OpenResty Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Deploy OpenResty on xCloud and get OpenResty hosting for nginx with LuaJIT on your own domain. xCloud runs the pinned official alpine image as one container, publishes it over HTTPS and keeps your server configuration and web root on two persistent volumes. It ships the stock welcome page, and you supply the configuration, Lua code and content that turn it into your own web server or gateway.

Deploy your OpenResty

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

What is OpenResty?

OpenResty is a scriptable web platform: upstream describes a full-fledged web application server that bundles the standard nginx core, many third-party nginx modules and their dependencies, with LuaJIT for scripting. A self-hosted OpenResty suits custom web servers, API gateways and dynamic web apps whose behaviour you describe in nginx configuration and Lua, much as you might otherwise rely on a hosted service such as Amazon API Gateway. The bundle uses the 2-clause BSD licence.

On xCloud the install is OpenResty 1.27.1.2 from the official alpine image, pinned by digest, as a single container with no database. Two volumes hold everything you change: openresty_conf for server blocks in /etc/nginx/conf.d and openresty_html for the web root. There is no admin interface and no sign-in; you edit files, test, and reload.

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

An OpenResty server normally means a container, mounted configuration and web-root folders, a reverse proxy, a domain and a certificate before the first request. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account and pick OpenResty from the OneClick catalog. Choose your domain and target server — there are no extra fields to fill in and no credentials to generate.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We bring up the official OpenResty alpine image, pinned by immutable digest, as a single container with no other services, mount the openresty_html and openresty_conf volumes, and publish it over HTTPS on your domain. It is usually ready within a few seconds.
Step 03
Confirm And Configure
Open your HTTPS URL and confirm the stock "Welcome to OpenResty!" page. Over SSH, edit /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf in the container, run openresty -t, then openresty -s reload, and copy your content into the web root with docker cp.

Everything OpenResty Does, On Your Own Server

OpenResty runs in full here: nginx with LuaJIT on your own domain, configured through files that live on persistent volumes.

nginx With LuaJIT
OpenResty bundles nginx with LuaJIT for custom web servers, API gateways and dynamic web apps.
Lua Content Handlers
LuaJIT is built in; in QA a content_by_lua_block handler executed and was still served after a container restart.
Reload Without Downtime
Test your configuration with openresty -t and apply it with openresty -s reload.
Persistent Config And Web Root
Server blocks in /etc/nginx/conf.d and the web root live on named volumes that survive an xCloud Restart.
A Single Lightweight Container
One container with a 128 MB RAM minimum and about 3 MB measured idle on QA.
Malformed Requests Rejected
In QA, malformed requests returned 4xx responses rather than server errors.

Everything You Need To Run Your Lua Web Server 24/7

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

OpenResty 1.27.1.2 deployed instantly
Official alpine image pinned by digest
nginx with LuaJIT built in
Persistent config and web root
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 OpenResty

Build a custom web server
Write server blocks in /etc/nginx/conf.d and serve your own content from the persistent web root, with HTTPS already terminated on your domain.
Run an API gateway in Lua
Use Lua in your configuration to decide how each request is handled, such as checking or rewriting it, before it reaches your backend services.
Serve dynamic responses from Lua
Return a response straight from a content_by_lua_block handler, as the QA run did, without running a separate application server for small endpoints.
Add auth in front of private content
Protect anything private with auth_basic or your own Lua access checks, because the stock server is open to anyone who can reach the domain.

OpenResty vs Alternatives

Amazon API Gateway: Amazon API Gateway is a hosted gateway service. As an alternative, OpenResty is software you run on your own server, and you write the gateway behaviour yourself in nginx configuration and Lua.
nginx: In an OpenResty vs nginx comparison, stock nginx is configured only through its configuration language; OpenResty bundles nginx with LuaJIT so requests can also be handled in Lua.
Kong: Kong has its own OneClick page. It is an API gateway you operate through its own admin interface, while OpenResty has no admin interface and you configure it by editing files.
An application server behind a proxy: A Node.js or Python service behind a proxy runs your logic in a separate process; OpenResty can run it inside the web server in Lua.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

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

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

More headroom if OpenResty fronts several busy services.

$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. OpenResty itself is licensed by its maintainers under BSD-2-Clause.

Docker hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy OpenResty 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

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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 Lua Web Server?

OpenResty 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.

Hear what people are saying about us

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

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Frequently Asked Questions

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

Can you self-host OpenResty with Docker?

Yes, and this template is OpenResty Docker hosting without the setup. Upstream maintains a docker-openresty image; here xCloud runs the pinned alpine image as one container, adds two named volumes for configuration and web root, and publishes it over HTTPS on your domain.

How much RAM does OpenResty need?

The template asks for 128 MB of RAM, 1 CPU core and 1 GB of disk, and measured idle use in QA was about 3 MB. The 6 GB plan is the entry rung here, which leaves ample room for Lua workloads and any other apps on the server.

How do I change the OpenResty configuration?

There is no admin panel. Edit /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf in the container, for example with docker exec, run openresty -t to test it, then openresty -s reload to apply it without downtime. Copy content into the web root with docker cp.

Is OpenResty private by default?

No. Anyone who can reach the domain can read what it serves, and there is no sign-in in front of it. Add auth_basic or Lua access checks to the configuration, or put Basic Auth in front of the site, before serving anything private.

Can I run Lua code in OpenResty?

Yes. LuaJIT is built in, and QA confirmed that a content_by_lua_block handler ran. Environment variables are not expanded in nginx configuration, so Lua code that reads one needs an env directive in a *.main file in the same folder.

Why might the OpenResty container show as unhealthy?

The health check requests / on port 80 and expects a 200 answer. If your configuration makes / return anything else, the container is flagged unhealthy even though it keeps serving, so keep a location that answers / with 200 or accept the warning.

What runs alongside OpenResty?

Nothing. It is a single container with no database, cache or other service, and it reads no environment variables. Logs go to the container's stdout and stderr, and the stock server leaves nginx's 1 MB request-body default in place for handlers you add.

What should I back up on an OpenResty server?

Back up the openresty_conf volume, which holds your server blocks, and the openresty_html volume, which holds the web root. Together they hold everything you change, and the template has no other state, so restoring both brings the site back.

Backups in xCloud

How do I upgrade OpenResty?

The install stays on its pinned 1.27.1.2 image until a newer template version is adopted. Copy both volumes beforehand and read the release notes. Your volumes are kept on a redeploy and existing configuration is not rewritten, so review it against the new build.

Is OpenResty free?

Yes. Upstream says the OpenResty bundle is licensed under the 2-clause BSD licence. The cost here is the dedicated Cloud VPS only, and nothing in this template is metered per request, so a busy gateway costs the same as an idle one.

Is this OpenResty cloud hosting?

In the sense that it runs on a Cloud VPS you control, yes. xCloud provisions the server and deploys the container, but the configuration, Lua code and content on the volumes are yours, and nothing sits in a vendor's account.

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.