Hosted UniFi OS Server: What It Is, and Whether You Can Pay Someone to Run It
UniFi OS Server is Ubiquiti's self-hostable version of UniFi OS. It is free, it runs on ordinary Linux or Windows servers, and you can run it yourself or pay a hosting company to run it for you. This page explains what it is, what changes compared with the old UniFi Network Application, and how hosted UniFi OS Server works in practice.
The short answer
UniFi OS Server is free software from Ubiquiti that you install on your own server. It gives you the UniFi OS interface, the Network application, and remote access through your Ubiquiti account, on hardware you choose instead of a Cloud Key or Dream Machine.
Yes, a hosting company can run it for you. Ubiquiti's help centre describes UniFi OS Server as license-free and available to all UniFi users, and Ubiquiti's own launch material presents it as something managed service providers can run to serve many customer sites. There is no license key, no device-count license tier, and no activation fee. What you pay a host for is the server, the network, the backups and the support, never the software licence itself.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. When you run UniFi OS Server, you accept Ubiquiti's terms for it directly, normally during first-time setup. A host provisions and maintains the machine; you remain the person who agreed to Ubiquiti's terms and the person whose Ubiquiti account is linked. Any host that tells you they are licensing the software to you has it backwards.
What changes compared with the UniFi Network Application
The old model was a Java application you installed on a server, reached on port 8443, with its own local administrator accounts. UniFi OS Server replaces that with the same UniFi OS layer that runs on a Dream Machine.
| UniFi Network Application | UniFi OS Server | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The Network app on its own | UniFi OS, with Network inside it |
| How you reach it | https://host:8443 |
https://host:11443 by default; with us, https://host on standard HTTPS |
| Accounts | Local admins, with optional Ubiquiti account linking | UniFi OS users, with Ubiquiti account linking |
| Remote access | Through the Network app's cloud access setting | Through UniFi OS remote access and unifi.ui.com |
| Updates | You update the application | UniFi OS manages its own updates |
| Other UniFi apps | Not available | Identity runs alongside Network; Protect, Talk and Access appear but need Ubiquiti hardware |
What you actually get from a hosted one
With us, a hosted UniFi OS Server means:
- A private server, not a shared tenant. Your system runs in its own isolated instance with its own resources, on dedicated bare-metal hardware we operate ourselves rather than a VPS rented from a cloud provider.
- Nightly encrypted backups, copied to two independent offsite storage providers with one copy immutable for 30 days, plus the backups UniFi OS takes itself.
- A hostname and certificate, so you reach it over normal HTTPS with no port number and no certificate warnings.
- Device capacity by plan, from 100 devices on our $15 entry plan up to 2,000, and higher on custom plans.
- A region. Canada, the US, France, Germany, the UK or Australia today, so European and Australian customers are hosted near their sites, with other OVHcloud locations such as Singapore and Mumbai available on request.
- Someone to contact. The part you cannot get from a VPS.
Things worth knowing before you commit:
- Remote access and the mobile app depend on Ubiquiti. They work through your Ubiquiti account, and Ubiquiti controls whether those cloud features are available. That is true of any UniFi OS Server, self-hosted or hosted.
- UniFi OS manages its own updates. You have less control over version timing than you did with the Network application, where a host could hold a release back.
- Your owner account should be linked to a Ubiquiti account. A purely local owner can log in locally but cannot use Ubiquiti's single sign-on or remote access, which surprises people later.
Should you host it yourself instead?
Often, yes. Be honest about which case you are in.
Self-host when you already run servers, you want the cheapest possible option, your sites are all on one network, and an outage at 2am is something you are willing to handle. A small VPS and an afternoon will get you there, and the software costs nothing.
Pay a host when the controller matters to a business that is not yours, when you manage client sites and need them reachable from anywhere, when you want backups you did not have to design, or when the cost of your own time exceeds the monthly fee. Most of our customers are IT providers who reached that conclusion after running their own for a while.
There is no license-based reason to choose one over the other. The software is free in both cases.
Frequently asked
Does UniFi OS Server cost anything? No. Ubiquiti provides it free. Hosting it costs money because servers and support cost money.
Can I move my existing controller to it? Yes. See migrating a UniFi Network Application to UniFi OS Server, which covers the device re-adoption step that catches people out.
Do my devices need to be on the same network? No. Devices reach the controller over the internet, which is the entire point of hosting one.
Can I use my own domain? Yes. Every plan includes one custom domain, plans P75 and above allow several, and the certificate is handled for you.
What happens if Ubiquiti changes the software? They can, and they do. Updates arrive through UniFi OS. This is the main thing you give up relative to the older application, and it applies to every UniFi OS Server everywhere.
What it costs, and how hosts compare:
How Much Does It Cost to Run a UniFi Controller?cloudunifi.com/guides/unifi-controller-hosting-cost/ UniFi Controller Hosting Compared: Cloud UniFi, HostiFi, UniHosted and Ubiquiti's Own Hostingcloudunifi.com/guides/unifi-hosting-comparison/
UniFi, UniFi OS and UISP are trademarks of Ubiquiti Inc. Cloud UniFi is an independent hosting provider and is not affiliated with, authorised by or endorsed by Ubiquiti Inc. Details about Ubiquiti's software reflect what Ubiquiti published as of September 2026; check their documentation for current information.