LIFTBRIDGEMorrow and FeedStash work with servers you run yourself, so your library and your reading stay on hardware you control. This guide helps you pick where that server lives: a computer you already own, or a small server you rent online. Each app’s own setup guide covers the install.
What each app needs
- FeedStash is light: one Docker container that keeps everything in a single database file. Any always-on computer or the smallest VPS plan runs it. FeedStash setup guide.
- Morrow plays from an Audiobookshelf, BookOrbit or Grimmory server, and storage is what matters: an audiobook is usually 500 MB to over 1 GB, so 100 books can take 50 to 120 GB. Morrow’s hosting guide covers audiobook servers in more detail.
At home or rented?
- At home is free if you already have a NAS (Synology, Unraid, TrueNAS), an always-on PC, a mini PC or a Raspberry Pi. Storage is as big as your drives. You handle power, drives and updates, and your home internet’s upload speed limits how fast you can reach it from outside.
- A rented server (VPS) is a small computer in a data center, from a few dollars a month or less with a yearly plan. It’s already on the internet with fast upload, and the host handles the hardware. Storage is fixed by the plan.
Reaching it from anywhere
You have two common choices:
- A private network such as Tailscale, which puts your phone and your server on the same private network. Nothing is opened to the internet. Install it on the server and on each device.
- A reverse proxy with your own domain name, which gives your server a normal
https://address that works anywhere. Popular ones:- Pangolin, which is what we use. It runs on a small rented VPS and reaches your home server through an encrypted tunnel, so you don’t open any ports on your home network. Your data stays at home; the VPS only passes the traffic through.
- Caddy or Nginx Proxy Manager, which run on the server itself. At home, you open a port on your router, so keep the server updated and use a strong password.
A rented server is reachable by its IP address and port (like http://203.0.113.10:8672), but that address has no HTTPS, so your password travels unencrypted. Put a reverse proxy in front of it and you get your own address (like https://feeds.example.com) with HTTPS. Pangolin, Caddy and Nginx Proxy Manager can all run on the same VPS as your app’s server.
What to look for in a VPS
- Memory: 1 GB at least, 2 GB for some room to spare.
- Storage: a few GB is plenty for FeedStash. For an audiobook library, look for “storage VPS” plans, which trade processing power for large disks at a low price.
- Bandwidth: most plans’ monthly limits are far more than one household uses.
- A refund window or monthly billing, so you can try it without a long commitment.
Hosts we use
We use these for our own projects. We haven’t tested every app on every one, but any of them can run these servers.
- Clouvider (commission link, see below). We run our Pangolin server here. A small VPS plan is plenty for Pangolin, or for FeedStash on its own.
- GreenCloud (commission link, see below). We run a small server there for another project. Their “Storage” plans suit an audiobook library: in November 2026 the smallest had 500 GB of disk and 2 GB of memory for $25 a year. Check their site for current plans and prices.
- Oracle Cloud Free Tier. Morrow’s demo server runs here. The free Arm servers are powerful, but free storage is limited, signup can be strict, and you should check the current free limits before you start. No commission.
About the commission links
The Clouvider and GreenCloud links above are referral links. If you buy a plan through one, Liftbridge Labs earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only list hosts we have used, and hosts without a referral program (like Oracle) are listed the same way. Our apps work the same no matter where your server runs.
Questions?
See each app’s setup guide, or get in touch.