Deploy and Host self hosted Cap Windows Linux (Self-Hosted Screen Recording for Desktop) on Railway

This template deploys a self-hosted Cap server with a web app, media server, MySQL, and a private Railway Bucket.

About Hosting Cap Windows Linux open-source software on Railway (self hosted self-hosted Cap screen recorder for Windows and Linux desktops template)

This template runs the Cap web app, the media server, MySQL, and a Railway Bucket, so the recordings you make from Cap Desktop on Windows or Linux land on a server and in a bucket you control.

Why Deploy Cap Windows Linux, the Loom alternative on Railway (Railway Free Trial)

Loom's free tier has recording limits and its paid plans are per seat, so costs climb as your team records more.

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it.

By deploying Cap Windows Linux on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.

Railway vs Other Hosting Providers and VPS for Cap Windows Linux self hosting

Cap Windows Linux runs as four parts, so compare what each host gives you for that stack.

Provider	What You Get with Railway	What You Get with the Other Provider
DigitalOcean	One template deploys cap-web, media-server, MySQL and a Railway Bucket with secrets and bucket CORS set.	You build the Compose stack, set WEB_URL and S3 credentials, and manage CORS yourself.
AWS	A Railway Bucket for recordings with the CAP_AWS variables wired straight to cap-web.	Deep S3 and IAM control, but you assemble the Cap stack and desktop uploads yourself.
Hetzner	Managed domain, HTTPS and private networking between cap-web and media-server.	Cheap servers with more RAM per euro, but you install Docker and keep the server URL in sync.

Once the domain is live, Cap Desktop only needs its Cap Server URL pointed at it.

Common Use Cases for hosted Cap Windows Linux

Bug reports and walkthroughs from any desktop: Record a short clip on a Windows or Linux machine and send a link to your own instance instead of paying a per-seat SaaS plan for every person who needs to record.
Async video updates to a private team: Point Cap Desktop at your server URL and share recordings only with people who have accounts on your private team instance.
Recordings driven from scripts or agents: Link the Cap CLI on Linux with the curl install line, then start recordings from a terminal or an automation job.
Every recording and its media in a bucket you control: Uploads go straight to a Railway Bucket you own, so you can see exactly where your videos live and back them up yourself.
Self-hosting the recorder for a team without recording limits or billing: Self-hosted Cap treats every user as Pro, so you skip per-user billing and recording caps entirely.

Dependencies for Cap Windows Linux Docker hosted on Railway

This template runs four parts on Railway: cap-web, media-server, MySQL, and a Railway Bucket. Cap Desktop talks only to cap-web, the one public service.

Deployment Dependencies for Managed Cap Windows Linux Service (Screen Recording)

cap-web: official ghcr.io/capsoftware/cap-web image pinned by digest, public port 3000, health check /api/status, volume at /app/apps/web/.workflow-data.
media-server: official ghcr.io/capsoftware/cap-media-server image, private port 3456, health check /health.
MySQL 8.0.46: pinned by digest, private port 3306, volume at /var/lib/mysql.
Railway Bucket: private S3-compatible storage for recordings, wired through the CAP_AWS variables.

Implementation Details for Cap Windows Linux (Using Cap official docker image)

Set WEB_URL=https://${{RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN}} on cap-web, then paste that domain into Cap Desktop as the Cap Server URL. cap-web sets the bucket CORS rule to allow only WEB_URL on every boot, so a CORS error usually means the origin does not match WEB_URL.

How does Cap Windows Linux compare against other ways to record and share your screen with your own servers and storage

Cap Windows Linux vs Loom (Loom Alternative)

Where Loom wins: Loom is hosted, so there is no server to run and you can start recording in minutes.
Where Cap wins: Cap Desktop uploads to a server URL you set, so recordings stay on infrastructure you control.
Pricing model: Loom uses per-seat plans with recording limits on its free tier, while self-hosted Cap has no 5-minute limit and no billing.

Cap Windows Linux vs ShareX (Free Screen Capture Alternative)

Where ShareX wins: ShareX is free, mature, and very flexible for screenshots and quick captures on Windows.
Where Cap wins: Cap gives you a shareable video page on your own domain, which ShareX does not provide on its own.
Platform reach: Cap Desktop covers Windows (beta) and Linux packages, while ShareX is Windows only.

Cap Windows Linux vs OBS Studio (Open Source Recorder)

Where OBS Studio wins: OBS is a mature recorder for Windows, macOS, and Linux with deep scene and streaming control.
Where Cap wins: Cap handles the upload, the viewer page, and playback for quick async videos, so you skip the manual sharing step.
Cost: Both are free to run, but self-hosted Cap adds a small monthly Railway cost for the server and bucket.

Cap Windows Linux vs Zight (Hosted Screen Recording Tool)

Where Zight wins: Zight is polished, with editing, annotations, and shareable links that work immediately.
Where Cap wins: Cap keeps the whole chain under your control, from the desktop recorder through the server to the bucket holding the media.
Maintenance: Zight needs no upkeep from you, while Cap requires you to back up MySQL and the bucket and keep the server updated.

How to use Cap Windows Linux (the OSS screen recorder)?

Deploy the template and open your cap-web domain. Set WEB_URL to https://${{RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN}} so the app knows its public address.
Enter any email, click Login with email, then open cap-web Deployments, View logs and copy the 6-digit code. It stays valid for 10 minutes.
On Linux, confirm glibc is 2.39 or newer (Ubuntu 24.04 or later), then download the .deb, AppImage, Fedora/RPM or Arch package and install it.
Optional on Linux, link the Cap CLI:

curl -fsSL https://cap.so/install-cli.sh | sh

Open Cap Desktop settings, set Cap Server URL to your domain, then sign in:

https://your-domain

Record a short clip and open https://your-domain/s/ID to confirm playback. A CORS error on upload usually means the bucket rule doesn't match your WEB_URL.

How to self host Cap Windows Linux on other VPS Services (Cap self hosting guide)

Any Linux VPS with Docker works. You'll run cap-web, media-server, MySQL, and an S3-compatible bucket yourself.

Clone the Repository

Clone the full upstream repo, since the compose file builds the media server from source.

git clone https://github.com/CapSoftware/Cap.git
cd Cap

Install Dependencies

Install Docker and the Compose plugin on the host. Open port 3000 or put a reverse proxy in front of it.

Configure Environment Variables

Copy the example env file and set your public address and fresh secrets. The upstream file ships with publicly known values, so replace them.

cp .env.example .env
# set WEB_URL=https://your-domain
# set NEXTAUTH_SECRET and DATABASE_ENCRYPTION_KEY to new random values
# set S3 credentials and S3_PUBLIC_URL for your bucket

Start the Cap Windows Linux Application

Bring the stack up, then confirm cap-web answers on port 3000.

docker compose up -d

Once it is live, set Cap Server URL in Cap Desktop to https://your-domain.

Official Pricing of Cap Windows Linux (Cap pricing)

Cap is free and open source, so there is no Cap license fee to pay for self hosting.

Cap Windows Linux cloud vs self hosted comparison (Pricing, features, costs, and more)

Cap is free to self host, so the real comparison is what you pay Railway and what you give up compared with a hosted plan.

Monthly cost of self hosting Cap Windows Linux on Railway

Expect roughly $10-20 per month for a small team, based on about 850 MB of idle RAM across cap-web, MySQL and media-server.

System Requirements for Hosting Cap Windows Linux on a VPS

Budget about 850 MB of RAM at idle for the three services, and expect the media server to grow during long recordings. Check your glibc version before you pick a package.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do I need the Cap Server URL set before signing in?

Yes, so sign-in goes to your own server.

Why do Cap Desktop uploads fail with a CORS error?

Railway Buckets ship with no CORS rule. cap-web sets one that allows only WEB_URL on every boot, so check that WEB_URL matches the domain you're using and redeploy if you changed it.

Does Linux need glibc 2.39 or newer, and why does Ubuntu 22.04 fail?

Yes. The Linux packages need glibc 2.39 or newer, which means Ubuntu 24.04 or later. Ubuntu 22.04 is not supported, including with the AppImage.

How do I get the login code without SMTP?

Enter any email on the domain and click Login with email. Then open cap-web Deployments, choose View logs, and copy the 6-digit code, which is valid for 10 minutes.

Does self-hosted Cap enforce the 5-minute recording limit?

No. Self-hosted Cap treats every user as Pro, so there is no 5-minute limit and no billing.

What do I back up between MySQL and the bucket?

Back up both. MySQL holds accounts and video metadata, and the bucket holds the recordings themselves. Railway Buckets have no automatic backups yet, so that part is on you.