Grist Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Grist hosting on xCloud gives you a self-hosted relational spreadsheet on your own domain. Deploy Grist Community edition and xCloud runs the pinned official image as one container, generates the boot key and session secret, publishes it over HTTPS, and keeps documents and attachments on one persistent volume. Open the site to start a document, then add an authentication provider before you share it, because Grist Core has no built-in login.

Deploy your Grist

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

What is Grist?

Self-hosted Grist is a relational spreadsheet, a hybrid of a spreadsheet and a database. Upstream says its columns hold one kind of data as in a database and can be filled by formula, with Python formulas, references, forms, dashboards, attachments and a REST API included. Documents are SQLite-based files. It is licensed Apache-2.0, and upstream says people coming from Airtable will find the model familiar.

On xCloud the template runs gristlabs/grist 1.7.18, pinned by digest, as a single container on the SQLite baseline with the Pyodide formula sandbox. The grist_data volume holds the instance database, documents, attachments and snapshots. xCloud generates a boot key for the admin page and a session secret. Grist Core has no built-in login, so add one before sharing.

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

Self-hosting Grist normally means a container, generated secrets, a domain and a certificate before you build a single document. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account and pick Grist from the OneClick catalog. Enter a site title and domain — there are no app-specific customer secrets to fill in.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We generate separate boot and session secrets, bring up the pinned Grist Core 1.7.18 image, and publish it over HTTPS on your domain.
Step 03
Complete Setup And Secure It
Open /admin with the boot key xCloud shows you, confirm your administrator email and public base URL, then configure a real authentication provider before you share the instance, because Grist Core has no built-in login.

An Airtable Alternative: Everything Grist Does

Grist Community edition runs in full here — spreadsheet editing with database structure underneath, on infrastructure you control instead of Grist's hosted SaaS.

Database-Style Columns
Model structured records with named columns that each hold one kind of data, and link tables with references and two-way references.
Formulas And Views
Calculate with formulas and build filtered views over the same data — handled inside Grist itself, with no second service to run.
Forms
Collect structured input straight into your document with built-in forms, no external form tool or integration required.
Dashboards
Lay out charts, card views and a calendar widget over your own records, and link the widgets so selecting a record filters the rest.
A REST API
Automate and integrate through Grist's REST API, served from your own domain over HTTPS alongside the web interface.
The Portable Pyodide Sandbox
The template runs Grist's Python formulas in the Wasm-based Pyodide sandbox rather than a privileged mode — keep it selected on the admin page.

Everything You Need To Run Your Spreadsheet Platform 24/7

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

Grist Core 1.7.18 deployed instantly
Official pinned image digest
Generated boot and session secrets
App origin bound to localhost
Free SSL certificate
Server backups and snapshots
Server security updates included
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With Grist

Track data with columns that mean something
A team builds tables whose columns hold one kind of data and reference each other, so a project, its tasks and its owners stay linked.
Calculate with Python formulas
An analyst fills columns by formula, using Python syntax and many Excel functions, and sees results update when referenced cells change.
Collect entries with native forms
An admin builds a form that feeds directly into a table, with attachments, hidden fields and values pre-filled from the URL.
Show data on a linked dashboard
A manager lays out charts, card views and a calendar widget, linked so selecting a record filters the others, instead of one crowded table.

Grist vs Alternatives

Airtable: Airtable is a hosted database-spreadsheet service. Looking for a Grist alternative to Airtable? Upstream offers a direct Airtable import, and Grist Community edition runs on a server you control.
Baserow: Baserow is a database app with its own OneClick page. Grist vs Baserow is a choice of model: Grist keeps spreadsheet-style formulas and SQLite-based documents.
Teable: Teable is a database app with its own OneClick page. Grist vs Teable: Grist adds Python formulas, native forms, linked dashboards and a REST API in one Community edition container.
Excel and Google Sheets: Upstream notes the hybrid model can confuse people coming from Excel or Google Sheets. Grist offers Excel and CSV import and export, but each column holds one kind of data.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

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

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

Bigger teams, larger documents and concurrent users.

$59.99per month

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

Get started

Cloud VPS 24 GB

Grist 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. Grist Community edition itself is free under Apache-2.0.

Docker hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy Grist 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 Data?

Grist on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Deploy faster. Own your documents. 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 Grist free and open source?

Yes. This template runs Grist Core, the Community edition, which is Apache-2.0 licensed with no software fee. You pay xCloud for the dedicated Cloud VPS that runs it. Grist Labs' hosted service and the extra features of its paid edition are not part of this template.

Can I run Grist with Docker?

Yes, and this template is Grist Docker hosting without the assembly. It starts the gristlabs/grist 1.7.18 image, pinned by digest, as one container on the SQLite baseline, proxies port 8484 behind HTTPS, and mounts the grist_data volume at /persist.

How much RAM does Grist need?

Grist Core asks for 1 GB of RAM, one core and 5 GB of disk in the manifest. A Grist cloud install on the 6 GB Cloud VPS sold here leaves room for large documents, heavy formulas and attachments. Upstream gives no fixed figure for those workloads.

How do I log in to Grist?

Grist Core has no built-in username and password login, so anyone with the URL can create and edit documents. The boot key only protects the admin page. Before you share the site or store real data, set GRIST_FORCE_LOGIN and configure an OIDC, SAML or forward-auth provider.

Does Grist use Python formulas?

Yes. Upstream says full Python syntax is supported, including the standard library, and many Excel functions are available too. The template runs formulas in the Pyodide sandbox rather than a privileged one, and the REQUEST function is not enabled in this baseline.

Can I import Excel or CSV into Grist?

Yes. Upstream lists import and export for Excel format and CSV, import from Google Drive, a direct import from Airtable and incremental imports that update existing records. Try a small file first, since column types decide how values are read.

Can I limit who sees which rows in Grist?

Upstream lists access control for individual rows, columns and tables, based on cell values and user attributes. Upstream also says you need logins set up to use these options, and Grist Core ships without one, so add an authentication provider first.

How do I back up Grist?

Back up the whole grist_data volume, which holds home.sqlite3, the docs folder, saved instance configuration and attachments. Stop Grist or take an application-aware SQLite snapshot first so the files agree. Single documents export as portable .grist files, but that does not replace a volume backup.

Backups in xCloud

How do I update Grist?

Your install stays on its pinned 1.7.18 version until you adopt a newer template version. Back up the grist_data volume first and read the upstream release and migration notes for every version you skip. Afterwards check the status page, the admin login and a few documents.

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.