Self-hosting Grafana the easy way
Yulei ChenGrafana is the go-to open-source platform for dashboards, metrics, and logs. Grafana Cloud is convenient, but the pricing can add up fast once your team or data grows.
Sliplane is a managed container platform that makes self-hosting painless. With one-click deployment, you can get Grafana up and running in minutes — no server setup, no reverse proxy config, no infrastructure to maintain.
If you'd rather go the manual route, check out self-hosting Grafana on a Hetzner Ubuntu server — it walks through the full Docker + Caddy setup step by step.
Prerequisites
Before deploying, ensure you have a Sliplane account (free trial available).
Quick start
Sliplane provides one-click deployment with presets.
Deploy Grafana >- Click the deploy button above
- Select a project
- Select a server. If you just signed up you get a 48-hour free trial server
- Click Deploy!
If you prefer a video guide, just watch this:
About the preset
The one-click deploy above uses Sliplane’s Grafana preset. The preset is built for a clean, stable default setup:
- Grafana OSS image (
grafana/grafana) instead of enterprise image - Ubuntu-based image
- Specific version tag for stability
- Persistent storage mounted to
/var/lib/grafana
Next steps
Once Grafana is running on Sliplane, access it using the domain Sliplane provided (e.g. grafana-xxxx.sliplane.app). From there, you can customize the setup further.
Default paths
Grafana ships with default paths inside the container. These are useful to know if you want to mount custom config files or check where data lives:
| Setting | Default value |
|---|---|
GF_PATHS_CONFIG | /etc/grafana/grafana.ini |
GF_PATHS_DATA | /var/lib/grafana |
GF_PATHS_HOME | /usr/share/grafana |
GF_PATHS_LOGS | /var/log/grafana |
GF_PATHS_PLUGINS | /var/lib/grafana/plugins |
GF_PATHS_PROVISIONING | /etc/grafana/provisioning |
Installing plugins
You can install Grafana plugins by setting the GF_PLUGINS_PREINSTALL environment variable. Grafana will download and install them on startup — no custom Dockerfile needed.
| Setting | Example |
|---|---|
GF_PLUGINS_PREINSTALL | grafana-clock-panel, grafana-simple-json-datasource |
You can also pin a version (grafana-clock-panel@1.0.1) or install from a custom URL (custom-plugin@@https://example.com/plugin.zip). See the plugin install docs for the full syntax.
Logging
By default, Docker container logs go to STDOUT — this is standard practice in the Docker world and works well with Sliplane's built-in log viewer. If you need logs written elsewhere, set GF_LOG_MODE to console, file, or syslog. You can also combine modes (e.g. console file to log to both).
| Setting | Example |
|---|---|
GF_LOG_MODE | console file |
See the Grafana Docker logging docs for details. For general Docker log tips, check out our post on how to use Docker logs.
Troubleshooting
Grafana's default log level is INFO. When you need to reproduce a problem, bump it to DEBUG by setting the GF_LOG_LEVEL environment variable — this gives you much more detail on what Grafana is doing under the hood.
| Setting | Example |
|---|---|
GF_LOG_LEVEL | debug |
See the troubleshooting docs for details.
Cost comparison
Of course you can also self-host Grafana with other cloud providers. Here is a pricing comparison for the most common ones:
| Provider | vCPU Cores | RAM | Disk | Estimated Monthly Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sliplane | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | €9 | charge per server |
| Render | 1 | 2 GB | 40 GB | ~$35–$45 | VM Small |
| Fly.io | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | ~$20–$25 | VM + volume |
| Railway | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | ~$15–$66 | Usage-based |
FAQ
Is Grafana OSS enough for most teams?
Yes. Grafana OSS covers dashboards, alerting, and data sources. Enterprise adds premium plugins and support, but most teams start with OSS and upgrade only if needed. For a deeper comparison, see Grafana Cloud vs Grafana OSS.
How do I install plugins from a custom URL?
Set the GF_PLUGINS_PREINSTALL environment variable with this format: <plugin ID>@[<plugin version>]@<url to plugin zip>, then redeploy. The Grafana plugin install docs cover the full syntax and examples.
How do I update Grafana?
Change the image tag in your service settings and redeploy. Check Docker Hub for the latest stable version.
Are there alternatives to Grafana?
Yes, popular options include Metabase (great for SQL-based business analytics), Kibana (tightly integrated with Elasticsearch), and Prometheus (metrics-focused, often paired with Grafana). There are also newer tools like Netdata and Signoz. Check out our blog post 5 Awesome Alternatives to Grafana for a full comparison.
