options with good performance.

Hetzner

Location: Germany, Finland, USA

Pricing: From €3.79/month

Pros:

• Excellent price/performance
• High-quality network
• Dedicated resources

Cons:

• Limited US locations
• Strict terms of service

# Recommended plans
CX11: 1 vCPU, 2GB RAM, 20GB - €3.79/mo
CX21: 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 40GB - €5.69/mo
CX31: 2 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 80GB - €9.49/mo

Contabo

Location: Germany, USA, Singapore, Japan

Pricing: From $5.99/month

Pros:

• Very affordable
• Generous resources
• Global locations

Cons:

• Can be oversold
• Support varies

OVHcloud

Location: France, Canada, USA, APAC

Pricing: From $3.50/month

Pros:

• Good network
• DDoS protection included
• Flexible options

Vultr

Location: 25+ worldwide

Pricing: From $5/month

Pros:

• Many locations
• Easy interface
• Hourly billing

Cons:

• Slightly higher pricing

Netcup

Location: Germany, Austria

Pricing: From €2.99/month

Pros:

• Reliable
• Good network

DigitalOcean

Location: 15+ worldwide

Pricing: From $6/month

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Great documentation
• Team features

Cons:

• Higher pricing

Cryptocurrency-Friendly

Accept Bitcoin/Lightning payments.

Bitcoin-VPS.com

Pricing: Varies by plan

Pros:

• Pay with Bitcoin/Lightning
• Privacy focused

Bitlaunch

Pricing: From $10/month

Pros:

• Multiple providers
• Pay with crypto

Dedicated Servers

For high-performance relays.

Kimsufi

Pricing: From €4.99/month

Pros:

• Dedicated hardware
• Unlimited bandwidth

Hetzner Dedicated

Pricing: From €35/month

Pros:

• Excellent performance
• SSD storage

Cloud Platforms

AWS

# Recommended instance
t3.small: 2 vCPU, 2GB RAM - ~$15/month

Pros:

• Scalable
• Many services

Cons:

• Complex pricing
• Can be expensive

Google Cloud

# Recommended instance
e2-small: 2 vCPU, 2GB RAM - ~$13/month

Oracle Cloud

Free tier: 4 OCPUs, 24GB RAM (ARM)

Pros:

• Generous free tier
• ARM instances

Edge/CDN Platforms

Fly.io

Deploy globally at the edge.

# Deploy strfry
fly launch
fly deploy

Pros:

• Global deployment
• Simple scaling

Railway

# One-click deploy
railway up

Managed Options

relay.tools

Managed relay hosting service.

Pros:

• No server management
• Easy setup

Premium Relays

Some relays offer paid hosting or membership.

Comparison Table

Provider	Price/mo	Locations	Best For
Hetzner	€3.79+	EU, US	Value
Contabo	$5.99+	Global	Budget
Vultr	$5+	25+	Flexibility
DigitalOcean	$6+	15+	Beginners
OVHcloud	$3.50+	Global	DDoS protection
Kimsufi	€4.99+	EU	Dedicated
Fly.io	$5+	Edge	Low latency

Choosing a Provider

For Personal Relay

• Hetzner CX11 or Contabo VPS S
• Low cost, sufficient resources
• Single location fine

For Community Relay

• Hetzner CX21 or Vultr 2GB
• More headroom for growth
• Consider multiple locations

For High-Traffic Relay

• Dedicated server
• Multiple instances with load balancing
• Consider managed database

Setup Checklist

1. Choose provider and plan
2. Set up server with Ubuntu 22.04
3. Configure firewall (UFW)
4. Install relay software
5. Set up reverse proxy
6. Configure DNS
7. Enable monitoring
8. Set up backups

See Also

• Running a Relay
• Reverse Proxy
• Configuration