Nanobox CRM

Hosted vs self-hosted

An honest decision guide for choosing between running Nanobox CRM yourself and letting us host it: cost, control, and the operations work involved.

There are two ways to run Nanobox CRM, and they deliver the same product. The only real difference is who runs the server. This guide lays out the trade honestly so you pick the door that fits how you work, not the one that sounds best on paper.

Self-hosted: own it

You buy a one-time license, receive the full source, and run it on your own infrastructure with Docker. $399 covers a single domain; the $1,999 Agency license covers unlimited domains. There's no renewal and no per-seat fee.

Choose this if:

You want to cap your software cost. Pay once and the meter stops; over a few years a one-time license easily beats any subscription.
You want your data on your own servers, under your terms, in a Postgres database you can back up and export at will.
You want to change the product (a field, a workflow, an integration) because you have the source.
You're comfortable owning some operations: provisioning a server, applying TLS, taking backups, and installing updates.

The cost here isn't money, it's responsibility. If the server goes down at 2am, it's yours to bring back. For a team with even basic ops capability, that's a fair trade for ownership.

Hosted: we run it

We run Nanobox for you for a flat $29/month or $290/year, never per seat. Same CRM, none of the server work: no Docker, no migrations, no certificates, no backups to manage.

Choose this if:

You want to start today without touching a server.
You'd rather not own operations. Updates, uptime, and backups are our problem, not yours.
A small, predictable monthly cost is easier for you to justify than a larger one-time purchase.

The trade-off: it's a subscription, so the cost continues, and the app runs on our infrastructure rather than yours. The pricing is still flat, so it never punishes you for adding people.

A quick way to decide

Want the lowest long-run cost and control over your data and code? Self-host.
Want zero operations and the fastest possible start? Hosted.
Not sure? Hosted is the lower-commitment way in, and nothing is locked away. Because it's the same product, your relationship with the CRM doesn't change if you later decide to bring it in-house.

There's no wrong answer here, only a fit. See pricing for the full breakdown, or read more about Hosted. When you've decided, Installation covers the self-host path end to end.

PreviousBackups and maintenance NextUpdating Nanobox

Self-hosted: own it

Choose this if:

You want to cap your software cost. Pay once and the meter stops; over a few years a one-time license easily beats any subscription.

You want your data on your own servers, under your terms, in a Postgres database you can back up and export at will.

You want to change the product (a field, a workflow, an integration) because you have the source.

You're comfortable owning some operations: provisioning a server, applying TLS, taking backups, and installing updates.

The cost here isn't money, it's responsibility. If the server goes down at 2am, it's yours to bring back. For a team with even basic ops capability, that's a fair trade for ownership.

Hosted: we run it

We run Nanobox for you for a flat $29/month or $290/year, never per seat. Same CRM, none of the server work: no Docker, no migrations, no certificates, no backups to manage.

Choose this if:

You want to start today without touching a server.

You'd rather not own operations. Updates, uptime, and backups are our problem, not yours.

A small, predictable monthly cost is easier for you to justify than a larger one-time purchase.

The trade-off: it's a subscription, so the cost continues, and the app runs on our infrastructure rather than yours. The pricing is still flat, so it never punishes you for adding people.

A quick way to decide

Want the lowest long-run cost and control over your data and code? Self-host.

Want zero operations and the fastest possible start? Hosted.

Not sure? Hosted is the lower-commitment way in, and nothing is locked away. Because it's the same product, your relationship with the CRM doesn't change if you later decide to bring it in-house.

There's no wrong answer here, only a fit. See pricing for the full breakdown, or read more about Hosted. When you've decided, Installation covers the self-host path end to end.