Self-hosting Firefox the easy way

Yulei Chen

4 min

Firefox (by jlesage) packages the full Firefox browser inside a Docker container with a web-based GUI. You get a complete desktop browser accessible from any device through your web browser - perfect for private browsing, testing, or accessing services from a fixed IP.

Sliplane makes deploying this setup effortless. With one-click deployment, you get a remote Firefox instance running in minutes - no server configuration, no reverse proxy, no VNC client needed.

Prerequisites

Before deploying, ensure you have a Sliplane account (free trial available).

Quick start

Sliplane provides one-click deployment with presets.

Deploy Firefox >

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!

About the preset

The one-click deploy above uses Sliplane's Firefox preset. Here's what it includes:

jlesage/firefox Docker image with a built-in web UI (noVNC)
Specific version tag (v26.03.1) for stability
Persistent storage mounted to /config for browser profiles, bookmarks, and settings
Default resolution of 1920x1080
Web interface exposed on port 5800 (handled automatically by Sliplane)

The jlesage Firefox image runs Firefox inside a lightweight desktop environment and streams it to your browser via noVNC. No additional software or VNC client is required on your end.

Next steps

Once Firefox is running on Sliplane, open it using the domain Sliplane provided (e.g. firefox-xxxx.sliplane.app). You'll see Firefox running in your browser right away - no login required by default.

Display settings

You can adjust the display resolution by changing these environment variables in your service settings:

Variable	Default	Description
`DISPLAY_WIDTH`	`1920`	Width of the browser window in pixels
`DISPLAY_HEIGHT`	`1080`	Height of the browser window in pixels

Securing access

The Firefox container does not require authentication by default. If you want to restrict access, you can set a password for the web interface by adding these environment variables:

Variable	Description
`VNC_PASSWORD`	Password required to connect to the VNC session
`SECURE_CONNECTION`	Set to `1` to enable HTTPS within the container

Persistent data

All browser data (bookmarks, history, extensions, downloads) is stored in the /config volume. This means your browsing session persists across container restarts and redeployments.

Logging

Container logs go to STDOUT, which works well with Sliplane's built-in log viewer. For more on Docker logging, check out how to use Docker logs.

Cost comparison

You can also self-host Firefox with other cloud providers. Here is a pricing comparison for the most common ones:

Provider	vCPU	RAM	Disk	Monthly Cost	Note
Sliplane	2	2 GB	40 GB	€9 (~$10.65)	Flat rate, 1 TB bandwidth, SSL included
Fly.io	2	2 GB	40 GB	~$18	Disk and bandwidth billed separately
Render	1	2 GB	40 GB	~$35	100 GB bandwidth, Disk billed separately
Railway	2	2 GB	40 GB	~$67 + $20 plan	Pro plan floor, usage-based, bandwidth billed separately

Click here to see how these numbers were calculated.

(Assuming an always-on instance running 730 hrs/month)

Sliplane: flat €9/month for the Base server. Unlimited services on the same server, 1 TB egress and SSL included.
Fly.io: shared-cpu-2x 2 GB = $11.83/mo + 40 GB volume × $0.15/GB = $6 -> ~$17.83/mo. Egress billed separately ($0.02/GB in EU).
Render: closest match is Standard ($25, 1 vCPU / 2 GB) plus 40 GB disk × $0.25/GB = $10 -> ~$35/mo. Stepping up to Pro (2 vCPU / 4 GB) costs $85/mo + disk.
Railway (Pro plan): CPU 2 × $0.00000772/s × 2,628,000 s = $40.57; RAM 2 × $0.00000386/s × 2,628,000 s = $20.29; volume 40 × $0.00000006/s × 2,628,000 s = $6.31 -> ~$67/mo compute, plus the $20/mo Pro plan floor and $0.05/GB egress.

Bandwidth costs can add up fast on usage-based providers. Use our bandwidth cost comparison tool to see what your egress would cost on each platform.

FAQ

What can I use a self-hosted Firefox for?

A remote Firefox instance is useful for private browsing from a fixed server IP, accessing geo-restricted content, testing websites from a different location, or browsing safely in an isolated environment. It's also handy for running browser-based automations on a server.