What's installed on your Vaultwarden server?
- Vaultwarden 1.37.5 with its web vault, on the official image
- Public sign-up turned off, so accounts are opened by invitation only
- An admin page, with its address and admin key in your panel; the key is given to Vaultwarden as an Argon2 hash
- Password hints turned off
- Vault data kept on your server in its own Docker volume
- HTTPS through Caddy on an sslip.io address based on your IP, so a domain is optional
- Firewall with only ports 22, 80 and 443 open
What size do you need for Vaultwarden?
Vaultwarden's docs don't give a RAM figure, and the project pitches itself for self-hosting where the official, resource-heavy server isn't ideal. As a rule of thumb, 1 GB is a good start. File attachments and Send use more disk than extra users do, so for heavy use think about 2 GB and a larger disk. You scale up from your panel, and disks don't shrink later.
| Use | Size | Price | Choose |
|---|---|---|---|
| A few people | 1 GB RAM · 1 vCore · 25 GB NVMe | $2.58/mo | |
| Small team | 2 GB RAM · 1 vCore · 40 GB NVMe | $4.01/mo | |
| Company | 4 GB RAM · 2 vCore · 60 GB NVMe | $6.89/mo |
Who is it for?
- Anyone who wants their passwords on their own server
- Families sharing a vault, with one account per person and shared collections
- Small teams that need to share logins in a controlled way
- Bitwarden app users who'd like to run the server side themselves
What happens after you order?
- Set the size and complete your payment.
- Your server starts and Vaultwarden installs itself. This took about 3.5 minutes in our real-server tests.
- On the Overview tab in your panel, open the Admin address link and paste the value from the Admin key row.
- In the Users section, use Invite User to create an invitation for your own email address. No email goes out, and the invitation record is enough.
- Go back to the Site address, choose Create account and set your master password with that same email.
- In the Bitwarden apps, pick the Site address value as your server.
With every server
- Daily backups included in the price
- Unlimited traffic
- Full root access
- Scale RAM and CPU up or down later, and grow the disk
- Location: Istanbul · IST-1.
Good to know
- If you forget your master password, the vault can't be opened. Your data is encrypted with it, and neither backups nor the admin key can get around that.
- The web vault only works over HTTPS. If a certificate can't be issued, the site opens over http and the vault won't work, so fix the certificate first, by connecting your own domain if need be.
- The admin key is the only lock on the admin page. It sits in plain text in your panel and in the .env file on the server, so don't share it.
- The install doesn't set up outgoing email. Invitation emails don't go out, and email-based two-factor login needs SMTP settings added to compose.yaml.
- Vaultwarden isn't connected to Bitwarden, Inc. It's an independent AGPL-3.0 project, so report problems to the Vaultwarden project rather than Bitwarden's official support.
- The image is pinned to version 1.37.5. Watching for new releases and changing the tag, especially for security fixes, is your responsibility.
Vaultwarden questions and answers
How much RAM does Vaultwarden need?
Vaultwarden's docs don't give a RAM figure. As a rule of thumb, 1 GB is a good start, and file attachments are what really grow, on disk. If it isn't enough, you scale up from your panel.
How do I self-host my own password manager?
Order a server with Vaultwarden installed. The install finishes by itself, and the site address, admin address and admin key appear in your panel. From the admin page, invite yourself, then open your account with that same email.
Does Vaultwarden work with the Bitwarden apps?
Yes. In the browser extension, desktop app or mobile app, open the server dropdown on the login screen, choose Self-hosted and enter the value from the Site address row in your panel.
What happens if I forget my master password?
Your vault can't be opened. The data is encrypted with your master password, and neither the admin key nor a backup can unlock it. Keep the password written down somewhere safe.
Can my family or team use Vaultwarden too?
Yes. Create an invitation for each person on the admin page, and each of them opens an account with their own master password. Shared logins go into organizations and collections, with member roles and event logs.
Can I use my own domain with Vaultwarden?
Yes. Point an A record at your server's IP and add the address to the Caddy settings. Then change SITE_URL, SITE_HOST and SITE_ADI in the .env file, run docker compose up -d and update the server address in your apps.
Is my vault backed up?
Your server is backed up every night, the last 7 days are kept, and this is included in the price. You can restore the whole server from your panel. You'll still need your master password to open a restored vault.