> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ai2fin.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Deployment options — cloud, desktop app, or self-hosted
> The three ways to run AI2Fin: hosted at app.ai2fin.com, the desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux with data in a folder you own, or self-hosted with Docker Compose or an AWS CloudFormation stack. What each one keeps where, and which bank feeds and assistants work in each.
## Three shapes, one product
AI2Fin is **local-first**: the same application runs as a hosted service, as a
desktop app whose database is a file on your disk, or on infrastructure you
operate. Features are the same; what differs is **where your records and your
credentials live**, and therefore which integrations a provider's terms allow.
| | Cloud | Desktop app | Self-hosted |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------- |
| **Where your data is** | AI2Fin's encrypted database | `fin.db` (SQLite) in a folder you choose | Your server or AWS account |
| **Account required** | Yes | **No** on the free plan | Licence key |
| **Platforms** | Any browser | Windows 10/11 (x64, ARM), macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon, Intel), Linux | Docker Compose anywhere; AWS CloudFormation |
| **Works offline** | No | Yes — free plan forever, paid features for as long as they are paid | Yes, inside your network |
| **Encryption** | TLS + at rest | Sensitive fields sealed with a key in your OS keychain | Encrypted volume; secrets in Secrets Manager (AWS) |
| **Audit what left** | — | Outbound record of every request: destination and reason, never contents | Same outbound record |
Sign up and start. Every feature, nothing to install.
Download for Windows, macOS or Linux. Your folder, your database.
Docker Compose or a one-stack AWS deployment.
## What runs where
### Bank feeds
| Feed | Cloud | Desktop | Self-hosted |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :---: | :-----: | :------------------------------------------------------------------: |
| [SimpleFIN](/connectors/simplefin), [BankSync](/connectors/banksync), [RedBark](/connectors/redbark) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| [Akahu](/connectors/akahu), [Starling](/connectors/starling), [Monzo](/connectors/monzo) | — | ✅ | ✅ (with the provider's agreement: `BYO_PERSONAL_TOKENS_HOSTED=true`) |
| [Up](/connectors/up) | never | ✅ | ✅ (single-tenant) |
| [Statement files](/connectors/statement-files), CSV / PDF, Google Sheet | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Watched folder | — | ✅ | — |
The rule behind the table: a personal-use bank token may live on hardware you
control, not on a server we operate. Details on the
[bank feeds overview](/data-sources/bank-connectors#where-each-feed-runs).
### AI assistants (MCP)
| | Cloud | Desktop | Self-hosted |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------- |
| Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor | Remote MCP with OAuth — [quickstart](/mcp/quickstart) | **Local MCP** on your machine; nothing routes through AI2Fin — [guide](/guides/desktop-assistants-mcp) | Remote MCP against your instance |
### Intelligence (categorisation, receipts, chat)
| Posture | What leaves |
| ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Standard** | The rows you ask about, processed and kept nowhere |
| **Your own key** | Requests go from your machine straight to your Anthropic, OpenAI or AWS Bedrock account; AI2Fin is not in the path |
| **Sovereign** (desktop / self-hosted) | Nothing. The outbound record reads zero |
## Desktop app
The desktop app runs a small server bound to loopback on your machine and keeps
everything in one folder: `fin.db`, attachments, sealed secrets and encrypted
backups. Read [where your data lives](/guides/desktop-local-data) for the
folder layout, backups and how to verify that nothing leaves, and
[sync across devices](/guides/sync-across-devices) for using it on more than
one machine.
## Self-hosted
Two supported shapes, both running the whole product — application and database
— on infrastructure you control. Your financial records never sit in an
AI2Fin-operated database; the only thing that reaches AI2Fin is a licence check
and, if you use Standard intelligence, the rows you ask about.
Two containers and a volume; runs anywhere Docker runs. Set
`SIMPLEFIN_BRIDGE_ALLOWLIST` to the bridge hosts you use
(`beta-bridge.simplefin.org,redbark.com`) — it is an SSRF control, and an
unlisted bridge is refused.
One stack, one instance, an encrypted volume that deliberately survives
instance termination, secrets in Secrets Manager, and network access limited
to a CIDR you specify. A single firm fits on one machine; moving the
database to RDS later is a one-line change.
## Licensing, plainly
* A licence is a **person**, on as many of their own devices as they use, on as
many sets of books as they like — including clients' books.
* When a licence lapses, the deployment returns to the free plan and keeps
running. Nothing is locked, deleted or held back; export keeps working. That
is written into the licence, not merely promised.
* Giving other people logins to an instance you run needs a practice licence.
[Get in touch](https://ai2fin.com/contact).
## Frequently asked
No. The desktop app and self-hosted builds are licensed software with a
free tier, and the database is plain SQLite (desktop) or Postgres
(self-hosted) you can open with any tool. The claim we make is *your data
stays yours and you can verify it*, not *you can read our code*.
Yes. Export from one and import into another, or use an encrypted backup
from the desktop app. Feeds are reconnected in the new home because the
credentials belong to that installation.
Cloud if you want zero setup and every feed that runs there. Desktop if you
want your records on your own disk with no account. Self-hosted if you are
a firm that needs the whole thing inside your own perimeter.