Self-Hosting vs. OpenCove: Choosing Your J.A.R.V.I.S. Deployment

J.A.R.V.I.S. is built on a core principle: you should own your data. But ownership comes with responsibility. Should you self-host your agent runtime, or use our managed OpenCove offering?

Here's how to decide.

Self-Hosting: Maximum Control, Maximum Responsibility

What You Get

• Full data ownership: Your knowledge graph, conversation logs, screen captures, and activity data stay on your hardware. No third-party ever sees them.
• Complete transparency: The entire codebase is open source. You can audit every line, modify behavior, and contribute improvements.
• No cloud dependency: J.A.R.V.I.S. runs locally. No internet? No problem (as long as your LLM provider is reachable, or you're running a local model).
• Unlimited customization: Want to integrate with proprietary tools? Add custom workflows? Modify the agent's personality? You have full access to the source.
• Zero recurring fees: You pay for compute (your hardware or your cloud VMs), but there's no subscription to J.A.R.V.I.S. itself.

What You Manage

• Installation & updates: You're responsible for keeping J.A.R.V.I.S. and its dependencies up to date.
• Infrastructure: Provisioning servers, managing uptime, securing access — all on you.
• Backups: Your knowledge graph is valuable. You need to back it up (we provide tools, but you run them).
• Debugging: When something breaks, you're the first line of support (though our community is active on Discord).
• LLM costs: You bring your own LLM API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) or run local models. Those costs are yours to manage.

Who Should Self-Host?

• Privacy-first users: If you're handling sensitive data (legal docs, health records, proprietary research), self-hosting is non-negotiable.
• Developers & tinkerers: You want to modify behavior, integrate with internal tools, or contribute to the project.
• Enterprise teams: You need on-prem deployment, custom compliance workflows, or integration with existing infrastructure.
• AI enthusiasts: You're comfortable with command-line tools, Docker, and troubleshooting.

bun install -g @usejarvis/brain
jarvis init
jarvis start

OpenCove: Managed, Hassle-Free, Always On

What You Get

• Zero setup: Sign up, connect your devices, and you're running. No servers to provision, no dependencies to install.
• Automatic updates: New features, bug fixes, and performance improvements roll out seamlessly.
• Guaranteed uptime: Your agent runs 24/7 on our infrastructure, with monitoring, failover, and backups built in.
• Managed LLM access: We handle provider relationships, rate limits, and failover. You get a single bill, predictable pricing.
• Support: Dedicated support team for troubleshooting, onboarding, and optimization.

What You Trade

• Data lives in the cloud: Your knowledge graph and activity logs are stored on our servers (encrypted at rest, isolated per user, but still ours to secure).
• Less customization: You can't modify core behavior or integrate with arbitrary tools (though we expose APIs and webhooks for extensibility).
• Subscription cost: You pay a monthly fee for hosting, compute, and LLM access. (Self-hosting LLM costs can exceed this, depending on usage.)
• Trust dependency: You trust us to handle your data responsibly, keep the service online, and not misuse access.

Who Should Use OpenCove?

• Non-technical users: You want the benefits of an autonomous agent without the ops overhead.
• Small teams: You need a shared agent runtime but don't have infrastructure resources.
• Mobile-first users: Your primary devices are tablets/phones, where self-hosting is impractical.
• Anyone who values convenience: You'd rather pay for peace of mind than manage servers.

The Hybrid Option: Self-Host Brain, OpenCove Sidecars

You can run the J.A.R.V.I.S. brain (the core agent runtime) on your own hardware while using OpenCove for sidecar management. This gives you data ownership while offloading device coordination and uptime concerns.

Perfect for users who want control but don't want to manage a 24/7 server.

Our Recommendation

Start with OpenCove if you're new to J.A.R.V.I.S. or prioritize convenience. Get familiar with how the system works, what workflows matter to you, and whether it fits your needs.

Move to self-hosting when:

• Privacy becomes a hard requirement
• You want to customize or extend behavior
• Your usage scales to where self-hosting is cheaper
• You're comfortable managing infrastructure

The beauty of J.A.R.V.I.S. is that you're not locked in. Your knowledge graph is portable. Export from OpenCove, import to your self-hosted instance, and you're running — no data loss, no downtime.

Ready to get started? Install J.A.R.V.I.S. or try OpenCove.