Layer 5 · self-hosting reality check
What it actually takes to self-host Rallly
The docs say 2 GB, as stated in the self-hosting prerequisites. In practice you want 2 GB covers the bundled stack (Traefik, PostgreSQL, Garage object storage and the app) for a team's polls. Here is the honest version — real requirements, real monthly cost, what you will be maintaining, and the one thing that catches people out.
Usually reached from Calendly alternatives, where Rallly is one of the picks.
Wondering whether you need to at all? Is Calendly free? — what the free tier actually allows, and where the wall is.
| RAM — documented minimum | 2 GB, as stated in the self-hosting prerequisites |
|---|---|
| RAM — what it really needs | 2 GB covers the bundled stack (Traefik, PostgreSQL, Garage object storage and the app) for a team's polls |
| CPU | 1–2 vCPU |
| Disk | A few GB. Polls are small. Avatars and uploads live in the garage-data volume, which the built-in backup command doesn't include. |
| Monthly cost | $6–12/mo on a 2 GB VPS plus a transactional email provider. Free for one registered account; a one-off $49 licence covers up to 5 (guest voters don't count) |
| Setup time | 30 minutes with the installer script, if DNS and SMTP are ready first |
| How you install it | curl -fsSL https://get.rallly.co | bash installs a Docker Compose stack in /opt/rallly with Traefik, PostgreSQL and Garage. It needs a domain, ports 80 and 443, and SMTP details |
| Ongoing maintenance | ./rallly.sh update pulls new 4.x images. ./rallly.sh backup dumps PostgreSQL only, so copy backups off the server and back up the garage-data volume separately if people upload files. Edit only .env, because updates overwrite the other stack files. |
| Where it stops scaling | One team on one small box. Licences cap registered users at 1 (free), 5, 50 or 50+ by tier. Guest voters are unlimited and don't count. |
The thing that catches people out
Email is the login. Rallly signs people in with emailed magic links, and the self-hosting docs list an SMTP server as a hard requirement: if mail doesn't arrive, nobody can sign in, including you, unless you've set up SSO. The docs also warn against running your own mail server or using a consumer email account. Set up a transactional provider such as Postmark, Resend or Mailgun before you install, and send yourself a test login.
When not to self-host Rallly
Your server already runs a reverse proxy on ports 80 and 443 (the bundled Traefik wants both), or you can't provide transactional email. If several colleagues need accounts, budget for the $49–$299 licence, or just use the hosted rallly.co.
Every guide here carries this section. A site that only ever tells you to self-host is selling something — the useful answer is sometimes no.
Other Layer 5 self-hosting guides
- Self-hosting LibreOffice2 GB with a large spreadsheet open
- Self-hosting ONLYOFFICE6 GB for the Document Server with a handful of concurrent editors
- Self-hosting Collabora Online4 GB, and roughly 1 GB per 20 concurrent documents
- Self-hosting CryptPad2 GB for a small instance
- Self-hosting Mattermost4 GB for a team of 50 with PostgreSQL on the same box
- Self-hosting Rocket.Chat6 GB with MongoDB on the same machine
Common questions
- How much RAM does Rallly actually need?
- 2 GB covers the bundled stack (Traefik, PostgreSQL, Garage object storage and the app) for a team's polls in practice. The documented minimum is 2 GB, as stated in the self-hosting prerequisites, which is the figure at which the process starts rather than the figure at which it works under real use. 1–2 vCPU alongside it.
- What does self-hosting Rallly cost per month?
- $6–12/mo on a 2 GB VPS plus a transactional email provider. Free for one registered account; a one-off $49 licence covers up to 5 (guest voters don't count) This is commodity VPS pricing and excludes your time, which is the larger cost for most people — budget for ./rallly.sh update pulls new 4.x images. ./rallly.sh backup dumps PostgreSQL only, so copy backups off the server and back up the garage-data volume separately if people upload files. Edit only .env, because updates overwrite the other stack files.
- How long does it take to set up Rallly?
- 30 minutes with the installer script, if DNS and SMTP are ready first, via curl -fsSL https://get.rallly.co | bash installs a Docker Compose stack in /opt/rallly with Traefik, PostgreSQL and Garage. It needs a domain, ports 80 and 443, and SMTP details.
- When should I NOT self-host Rallly?
- Your server already runs a reverse proxy on ports 80 and 443 (the bundled Traefik wants both), or you can't provide transactional email. If several colleagues need accounts, budget for the $49–$299 licence, or just use the hosted rallly.co.
- What is the most common mistake when self-hosting Rallly?
- Email is the login. Rallly signs people in with emailed magic links, and the self-hosting docs list an SMTP server as a hard requirement: if mail doesn't arrive, nobody can sign in, including you, unless you've set up SSO. The docs also warn against running your own mail server or using a consumer email account. Set up a transactional provider such as Postmark, Resend or Mailgun before you install, and send yourself a test login.