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Why self-host

Gray doesn’t have a hosted mode. That’s the point.

  • Privacy by architecture. Conversations, transcripts, files, SSH keys — all live on your machine. Gray (the company) cannot read them; there’s nothing on our side to read. The complete list of what does leave the box is short: How Gray handles your data.
  • Your model accounts. Gray drives the model logins already on the box — your Claude subscription, your API keys. No markup, no middleman tokens.
  • Your rules. It’s your server: your firewall, your backups, your uptime. Gray rides inside your tailnet and never opens a public port.

Honesty section: self-hosting means you run a small server.

  • A box (a $5/month VPS is fine) and five minutes with the installer.
  • Tailscale on the box and your phone (free for personal use).
  • Occasional updates and backups.

Gray is built to make that cheap: one script in, systemd keeps it alive, the app tells you when the box is unreachable.

Earlier versions of these docs described a hosted “hub-box” mode. It’s gone — v2 is self-host only.