Self-hosted or cloud video software: how to choose

Self-hosted software is software you install and run on your own machine or on a server in your name, instead of using it on the vendor’s servers. The alternative is the cloud: you sign in from the browser and the provider takes care of everything else. For producing video with AI, both options work, but they do not suit everyone equally. This guide goes through the seven criteria worth looking at, with a table of pros and cons for each option, and tells you frankly what the self-hosted model demands.

What each option means

• Self-hosted. The program runs on a computer or server that you control. You install it, update it, make the backups and decide where the data lives. You pay for a licence, or nothing if it is free software, plus the machine separately.
• Cloud. The vendor runs the program on its servers and you use it with an account. You pay a subscription, often with credits, and the provider takes care of maintenance.

There is an important nuance. Self-hosted software that uses AI services (a text model, a voice or an image generator) sends those providers what they need to do their work. Self-hosting does not mean that nothing leaves your machine. It means you decide what leaves, who it goes to and with which key.

The seven criteria for deciding

1. Spend control

In the cloud you usually pay a fee, often with credits. It is predictable, but you see little detail: you do not know how much each cost item or each failed attempt costs you. When self-hosting, you usually pay each AI provider with your own keys and at their prices, which gives you more detail in exchange for more invoices to keep an eye on. You will find the list of cost items in how much an AI-made short costs.

2. Data and privacy

If you choose the cloud, the provider processes your data on your behalf. In the European Union, that requires a data processing agreement, as laid down in Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation. Check where the servers are and whether there are transfers outside the EU. When self-hosting, the data stays on your machine, except what you send to each AI provider, and the security of that machine becomes your responsibility.

3. Maintenance and security

In the cloud, updates, patches and backups are the provider’s job. When self-hosting, they are yours: installing the updates, checking that the backups can be restored, protecting access to the panel and keeping the keys encrypted. Good self-hosted software makes these tasks easier, but it does not make them go away.

4. Hardware requirements

The cloud works with a browser. When self-hosting, you need a machine with enough processor, memory and disk for what you are going to do, and editing video is demanding. Also check the licences of the underlying tools. For example, if you install on Windows with Docker Desktop, its licence is free for personal use and for small businesses, but those with more than 250 employees or more than US$10 million in annual revenue need a paid subscription.

5. Availability

A cloud service is designed to be always on, according to its service agreement. Self-hosted software only works while your machine is switched on and connected: if it shuts down, restarts for an update or the connection drops, production waits. If your videos have to go out at a fixed time, you need a machine that is on at that time, or a server.

6. Scaling

In the cloud, producing more is usually a matter of paying for a bigger plan. When self-hosting, the limit is your machine: if editing one video takes up the processor, the next one waits. To grow, you need more hardware or more time.

7. Support and integrations

In the cloud, support is included depending on the plan, and the connections to social networks are the provider’s. When self-hosting, you depend more on yourself or on the support you contract, and the connections are often yours: you create your own apps with Google, Meta or X and go through their reviews. An example with consequences: YouTube keeps videos uploaded through its API private when they come from unverified projects created after 28 July 2020, until the project passes an audit.

A middle way: a server in your name

Self-hosting does not mean you have to use your office computer. You can install the software on a virtual private server (VPS) rented in your name in a data centre. You gain availability, because the server does not switch off when you close your laptop, and you still control the software, the keys and the backups.

In exchange, you pay for the server every month, you choose carefully where it is located if data location matters to you, and you are still responsible for keeping it up to date. For editing video, look above all at the number of processors and the memory, which is where the cheapest servers fall short. And check that the provider lets you use the server for what you need, for example the upload traffic that videos generate.

Pros and cons of each option

Neither column always wins. If you want to start straight away, do not have a machine that can stay switched on or do not want to maintain anything, the cloud is the more sensible choice. If you care about seeing every cost, keeping your data in-house and not depending on a third party to keep producing, self-hosting is worth the extra work.

Questions to help you decide

1. Do you have a machine that can stay on during your production hours?
2. Who will install the updates and check the backups?
3. Would you rather have a predictable monthly spend, or a tighter spend broken down item by item?
4. What data do you handle, and where does it need to be?
5. Do you need several users with different permissions?
6. How many videos do you need to produce a week, and how long does your machine take to edit one?
7. Can you see yourself creating API keys and Google or Meta apps, or would you rather have it done for you?
8. If the cloud provider changes its prices or shuts down, what do you take with you?

How CLAQON handles it

CLAQON is self-hosted software. You install it on your Windows or Linux machine, or on a server in your name, and it produces, publishes and logs spending from there. This is what it gives you and what it asks of you:

• What gets installed. Four services with Docker Compose (the n8n orchestrator, the FFmpeg editing engine, PostgreSQL 17 and the SearXNG search engine) and a panel you use from the browser. There are installers, in beta, for Windows 10 and 11 and for Debian or Ubuntu Linux. There is no installer for macOS.
• What it needs. At least 20 GB of free disk space, enough memory for the services and for editing, an Internet connection, your own provider keys and a domain with HTTPS, for example through a tunnel, to connect the social networks.
• Your data and your keys. Credentials are stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM and are never sent back to the browser. Downloads and outbound calls reject private addresses. More in security.
• Maintenance with a safety net. Encrypted backups, moving between machines and signed updates (in beta) that roll back if something fails before the point of no return. We explain it in backups and updates.
• Honest availability. It only produces while the machine is switched on. If your machine is going to be off at the time of a slot, the slot is brought forward to the last usable moment, and each slot tells you what time it is for your audience and for you.

And its current limits: a single user per installation, CPU rendering one video at a time, and no public API. If you would rather not do the installation yourself, there is the done-for-you setup, which is contracted separately. And if you want to compare it with cloud tools point by point, read CLAQON vs the cloud.