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Onyx supports several deployment options, from a fully managed cloud service to self-hosted Docker and Kubernetes for teams that need full control over their infrastructure.

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Deployment options at a glance

Onyx Cloud

Managed by the Onyx team. Sign up and start immediately with no infrastructure to maintain.

Docker

Self-host on any machine with Docker. A single command gets you running.

Kubernetes / Helm

Production-grade deployment for larger teams using the official Onyx Helm chart.

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Onyx Cloud

Onyx Cloud is the fully managed option. The Onyx team handles infrastructure, upgrades, and scaling.
  • 14-day free trial, no credit card required
  • Business plan at $20 per user / month (billed annually)
  • Enterprise plans available with custom pricing, on-premise deployments, and region-specific hosting
To get started, sign up at cloud.onyx.app.
Onyx Cloud uses the same codebase as the self-hosted version. Your data, chats, and connectors are portable if you decide to migrate to a self-hosted deployment.

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Docker (self-hosted)

Self-hosting with Docker gives you full control over where your data lives. Onyx publishes Docker images for both Standard and Lite deployment modes.

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Onyx Lite vs Standard

Choose the mode that matches your needs: Onyx Lite is a lightweight Chat UI. It runs a smaller stack and is ideal for teams who want to evaluate Onyx quickly or only need the chat and agents capabilities. Onyx Standard is the complete platform. It adds the vector and keyword index for RAG, background workers for syncing connector data, AI model inference servers, and performance components (Redis cache, MinIO blob store). The fastest way to self-host Onyx Standard is with the guided installer:
The installer:
  • Downloads the latest Onyx Docker images
  • Creates named Docker volumes for persistent data (chats, users, indexed documents)
  • Creates an onyx_data directory for configuration files
  • Guides you through initial setup interactively
After installation, open http://localhost in your browser to create your admin account.

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Managing a Docker deployment

Shut down without deleting data:
Upgrade to the latest version:
Delete all data and volumes:
--delete-data permanently removes all Docker volumes including your chat history, user accounts, and indexed documents. This action cannot be undone.

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Manual Docker Compose

If you prefer to manage the Compose files directly, clone the repository and run Docker Compose from the deployment/docker_compose directory:
Onyx includes several Compose configurations for different scenarios, including a Lite-mode compose file (docker-compose.onyx-lite.yml) for minimal deployments.

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Kubernetes / Helm

For production deployments at scale, Onyx provides an official Helm chart.

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Install with Helm

Add the Onyx Helm chart and install it into your cluster:
The chart deploys all Onyx components and wires them together. By default, it renders Kubernetes HorizontalPodAutoscaler resources for automatic scaling. You can switch to KEDA ScaledObjects by setting autoscaling.engine: keda in your values.yaml if you manage the KEDA operator separately.
Resource requests and limits are included in the chart as initial suggestions. Tune them for your workload — the defaults may not reflect your production traffic patterns.

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Port-forward for local access

To access a Helm-installed Onyx instance locally:
Then open http://localhost:8080 in your browser.

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Cloud provider guides

Onyx can run on any infrastructure that supports Docker or Kubernetes. Deployment guides for specific cloud providers — including AWS ECS Fargate and Terraform-based setups — are available in the full deployment documentation.

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Choosing an edition

Onyx ships in two editions regardless of deployment method: Community Edition covers the full core platform and is free to use. Enterprise Edition is available on Onyx Cloud or as an on-premise license — contact the Onyx team for pricing.