Cloud vs. Self-Hosted

embrly.ca and your own instance run the same code. A self-hosted instance runs the core file-sharing platform. The features that only make sense for a hosted, paid service stay switched off.

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What Self-Hosting Includes

• File upload, storage and management (public/private, passwords, expiration)
• File collaborators and edit suggestions
• Pastes and the URL shortener
• OCR and malware scanning on uploads
• Account settings, 2FA and sessions
• Admin Panel: users, storage, email, integrations, audit logs and quotas
• The full REST API for all of the above
• Flicker, ShareX, Flameshot and other upload clients
• Your own site name and favicon (see License & Branding)

What Stays Off

These run only in Emberly Cloud mode:

• Billing, plans and the pricing page
• Custom domains for users
• Squads and Discovery profiles
• Managed storage buckets
• Discord and GitHub contributor perks

If a page elsewhere in these docs covers one of these, it applies to embrly.ca, and the page says so.

Every account on a self-hosted instance uses the default quotas you set in Admin → Settings → User Quotas.

Cloud Mode

Cloud mode turns on all of the above, for running Emberly as a hosted service for other people. It needs both EMBERLY_RUN_CLOUD=true and a license key that includes hosted service. Without the license, the variable has no effect.

The Elastic License 2.0 does not let you offer Emberly to others as a hosted or managed service without that license. Running it for yourself, your team or your company is always free. See License & Branding.

To set it up, see Running a Hosted Service.