How do I self-host Outline?

Outline can be deployed using Docker Compose. The AltStack provides a production-ready configuration that you can deploy on your own server. Simply copy the configuration and run it on any machine with Docker installed.

Is Outline free to self-host?

Yes, Outline is open source under the Other and free to self-host. Your only costs are the server infrastructure. A basic cloud VPS starts at around $5-10/month.

What programming language is Outline built with?

Outline is built with TypeScript. It has 40,889 stars on GitHub, indicating strong community adoption and support.

Back to Self-Hosted Stacks

Deploy Outline

Fast, collaborative, knowledge base for your team built using React and Markdown.

Quick Start

Create a directory

mkdir outline-self-hosted && cd outline-self-hosted

Create config file

Copy the content from the Config tab below into a file named docker-compose.yml

Deploy

docker compose up -d

Fast Track

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Use our optimized Docker templates to deploy Outline on any cloud provider. Get $200 in free credit to start on DigitalOcean.

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$200

Metadata

License

Other

Language

TypeScript

Last Updated

10/14/2026

Configuration

yaml

services:
  outline:
    image: outlinewiki/outline:latest
    container_name: outline
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
      redis:
        condition: service_started
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://outline:outline@db:5432/outline
      - REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
      - SECRET_KEY=changeme-min-32-chars-long-secret-key
      - UTILS_SECRET=changeme-min-32-chars-long-utils-secret
      - URL=http://localhost:3000
      - FILE_STORAGE=local
      - FILE_STORAGE_LOCAL_ROOT_DIR=/var/lib/outline/data

  db:
    image: postgres:14-alpine
    container_name: outline-db
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=outline
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=outline
      - POSTGRES_DB=outline
    volumes:
      - outline_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U outline"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  redis:
    image: redis:alpine
    container_name: outline-redis
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  outline_db_data:

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