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Trilium Notes Hosting on Hostim.dev

Want the Compose file instead? The full self-hosting walkthrough — docker-compose.yml, the data volume, the reverse proxy, and HTTPS — lives in Trilium with Docker Compose. More stacks are in our Docker Compose library.

This page covers the hosted route: no VPS, no proxy, no certificates.

Deploy Trilium Notes on Hostim.dev (One-Click)

Trilium Notes is an open-source, self-hosted note-taking app built for large personal knowledge bases. Notes live in a tree, a note can sit in more than one place at once, and everything is searchable. With Hostim.dev you can deploy Trilium with Docker and a persistent volume in one click – complete with automatic domain and HTTPS.

🌳 Your whole knowledge base in one tree, on your own server.

Try it Yourself

Guest project runs for 1 hour. Log in to save and extend to 5 days.

Set your password first

A fresh Trilium has no password. The setup page is open to anyone who knows the URL until you set one. Open your app right after it deploys and create the admin password before you do anything else.

Why Host Trilium on Hostim.dev?​

  • One-click Docker deployment
  • Persistent volume for notes, attachments, and backups
  • Automatic HTTPS and domain
  • Real-time logs and metrics
  • Fully self-hosted and private

What's included​

ResourceDetails
Apptriliumnext/trilium Docker image
Volume/home/node/trilium-data
DomainFree *.hostim.dev subdomain
SSLLet's Encrypt (auto-enabled)
Port8080
EnvTRILIUM_DATA_DIR, TRILIUM_NETWORK_TRUSTEDREVERSEPROXY (both preset)

How to Deploy​

  1. Go to your Hostim.dev dashboard.
  2. Click Create Project → Use a Template.
  3. Select Trilium Notes.
  4. Choose a resource plan.
  5. Deploy.
  6. Open your app's domain and set the admin password.

Post-Deploy Notes​

Set the password​

Open the app URL. Trilium shows a setup page and asks you to create a document and a password. Do this immediately — before that point, anyone with the URL can claim the instance.

Sync a desktop client​

Trilium's desktop app can sync against your server. In the desktop client choose Sync from server, enter https://your-app.hostim.dev, and use the password you set. The server copy stays the source of truth.

Backups​

Trilium writes automatic backups into the same volume (/home/node/trilium-data/backup). That protects you from a bad edit, not from losing the volume. For real backups, download a copy of the volume, or use Options → Backup in the UI to export.

FAQ​

Where does Trilium store its data?

Everything — the SQLite database, attachments, images, logs, and automatic backups — sits under /home/node/trilium-data. That single volume is the whole instance.

Does Trilium need a database?

No. Trilium uses an embedded SQLite database inside the data volume. There is no PostgreSQL, MySQL, or Redis to run.

How much memory does Trilium need?

It is a Node.js app and idles around 130 MB. The smallest plan is enough for a personal knowledge base.

Why is TRILIUM_NETWORK_TRUSTEDREVERSEPROXY set to uniquelocal?

Your app runs behind the Hostim proxy, so Trilium sees the proxy IP instead of yours. uniquelocal covers the private ranges the proxy sits in (10/8, 172.16/12, 192.168/16), which tells Trilium to read the real client IP from the X-Forwarded-For header. Its rate limiter needs that. If you change it, use an IP, a CIDR, or a named shortcut — a hop count like 1 is accepted but matches nothing.

Can I use the Trilium desktop app with this?

Yes. The desktop client syncs against a server instance. Point it at your Hostim domain and log in with the password you set.

Can I share a single note publicly?

Yes. Trilium has a sharing feature that publishes selected notes at a public URL on the same domain. Everything else stays behind the login.

How do I back up Trilium?

Back up the /home/node/trilium-data volume. Automatic backups inside that volume do not help if the volume itself is gone.

How do I update Trilium?

Docker: docker compose pull && docker compose up -d Hostim.dev: redeploy the app. Trilium migrates its database on start.

Alternatives​

  • BookStack — structured team wiki, shelves and books instead of a tree
  • Memos — lightweight, quick notes rather than a knowledge base
  • Obsidian — local-first, files on disk, sync is a paid add-on
  • Joplin — notebooks and sync, less structure than a note tree

Source + Docs​

Looking for something else? Browse all templates →

Try it now​

Deploy Trilium Now – in less than 60 seconds