BrainRotGuard Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

BrainRotGuard hosting on xCloud gives your family a self-hosted YouTube approval system for kids: your child searches and requests videos on a simple web page, and you approve or deny each one from Telegram. Deploy BrainRotGuard from the OneClick catalog, give xCloud your bot token and chat ID, and it starts the pinned image, generates a kids access PIN, mounts a database volume and publishes the page over HTTPS. Nothing plays until you approve it.

Deploy your BrainRotGuard

No terminal
No technical skills needed
No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is BrainRotGuard?

BrainRotGuard is a YouTube approval system for kids. Its README says your child gets a simple web page on a tablet where they can search YouTube and request videos, every request sends you a Telegram message with the thumbnail, title, channel and duration, and only approved videos play, with no ads, no autoplay and no recommendations. Self-hosted BrainRotGuard is a self-hosted YouTube approval system whose data stays in one SQLite file on your server. It is licensed under MIT.

On xCloud this template deploys BrainRotGuard 1.33.0 as the official image, pinned by digest, for amd64 and arm64, with HTTPS on your domain. The brg_db volume holds the database, a generated PIN gates the kids' page, and you supply the Telegram bot token and your chat ID at install. It does not block YouTube itself, so lock down the child's device separately.

From Sign-Up to a Live Kids' Viewer In Just 3 Easy Steps

A BrainRotGuard setup normally means a container, a Telegram bot, a PIN, a volume, a domain and a certificate before the first request. This is the same result with two Telegram values to paste in.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account and pick BrainRotGuard from the OneClick catalog. Choose your domain, then enter the Telegram bot token from @BotFather and your numeric Telegram chat ID.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We bring up the single BrainRotGuard container, pinned by immutable digest, mount the brg_db volume that holds approvals, profiles and settings, generate the Kids access PIN, and publish the kids' web interface over HTTPS on your domain. No other service is exposed.
Step 03
Request And Approve
Save the Kids access PIN from the installation credentials, open your bot in Telegram and press Start, then open your HTTPS BrainRotGuard URL and enter the PIN. Search for a video, request it, and tap Approve in Telegram to let it play.

Everything BrainRotGuard Does, On Your Own Server

BrainRotGuard runs in full here: a kids' YouTube page on your own domain, with every decision in your hands through Telegram.

Telegram Approval
Each request reaches your Telegram chat with the video's details and Approve and Deny buttons, so you decide from your phone and the video becomes playable once approved.
Search And Request For Kids
Children search YouTube on a simple web page, request what they want to watch and browse the library of videos you have already approved. No YouTube account is needed.
Channel Allow And Block Lists
Trust a channel once and its new videos are approved automatically, or block channels you do not want your children watching.
Profiles And Watch Limits
Give each child a separate profile with their own PIN, then set daily watch limits and scheduled hours from the Telegram bot.
Generated PIN Gate
The kids' web interface asks for a generated Kids access PIN, and unauthenticated pages redirect to the login screen.
Approvals That Persist
Approvals, profiles and settings live in a SQLite database on the brg_db volume, and the approved library was still there after a container restart in QA.

Everything You Need To Run Your Kids' YouTube 24/7

Managed hosting for BrainRotGuard, so the parts that keep it online are not your problem.

BrainRotGuard 1.33.0 deployed instantly
Image pinned by immutable digest
Kids access PIN generated for you
Kept behind xCloud nginx
Free SSL certificate
Server backups and snapshots
Server security updates included
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With BrainRotGuard

Let a child research on YouTube with your approval
A parent lets their child search freely for school topics and hobbies, then approves or denies each request from Telegram, so only videos they have seen are playable on the page.
Trust channels once, block the rest
A parent allows channels they trust, such as science or building channels, so new videos from them are approved automatically, and blocks channels or title words they do not want.
Set screen-time limits and viewing hours
A parent sets daily limits, separate educational and entertainment budgets, and schedules for each day, and adds bonus minutes for the day from the Telegram bot.
Keep a viewing log for several children
A family with more than one child uses separate profiles with their own PINs, watch history and time budgets, and reviews what was watched and searched for.

BrainRotGuard Screenshots

BrainRotGuard kids' library showing a video after a parent approved it

BrainRotGuard search results where a child can request a video

BrainRotGuard showing a requested video waiting for parent approval

BrainRotGuard vs Alternatives

YouTube Kids: YouTube Kids is Google's own children's app. Upstream's README says it built BrainRotGuard because it found YouTube Kids still recommends content it did not want, whereas here you approve each video yourself.
Google Family Link: Family Link offers device-level screen-time and app controls. Upstream pairs it with BrainRotGuard rather than replacing it: Family Link limits the device, and BrainRotGuard decides which YouTube videos play.
Pi-hole: Pi-hole is a separate network-level DNS blocker. BrainRotGuard works at the level of single YouTube videos, and its README pairs it with device lockdown such as Family Link or Screen Time rather than replacing either.
Blocking YouTube entirely: The strictest option, and the one BrainRotGuard exists to avoid: children keep search and research on YouTube, but only the videos you approve are playable. Lock the device down separately.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

Dedicated Cloud VPS sizes, pre-configured for BrainRotGuard hosting. Pick the one that fits, and resize any time.

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

More headroom if BrainRotGuard shares the server with other family apps.

$59.99per month

16 GB RAM
6 vCPU cores
200 GB NVMe SSD
30 TB
Unlimited

Get started

Every size is a dedicated Cloud VPS we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Billed monthly with no lock-in — delete the server and the unused balance comes back to your account. BrainRotGuard itself is licensed by its maintainers under the MIT License.

Docker hosting

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Priced per connected server, so your rate adjusts automatically as you add or remove servers. You pay your own provider for the server itself.

Self-managed hosting

Ready To Run Your Own Kids' YouTube Viewer?

BrainRotGuard on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Deploy faster. Own the server. Stay in control.

Fast Provisioning
Deploy faster using an xCloud Managed Server built with optimized stacks and high-speed SSDs.
Enterprise-grade security
Protect your infrastructure with a free SSL certificate and more advanced security features at no additional cost.
Intuitive Control Panel
From Server creation to application deployment, everything can be managed from our intuitive control panel.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Is BrainRotGuard free?

Yes. BrainRotGuard is MIT-licensed open source; the licence file at the pinned v1.33.0 tag is linked here. xCloud bills for the Cloud VPS under it, not for BrainRotGuard, and there is no per-child fee. You need a Telegram account for the parent and a bot token, which Telegram provides free.

Can you run BrainRotGuard with Docker?

Yes, and this BrainRotGuard Docker hosting template does it for you: the official ghcr.io/ghjj123/brainrotguard image, pinned by digest and built for amd64 and arm64, runs as one container on your own server, not in a BrainRotGuard cloud account, with HTTPS in front of port 8080.

How much RAM does BrainRotGuard need?

BrainRotGuard's manifest floor is 512 MB RAM, one CPU core and 2 GB disk, and the data is one small SQLite file. The server also needs outbound access to Telegram and YouTube. The 6 GB tier sold here sits well above it and leaves room for other apps.

How do I get a Telegram bot token for BrainRotGuard?

Message @BotFather in Telegram, create a bot, and paste the token it gives you into the install form. Then find your numeric chat ID, for example by messaging @userinfobot, enter it as the parent chat, and open your new bot and press Start first, or no messages will reach you.

Does BrainRotGuard need a YouTube account or API key?

No. Upstream says no YouTube account is needed and no API key is required, because it uses yt-dlp for search and metadata, with videos playing through standard YouTube embeds. Upstream notes that signing into a Google account on the tablet can prevent bot-check interruptions during playback.

Can I set daily watch time limits in BrainRotGuard?

Yes. Upstream lists daily screen time limits, separate educational and entertainment limits, scheduled hours, per-day schedules and bonus time, all controlled from the Telegram bot rather than the kids' page. This page does not test every command, so check the limits work for your schedule.

Does BrainRotGuard block YouTube on the tablet?

No. It controls which videos play on its own page; it does not stop the child reaching YouTube another way. Upstream pairs it with a tablet lockdown such as Google Family Link or Screen Time that allows only the BrainRotGuard web app, so lock the device down separately.

How do I back up BrainRotGuard?

Include the brg_db volume in your backup: it holds the single SQLite database with profiles, PINs, approvals, channel lists, limits and watch history. Copy it off the server, and take it while the app is idle. Keep your bot token safe too, and test a restore on a disposable install.

Backup and restore Docker apps

How do I upgrade BrainRotGuard?

Upgrades are not automatic. The app checks GitHub for new releases and only sends the parent a Telegram notice, and the template pins 1.33.0 by immutable digest, so existing installs are never updated for you. When xCloud publishes a newer template version, back up the brg_db volume, read the release notes, then adopt that template version.

Is BrainRotGuard an alternative to YouTube Kids?

Upstream presents it as the middle ground between blocking YouTube and YouTube Kids, with the parent approving every video and no ads, autoplay or recommendations. This page makes no child-safety guarantee, and a child with another route to YouTube is not stopped, so treat it as one layer.

How do the kids sign in, and can I change the PIN?

The kids' page asks for the generated 8-character PIN shown in the credentials panel; without it nobody can open the interface. The PIN is saved into the default profile on first start, so editing BRG_PIN later changes nothing; manage PINs and profiles from the Telegram bot instead.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.