CitrineOS Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Deploy CitrineOS hosting and run a self-hosted OCPP central system for your EV charging stations, with a REST API and Swagger documentation behind a Basic Auth gateway. xCloud starts the pinned server with PostGIS and RabbitMQ, generates every password and publishes the API and a separate station WebSocket domain over HTTPS. You register each charging station yourself over SSH, and the operator dashboard is not included.

Deploy your CitrineOS

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

What is CitrineOS?

CitrineOS is an open-source project that provides a modular server runtime for managing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, released under the Apache License 2.0. Upstream describes charging station management logic and OCPP message routing, and the template's server speaks OCPP 1.6, 2.0.1 and 2.1 to stations over WebSocket with a REST API and Swagger documentation. Self-hosted CitrineOS is the option for operators who would otherwise rent a hosted charging platform such as ChargePoint or Monta.

On xCloud the template runs ghcr.io/citrineos/citrineos-server v2.0.1 with PostGIS 16, RabbitMQ and an nginx Basic Auth gateway, all pinned, as one install with two volumes. Stations connect on their own domain using basic authentication and must be registered first. The unauthenticated OCPP port and the TLS security profiles are not published, and the operator dashboard, Hasura and OCPI server are not included.

From Sign-Up to a Live CitrineOS Install In Just 3 Easy Steps

Self-hosting an OCPP central system normally means a database, a message broker, a domain and a certificate before a single charging station can connect. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account, pick CitrineOS from the OneClick catalog, and choose a domain for the API plus a domain for charging stations.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We bring up the pinned CitrineOS v2.0.1 image with its PostGIS database and RabbitMQ broker, generate the API credentials, and publish the API and station WebSocket over HTTPS on your domains.
Step 03
Sign In, Register A Station And Connect
Open the HTTPS API address, sign in as citrineos with the generated password, and open /docs. Register each station over SSH with register-station, then point it at the station WebSocket with its ID and printed password.

Everything CitrineOS Does, On Your Own Server

CitrineOS runs in full here — the same OCPP central-system tooling an EV charging network needs, on infrastructure you control.

Speaks OCPP 1.6, 2.0.1 And 2.1
Connect charging stations to a dedicated wss:// address using whichever OCPP version your hardware supports.
REST API With Swagger Docs
A documented REST API at /docs, gated by a generated Basic Auth login, so you can inspect and drive the station fleet directly.
Per-Station Passwords
Each station authenticates with its own ID and password; an unknown station is refused.
Database And Broker Included
The server, a PostGIS database and a RabbitMQ broker run together in one install, with no separate services to provision.
Basic Auth In Front Of The API
An nginx gateway protects the whole API domain, including the Swagger page, because upstream ships with a local bypass that accepts every request as an administrator.
Restart-Safe Station And Transaction Data
Station and transaction data live on named volumes and survive an xCloud Restart.

Everything You Need To Run Your EV Charging Backend 24/7

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

CitrineOS 2.0.1 deployed instantly
PostGIS database and RabbitMQ broker included
Password-protected REST API and station WebSocket
Per-station authentication
Free SSL certificate
Server backups and snapshots
Server security updates included
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With CitrineOS

Run the backend for a small charging network
Connect your own chargers over OCPP and keep stations, sessions and tariffs in a PostGIS database on a server you control.
Test OCPP 2.1 equipment
Point test chargers at the station WebSocket, using OCPP 1.6, 2.0.1 or 2.1, and inspect messages and stored data through the REST API.
Script tariffs and authorisations
Use the REST API and its Swagger documentation to create and read records from your own tools, behind the Basic Auth gateway.
Keep charging data in-house
Hold transaction records on your own Cloud VPS instead of a third-party platform, with a database volume you back up yourself.

CitrineOS vs Alternatives

ChargePoint: If your charging network runs on a hosted platform such as ChargePoint, CitrineOS is the self-hosted route: stations connect over OCPP to a server and database you control.
Monta: If you manage chargers through Monta, CitrineOS is an open-source alternative you operate yourself, with a REST API and Swagger page on a server you run.
SteVe: SteVe has no OneClick page here. CitrineOS's template speaks OCPP 1.6, 2.0.1 and 2.1 and includes PostGIS, RabbitMQ and an authentication gateway, but no operator dashboard.
EVerest: EVerest has no OneClick page here. CitrineOS is the central system side of a charging network: a server that charging stations connect to over OCPP 1.6, 2.0.1 or 2.1.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

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

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

More stations, more transaction history.

$59.99per month

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

Get started

Cloud VPS 24 GB

CitrineOS alongside a whole self-hosted stack.

$84.99per month

24 GB RAM
8 vCPU cores
300 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. CitrineOS itself is free and open source under the Apache License 2.0.

Docker hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy CitrineOS on it through the same panel, for a per-server management fee instead of a Cloud VPS rental.

Free

Start your journey without cost.

$0forever

1 server
10 sites

Start free

Starter

Professional

The same platform, discounted at 6–10 servers.

$4per server / month

6–10 servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

Get started

Agency

The same platform, discounted at 11+ servers.

$3per server / month

11+ servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

Get started

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 Own Your Charging Network?

CitrineOS 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.

What is CitrineOS used for?

CitrineOS is used to run the central system for EV charging stations. Chargers connect to it over OCPP, and it records stations, locations, transactions, tariffs and authorisations, exposing them through a REST API with Swagger documentation. It suits operators who want to own the software behind their charging network.

Is CitrineOS free and open source?

Yes. CitrineOS is open source under the Apache License 2.0, and the central system itself costs nothing. xCloud bills for the Cloud VPS that carries the server, PostGIS and RabbitMQ, and for the deployment. Charging hardware, payment providers and certificate authorities you add are separate.

Can you self-host CitrineOS with Docker?

Yes. For CitrineOS Docker hosting the template runs the citrineos-server v2.0.1 image, PostGIS, RabbitMQ and an nginx gateway, all pinned by digest, with two named volumes. It generates the gateway, database and broker passwords, and the database migrations run when the server starts.

How much RAM does CitrineOS need?

The manifest floor for CitrineOS is 512 MB of RAM with a single core and 5 GB of disk, across four containers. The first start applies database migrations and can take a few minutes. The 6 GB tier on this page leaves room as the number of stations and stored transactions grows.

Which OCPP versions does CitrineOS support?

The server speaks OCPP 1.6, 2.0.1 and 2.1 over WebSocket to charging stations. This template exposes the station endpoint with security profile 1, which means basic authentication and registered stations only. The unauthenticated profile 0 port and the TLS profiles 2 and 3 are deliberately not published.

How do I connect a charging station to CitrineOS?

Register the station first over SSH with the register-station command and its ID, which prints a password if you do not give one. Then point the station at wss:// on your charging stations domain followed by its ID, using the ID as username and that password. Unregistered stations get a 404 and wrong passwords a 401.

How do I sign in to the CitrineOS API?

Open the API address and sign in with the username citrineos and the generated API password from your credentials. Upstream ships with a local bypass that accepts every request as an administrator, so the template keeps it and puts an nginx Basic Auth gateway in front of the whole API domain, including the /docs page.

How do I back up CitrineOS?

Back up the ocpp_db_data volume, which holds the PostgreSQL database with stations, locations, transactions, tariffs, authorisations and the device model. The amqp_data volume holds RabbitMQ data and the broker account. CitrineOS keeps no other state. Keep copies off-server and test a restore.

Backups in xCloud

How do I upgrade CitrineOS?

Version v2.0.1 and its companion images stay pinned by digest, so a template change never alters a running install. When xCloud publishes a newer CitrineOS template version, back up both volumes, read the upstream release notes, and adopt that template version. Pending migrations run before the server starts.

Is there an operator dashboard?

Not in this template. The published dashboard image has its GraphQL address compiled in at build time, and Hasura's stock configuration has no admin secret, so both are left out. You work through the REST API and its Swagger page. OCPI is not included either. Check upstream before promising a dashboard.

Can I run CitrineOS in the cloud on xCloud?

Yes. CitrineOS cloud use starts with a dedicated Cloud VPS holding the server, database and broker, with two domains and certificates attached, one for the API and one for stations. A server rented from another provider can join as self-managed with the same template.

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.