Running it yourself — why that's the right call¶
locali is not software you subscribe to somewhere and it runs on someone else's server. You run locali yourself — on your own infrastructure, under your own control.
That is a deliberate choice. It creates control — but it does not replace operational responsibility.
Because the data stays on your infrastructure¶
When residents or members of a club use their local information platform, data is created: memberships, reading habits, notification preferences. That data should not end up on the servers of an American cloud provider.
In a pure self-hosted setup, there is no central locali platform operator with automatic access to hub data. Which third-party providers are involved nonetheless — such as your hosting provider, SMTP service, backup destination, monitoring, or external AI — depends on your concrete infrastructure. Operators need to consciously choose, configure, and assess each of these services from a data-protection perspective.
Important: the personal data of your users belongs to them — not to you as operator. As operator, you are the data controller under GDPR. Data subject rights (access, deletion, data portability) are in your hands and must be upheld by you.
For municipalities and public institutions, this is not optional — it's a requirement.
Because you stay in full control¶
Whoever runs locali decides:
- Which spaces exist?
- Who can join?
- Which sources are imported?
- How is content distributed?
- Who has admin rights?
None of that is in the hands of a central platform operator. The hub and its configuration belong to you — which third-party services are involved is your decision to make.
Because you should decide deliberately about infrastructure and dependencies¶
locali was built for municipalities, clubs, and local organisations. Anyone running local digital infrastructure should be able to decide consciously where data is processed, who has access, and which dependencies arise.
Self-hosting reduces dependency on central platforms: no service that can suddenly be shut down, no product policy you cannot influence. At the same time, it requires responsible operation — updates, backups, monitoring, and data-protection processes remain the operator's job.
What you need for it¶
You don't need a dedicated data centre contract or specialised software. An ordinary Linux server — with a German hosting provider, in a local data centre, or in your own server room — is enough. Add a domain and SMTP access for outgoing emails.
locali brings the rest: authentication, database, monitoring, reverse proxy.
Technical prerequisites¶
- Linux server with Docker and Docker Compose
- Domain with DNS access (for TLS via Traefik)
- SMTP access (for registration emails and notifications)
- Basic knowledge of Linux administration and Docker
Hardware requirements¶
Requirements depend on the number of members and whether local AI features (Ollama) are used:
| Scenario | CPU | RAM | Storage | Estimate/month* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small (up to ~500 members, no AI) | 2–4 vCPUs | 8 GB | 40 GB SSD | ~€15–20 |
| Medium (up to ~5,000 members) | 4 vCPUs | 8–16 GB | 80 GB SSD | ~€20–40 |
| With local AI (Ollama, small model) | 4+ vCPUs | 16+ GB | 100+ GB SSD | ~€40–60 |
| With local AI (larger model) | 8+ vCPUs | 32+ GB | 150+ GB SSD | ~€60–100 |
* Indicative estimates for Linux VPS at German hosting providers (e.g. Hetzner, netcup, IONOS), as of May 2026. Actual costs vary depending on provider, plan, number of users, data volume, and configuration, and may differ significantly. Own hardware or on-premises operation without monthly hosting costs is equally possible. All figures are provided without warranty.
Without Ollama
If you do not want to run local AI, you can configure a cloud provider instead (e.g. Mistral AI, Azure OpenAI). The provider, API keys, and the embedding model/dimension are set at deploy time via the environment (not at runtime in the hub). This significantly reduces server requirements — but means that AI-processed content or questions leave the server. Operators must assess providers, regions, contracts, and legal bases themselves.
Ready for the next step?¶
The full technical setup guide will be published with the planned open-source release. Until then, operators in the alpha phase receive the guide directly.
Early alpha
locali is still in active development. Setup currently requires basic technical knowledge. Ideas, requests, or feedback? Get in touch — contact: Imprint.