nforwardauth Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Deploy nforwardauth hosting and put one shared sign-in in front of the self-hosted sites you run. xCloud runs the pinned nforwardauth v1.5.1 image as a single stateless container, takes the username you choose, generates a 32-character password and a cookie signing secret and publishes the login page over HTTPS in minutes. Each site you want protected must be told to ask it first.

Deploy your nforwardauth

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

What is nforwardauth?

nforwardauth is an extremely lightweight forward-auth service that lets you use a single authentication middleware for all your sites. Reverse proxies such as Traefik, Caddy and nginx forward each request to it, and visitors without a valid login cookie are sent to its login page and returned afterwards. Run on your own server it is a self-hosted nforwardauth, a simple alternative to a hosted access gateway such as Cloudflare Access or Okta, with the code under the MIT licence.

On xCloud it is nforwardauth v1.5.1 as a single stateless container with the upstream image pinned by digest, and it has no volume. It supports one account only. By itself it is only a login and logout page; it protects another site only once that site's reverse proxy is set to call it, and the sites must share a parent domain with the cookie.

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

A forward-auth setup normally means the auth service, a credentials file, a signing secret, a domain, a certificate and proxy rules before the first protected page. This is the same result without assembling the service itself.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account and pick nforwardauth from the OneClick catalog. Choose a domain and target server and enter the username for the one account.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We start nosduco/nforwardauth v1.5.1, pinned by digest, write the credentials file from your username and a generated password, set the cookie signing secret and publish the login page over HTTPS. It is ready in about 15 seconds.
Step 03
Protect A Site
Sign in at the login address. Then add the auth request lines from the post-install notes to the custom Nginx configuration of each site you want protected, and set COOKIE_DOMAIN to the parent domain they share.

Everything nforwardauth Does, On Your Own Server

nforwardauth v1.5.1 runs here as a login page and check endpoint, with no database to look after.

One Login For Many Sites
A reverse proxy asks nforwardauth whether a request carries a valid login cookie and sends visitors without one to the login page.
Works With Your Proxy
It is meant for reverse proxies such as Traefik, Caddy and nginx, which call its check endpoints.
Nothing Wired In For You
It protects another site only after that site's proxy is configured to ask it. Nothing is connected automatically.
Shared Parent Domain
Protected sites must share the parent domain set in COOKIE_DOMAIN, or the cookie is not sent and visitors loop back to login.
One Account
It supports a single username and password, stored as a hash that is rewritten on every start.
Rate-Limited Logins
Failed sign-ins are throttled per visitor address, and the cookie is Secure, so keep the domain on HTTPS.

Everything You Need To Run Your Forward Auth 24/7

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

nforwardauth v1.5.1 deployed instantly
Image pinned by digest
Password and signing secret generated
Free SSL certificate
Server backups and snapshots
Server security updates included
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With nforwardauth

Protect self-hosted tools with one login
Put a single sign-in in front of several internal web tools instead of separate passwords.
Replace Basic Authentication
Offer a friendlier login page than a browser's Basic Authentication prompt.
Gate a dashboard or homepage
Keep a personal dashboard behind one cookie-based login shared across subdomains.
Keep it small
Run a tiny auth service with no database and a single credentials file.

nforwardauth vs Alternatives

Cloudflare Access: A hosted zero-trust access gateway; nforwardauth is a small, self-hosted alternative to Cloudflare Access and to Okta for a single shared login.
Authelia: A self-hosted two-factor and single sign-on portal, available as its own OneClick app.
Tinyauth: A simple self-hosted authentication proxy, available as its own OneClick app.
Keycloak: Identity and access management with single sign-on, available as its own OneClick app.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

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

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

Headroom if nforwardauth shares the server with other 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. nforwardauth is MIT licensed.

Docker hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy nforwardauth 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 Run Your Own Forward Auth Service?

nforwardauth on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Deploy faster. Own your data. 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.

Hear what people are saying about us

See why agencies, developers, startups, and growing businesses choose xCloud to power their projects.

xCloud works really well, I am surprised by its performance being this the release version, I have tried many paid platforms such as runcloud, cloudpages or serveravatar, as well as free platforms such as CyberPanel, CloudPanel or Hestia Control Panel and direct competitors such as SpinupWP and FlyWP. Of all those that I have tried, the platform that works best for WordPress is SpinupWP and I believe that xCloud can reach and surpass that development, its roadmap is promising. Congratulations to the xCloud team, I hope they become the leading platform in the segment, it has all the potential to achieve it!

Brian Geovanny

I've been with runcloud for the last 3 years. However, after trying xcloud for the last month, I'm switching over. They are on a roll with their setup.

Kevin Pineda

I'm moving my servers to xCloud, a cloud control panel by M Asif Rahman and the WPDeveloper team. Their roadmap looks interesting and no, there are no team mates nor API limits with xCloud! #xCloud #wordpress #hosting

Leo Koo

How Cloud Nine Web Elevated Client Experience While Streamlining Hosting Operations using xCloud

Ed Ellingham

xCloud is like having an expert server team on call — without the big agency costs. It's given me back my time and given my clients peace of mind. Highly recommended for freelancers and small teams who want reliable performance and security.

Dumitru Butucel

xCloud isn't just a solution. It's like one of that friend who got your back when you screw things up pretty bad.

Waqar Ahmed

Trust me when I say, once people explore the potential of xCloud they gonna switch from other panels, just keep delivering the best tech, lots of love for the team 😍😍

Rahul Singh

So far my experience has been smooth like silk. I didn't imagine that configuring and managing a VPS would be so easy. As of today, I have deployed 8 sites. The support is good, and they treat users with respect, even if they ask stupid questions (myself included). For the future, I hope for greater flexibility in scheduled backups and more comprehensive and consistent documentation. I'm sure that within a few months, xCloud will become the leader in its segment. This community is amazing, and the Staff here is super helpful.

Massimo Villa

Came from cloudways then to runcloud then to xcloud. Looks like I'm staying here.

Gerson El

I've recently taken all of my Vultr-hosted sites and gotten rid of cPanel for them to substitute it with xCloud. I have to say, I'm really impressed with xCloud so far! The interface is definitely the standout feature for me.

Tony Lewis

I came from Cloudways and won't go back. Highly impressed with xCloud. Glad I gave them a chance.

Jared McDowell

I like xCloud better than RunCloud, but one thing I'll point out is that some years ago RunCloud was hungry for business, the support was outstanding, and the community was active and helped each other. Maybe it was sold, there was a change in management, or they stopped being hungry, but the quality of the RunCloud offering declined and it hasn't been moving forward quickly. My point is that currently the xCloud team has the edge and it is theirs to keep or lose

David McCan

How Kevin Heinrichs Cut Hosting Costs by 84% While Running WooCommerce & Node.js Sites Efficiently

Kevin Heinrichs

I had 150 sites on cloudways and am in the process of moving them to xcloud. Much faster and better priced.

Dan Spinoza

Dear xCloud Team, I have been using xCloud for some time now and am genuinely impressed with its capabilities and the flexibility it offers by allowing users to bring their own VPS for management. It's a fantastic service, and my experience so far has been very positive. Successful migrated 5 sites on a single server. Xcloud migration tool worked great. There were few hiccups with security plugin like MalCare but disabling the plugin prior to migration worked just fine.

Rahil Maknojia

Came from runcloud. Tried xcloud and never came back.

Karl Fanega

How Advanced Web Strategies Saved Over $2,000 & Recovered 56 Hours per Month Managing 70+ Client Websites

Gary Moody

xCloud gave me what no other hosting platform could: the flexibility of a VPS with the convenience of managed WordPress. As a solo founder running an entire business on one server, that combination is an important unfair advantage.

Jorge de los Reyes Martínez

I use Server Avatar and xCloud and I'll sooner use xCloud than Server Avatar personally.

Jay Pagano

How Newman Web Solutions Ensured Perfect Uptime and Seamless Scaling For 120+ WordPress Sites with xCloud

Lori Newman

I too have moved over to xCloud. It's pretty sweet. One click n8n and uptime Kuma apps

John Aperture

I went from Cloudways to xCloud. No intention on switching in the foreseeable future.

Blaine Moore

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Can I run nforwardauth in Docker?

Yes, and this template is nforwardauth Docker hosting without the setup: the upstream nosduco/nforwardauth v1.5.1 image pinned by digest, as a single stateless container with a generated password, a signing secret for the login cookie and HTTPS on your own domain.

How much RAM does nforwardauth need?

The template minimum is 128 MB of RAM, 1 CPU core and 1 GB of disk. It is a small Rust service with no database. This page sells the 6 GB tier as the entry rung, which is far more than it uses.

How do I protect a site with nforwardauth?

Add an auth request to that site's custom Nginx configuration that points at your nforwardauth domain's check endpoint, and redirect a 401 to its login page. Traefik and Caddy forward-auth point at the same host, as upstream's examples show.

Does nforwardauth protect my other sites automatically?

No. By itself it is only a login and logout page. A site is protected only after its own reverse proxy is configured to ask nforwardauth first, so nothing is wired into your other sites for you.

Why does my site loop back to the nforwardauth login page?

Protected sites must share the parent domain set in COOKIE_DOMAIN, such as example.com for app.example.com and auth.example.com. Otherwise the browser never sends the login cookie. Set COOKIE_DOMAIN in the Environment editor and redeploy, then sign in again, since the old cookie no longer matches.

Does nforwardauth support multiple users or two-factor login?

Not in this template. It writes one username and password, stored as a hash, and uses one cookie domain. There is no two-factor sign-in or single sign-on across different parent domains. Choose another tool if you need those.

Is nforwardauth free?

Yes. nforwardauth is open source under the MIT licence, so the software has no fee. What you pay for is the dedicated Cloud VPS running it. That makes it an nforwardauth cloud of your own.

How do I back up nforwardauth?

There is no data volume, so there is no volume backup to take. All state is the environment file, so keep a safe copy of ADMIN_PASSWORD and TOKEN_SECRET. Nothing schedules that copy, so store them yourself.

Backup and restore Docker apps

How do I upgrade nforwardauth?

The install stays on its pinned v1.5.1 image until you adopt a newer template version. Keep your ADMIN_PASSWORD and TOKEN_SECRET and read the upstream release notes first. Nothing upgrades automatically, and no data is lost, because none is stored.

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.