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Self-Hosted Mode

QA Studio is open source (AGPL-3.0) and can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure with all features unlocked - no payment required.

⚠️ Security Warning

IMPORTANT: Self-hosted mode bypasses all payment and subscription checks. Only enable this on deployments you fully control.

  • ✅ Safe: Single-organization deployments, internal tools, private infrastructure
  • ❌ NEVER: Multi-tenant SaaS deployments, shared hosting, customer-facing services

When SELF_HOSTED=true is set, the application will:

  • Skip all subscription and payment validations
  • Grant unlimited access to all premium features
  • Allow unlimited users and projects without any checks

This is intended for organizations running their own private instance, not for hosting a service for multiple customers.

Enabling Self-Hosted Mode

To run QA Studio in self-hosted mode with all features unlocked, set the SELF_HOSTED environment variable:

SELF_HOSTED=true

Or in your .env file:

SELF_HOSTED=true

What Self-Hosted Mode Does

When SELF_HOSTED=true is set, the following changes take effect:

✅ All Features Unlocked

  • AI-powered failure analysis - Full access without subscription
  • Advanced reporting - All report types available
  • Custom integrations - Twilio, Slack, JIRA, etc.
  • All future premium features - Automatically included

✅ No User/Seat Limits

  • Unlimited team members - Add as many users as you need
  • Unlimited projects - No project limits
  • Unlimited test cases & runs - No artificial restrictions

✅ No Stripe Required

  • No payment processing - Stripe configuration is optional
  • No subscription checks - All API endpoints work without subscriptions
  • No billing pages - Payment-related UI is hidden/disabled

Deployment Options

Docker (Recommended)

Note: Docker Compose defaults to SELF_HOSTED=true automatically. You don't need to explicitly set it unless you want to run the SaaS version.

git clone https://github.com/QAStudio-Dev/studio.git
cd studio
cp .env.example .env

# Docker defaults to self-hosted mode - just start it!
docker-compose up -d

# To run as SaaS instead (with payment processing):
# SELF_HOSTED=false docker-compose up -d

The Docker Compose files default to self-hosted mode because:

  • Most Docker users are deploying to their own infrastructure
  • Self-hosted is the simpler, more common use case for Docker
  • It eliminates the need for Stripe configuration during initial setup

Manual Installation

  1. Clone the repository
  2. Install dependencies: npm install
  3. Set up your .env file with required variables
  4. Add SELF_HOSTED=true to your .env
  5. Run database migrations: npx prisma migrate deploy
  6. Build: npm run build
  7. Start: node build

Required Environment Variables (Self-Hosted)

Even in self-hosted mode, you still need these security-critical variables:

# Required for all deployments
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/qastudio
SESSION_SECRET=your-random-secret-here
TOTP_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-64-character-hex-key-here

# Self-hosted mode
SELF_HOSTED=true

# Optional (not required for self-hosted)
# STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_...  # Only needed for SaaS hosting
# SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com  # Only if you want email features

NOT Required for Self-Hosted

These environment variables are only needed if you're running the hosted SaaS version:

  • STRIPE_SECRET_KEY - Payment processing (not needed)
  • STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET - Payment webhooks (not needed)
  • PUBLIC_STRIPE_KEY - Client-side Stripe (not needed)

Email configuration (SMTP_*) is optional but recommended for:

  • Password reset emails
  • Team invitation emails
  • Notification emails

Costs

The only costs for self-hosted QA Studio are:

  1. Server hosting - Typically $10-30/month on most cloud providers
  2. Database - PostgreSQL (often included in hosting or ~$5-15/month)
  3. Storage - For test attachments (screenshots, logs, videos)

No per-user fees. No subscription costs. No vendor lock-in.

Support

Self-hosted deployments are supported through:

Paid Support (Optional)

If you need priority support for your self-hosted deployment:

  • Pro Support: $99/month - Priority email support, setup assistance
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing - SLA guarantees, dedicated support, custom features

Contact: ben@qastudio.dev

Comparison: Self-Hosted vs Hosted SaaS

Feature Self-Hosted (Free) Hosted SaaS Free Hosted SaaS Pro
Price $0 (+ hosting) $0 $10/user/month
Users Unlimited 1 user Unlimited
Projects Unlimited 1 project Unlimited
All Features ✅ Yes ❌ Limited ✅ Yes
AI Analysis ✅ Yes ❌ No ✅ Yes
Integrations ✅ Yes ❌ No ✅ Yes
Data Control ✅ Your servers ❌ Our servers ❌ Our servers
Setup Required ✅ Yes ❌ No ❌ No
Maintenance ✅ You ❌ Us ❌ Us

License

QA Studio is licensed under AGPL-3.0:

  • ✅ Use commercially
  • ✅ Modify the code
  • ✅ Distribute
  • ✅ Private use
  • ⚠️ Must open source any modifications if you distribute
  • ⚠️ Must use AGPL-3.0 license for derivatives
  • ⚠️ Network use counts as distribution

Full license: https://github.com/QAStudio-Dev/studio/blob/main/LICENSE

Contributing

Self-hosted users are encouraged to contribute back to the project:

  • Report bugs and issues
  • Submit feature requests
  • Contribute code improvements
  • Help other self-hosters in discussions

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.