Take full control of your deployment, infrastructure, and data.

What Does “Self Hosting” Mean?

Self hosting means your organization runs OpenVolunteer on infrastructure that you control. This could be a cloud provider (such as a VPS), an on-premise server, or an internal IT environment.

Because OpenVolunteer is open source, you are free to download the code, deploy it on your own servers, customize it, and manage updates independently. There are no licensing fees and no vendor lock-in.

Getting Started

  1. Review the system requirements
    Ensure your hosting environment meets the minimum requirements. We use the Laravel Framework and you can see their complete requirements here.

    1. PHP >= 8.2

    2. Choose a database, We suggest one of the following: MariaDB 10.3+, MySQL 5.7+, or Postgres 10.0+

  2. Choose your hosting environment
    You may use a cloud provider, VPS, dedicated server, or internal infrastructure.

  3. Deploy OpenVolunteer
    Follow the installation guide to clone the repository, configure environment variables, and run the setup process.

  4. Configure your organization
    Set up departments, roles, permissions, and administrative accounts.

  5. Establish backup and update procedures
    Plan for routine backups and version updates to maintain long-term stability.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • While you do not necessarily need a full-time developer, you should have someone comfortable managing servers, databases, and application deployments. Basic familiarity with Linux servers and web application hosting is recommended.

  • OpenVolunteer runs on standard modern web infrastructure. A small to mid-sized organization can typically run it on a modest VPS. Requirements scale based on user count and activity.

  • Yes. Because your data remains portable and the platform is open, you can move between self hosting and managed hosting if your organization’s needs change.

  • Community documentation and issue tracking are available publicly. Direct infrastructure support is not included with self hosting. If your organization prefers hands-on support, managed hosting may be a better fit.

  • Updates are released through the project repository. Your team is responsible for pulling updates, reviewing changes, and applying them in your environment.

  • Yes. Whether you self host or use managed hosting, your organization owns its data. Self hosting simply means you control where and how it is stored.