Application hosting

Hosting Karakeep

Karakeep saves bookmarks and other material into a searchable personal library. Optional page archival, screenshots and AI tagging add capabilities beyond storing a list of links.

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Understand the setup

Find the software and services needed to run the application.

See requirements

Budget your resources

Plan memory, storage and CPU for the way you will use it.

Open resource planner

Build your shortlist

Compare plans for the starting size, then review the provider and billing terms.

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Must have

Installation requirements

Docker and Docker Compose.
Unique authentication and search secrets.
A configured public URL and persistent service storage.

Recommended

Planning guidance

Use the resource planner to size a server for your workload.

Choosing a server for Karakeep

Library growth, indexing and simultaneous page captures shape resource use. Optional local inference needs its own model and hardware budget.

Deploy with

Supported paths

Docker Compose

The host must provide

Runtime

Search: Meilisearch is part of the documented setup
AI tagging: Optional; configure a supported model provider separately

Storage

Persistent data

Keep persistent application and search data when updating the stack. Full-page archives and screenshots can add substantial storage beyond the bookmark records.

Step by step

Plan a Karakeep deployment

Choose a release

Use the maintained Compose file and select a stable release or a pinned version for controlled upgrades.
Official instructions
Configure the library

Set unique secrets and the public URL before starting the services. Keep those values for subsequent container replacements.
Official instructions
Enable optional features

Add archival, screenshots or AI tagging only as needed, then include their storage and processing in the hosting budget.
Official instructions

Security

Before you go public

Keep model-provider keys and search credentials server-side.
Restrict access to a private library and preserve secrets during upgrades.

Cost

Beyond the server price

Budget archive storage and recovery copies.
AI tagging can introduce external API charges or local inference resources.

Want the full monthly bill? Use the hosting cost calculator. Add storage, backups and other costs to your estimate.