CloudAppSelf-hosted
Cloud or self-hosted
The two routes side by side
Both routes run the same core and produce the same digest. They differ in who runs it.
| Cloud | Self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Owly Post, at app.owlypost.com | You, with Docker Compose on your own box |
| Price | A monthly subscription after a 14-day trial; see owlypost.com | Free (AGPL-3.0) |
| Who pays for the LLM | Included in the subscription, with a monthly AI budget per account | You: an Anthropic or OpenAI API key (a few cents a week), or nothing with a local Ollama |
| Maintenance and updates | None; always the latest version | You pull new images and keep the box running |
| Setup time | About two minutes of Owl training | Ten minutes, if Docker is already installed |
| Accounts | Email and password; one account per person | Single-user, no login; you secure it with a proxy or VPN |
| Mobile app | Yes (Android, in progress), plus push notifications | No; the web UI works on a phone |
| Email delivery | Included | Optional: bring Resend or any SMTP server |
| Sources | 50 feeds on the paid plan, 2 during the trial | Unlimited |
| Where your data lives | On EU servers (Frankfurt) | On your own hardware; with Ollama nothing leaves it |
| Missed digest slot | Caught up for up to six hours | Skipped if the machine was off; run it by hand or keep the box on |
| Best for | Anyone who wants the digest without running anything | People who already run a home server or want full control over data and models |
Pick the cloud if you want the digest to just show up. Pick self-hosted if you have a machine that is always on, want your data to stay home, or want to choose the model yourself.