How to Self-Host Baserow with Docker Compose

What Is Baserow?

Baserow is an open-source no-code database platform — the closest self-hosted equivalent to Airtable. It combines the familiarity of a spreadsheet with the power of a database: create tables with typed fields (text, number, date, file, link, formula, lookup), build views (grid, gallery, kanban, form, calendar), and collaborate in real-time.

Unlike NocoDB, which overlays a UI on existing databases, Baserow is a standalone application with its own storage. This makes it simpler to set up but means you can’t point it at an existing PostgreSQL database and get a spreadsheet interface. Baserow’s all-in-one Docker image bundles everything (PostgreSQL, Redis, Celery workers, Caddy) into a single container.

Official site: baserow.io

Prerequisites

• A Linux server (Ubuntu 22.04+ recommended)
• Docker and Docker Compose installed (guide)
• 2 GB of free RAM (minimum)
• 10 GB of free disk space
• A domain name (optional, for HTTPS access)

Docker Compose Configuration

Simple Setup (All-in-One)

The all-in-one image is the fastest way to get Baserow running. It bundles PostgreSQL, Redis, Celery, and Caddy into a single container:

services:
  baserow:
    image: baserow/baserow:2.1.1
    container_name: baserow
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    environment:
      # Your instance's public URL (include protocol)
      BASEROW_PUBLIC_URL: "http://localhost"
      # Uncomment for production with a domain:
      # BASEROW_PUBLIC_URL: "https://baserow.yourdomain.com"
      # BASEROW_CADDY_ADDRESSES: ":443"
    volumes:
      - baserow_data:/baserow/data

volumes:
  baserow_data:

Start the stack:

docker compose up -d

Production Setup (Multi-Service)

For production with better performance and scalability, separate the services:

services:
  baserow-backend:
    image: baserow/backend:2.1.1
    container_name: baserow-backend
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      DATABASE_HOST: baserow-db
      DATABASE_NAME: baserow
      DATABASE_USER: baserow
      DATABASE_PASSWORD: CHANGE_THIS_DB_PASSWORD
      DATABASE_PORT: "5432"
      REDIS_HOST: baserow-redis
      REDIS_PORT: "6379"
      BASEROW_PUBLIC_URL: "https://baserow.yourdomain.com"
      SECRET_KEY: CHANGE_THIS_SECRET_KEY
      BASEROW_JWT_SIGNING_KEY: CHANGE_THIS_JWT_KEY
      # Email configuration (optional)
      # EMAIL_SMTP: "true"
      # EMAIL_SMTP_HOST: "smtp.example.com"
      # EMAIL_SMTP_PORT: "587"
      # EMAIL_SMTP_USE_TLS: "true"
      # EMAIL_SMTP_USER: "[email protected]"
      # EMAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD: "smtp_password"
      # FROM_EMAIL: "[email protected]"
    volumes:
      - baserow_media:/baserow/media
    depends_on:
      baserow-db:
        condition: service_healthy
      baserow-redis:
        condition: service_started
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"

  baserow-web-frontend:
    image: baserow/web-frontend:2.1.1
    container_name: baserow-frontend
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      BASEROW_PUBLIC_URL: "https://baserow.yourdomain.com"
      PRIVATE_BACKEND_URL: "http://baserow-backend:8000"
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    depends_on:
      - baserow-backend

  baserow-celery-worker:
    image: baserow/backend:2.1.1
    container_name: baserow-celery-worker
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: celery-worker
    environment:
      DATABASE_HOST: baserow-db
      DATABASE_NAME: baserow
      DATABASE_USER: baserow
      DATABASE_PASSWORD: CHANGE_THIS_DB_PASSWORD
      DATABASE_PORT: "5432"
      REDIS_HOST: baserow-redis
      REDIS_PORT: "6379"
      SECRET_KEY: CHANGE_THIS_SECRET_KEY
    volumes:
      - baserow_media:/baserow/media
    depends_on:
      - baserow-backend

  baserow-celery-export-worker:
    image: baserow/backend:2.1.1
    container_name: baserow-celery-export
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: celery-exportworker
    environment:
      DATABASE_HOST: baserow-db
      DATABASE_NAME: baserow
      DATABASE_USER: baserow
      DATABASE_PASSWORD: CHANGE_THIS_DB_PASSWORD
      DATABASE_PORT: "5432"
      REDIS_HOST: baserow-redis
      REDIS_PORT: "6379"
      SECRET_KEY: CHANGE_THIS_SECRET_KEY
    volumes:
      - baserow_media:/baserow/media
    depends_on:
      - baserow-backend

  baserow-celery-beat:
    image: baserow/backend:2.1.1
    container_name: baserow-celery-beat
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: celery-beat
    environment:
      DATABASE_HOST: baserow-db
      DATABASE_NAME: baserow
      DATABASE_USER: baserow
      DATABASE_PASSWORD: CHANGE_THIS_DB_PASSWORD
      DATABASE_PORT: "5432"
      REDIS_HOST: baserow-redis
      REDIS_PORT: "6379"
      SECRET_KEY: CHANGE_THIS_SECRET_KEY
    depends_on:
      - baserow-backend

  baserow-db:
    image: postgres:16
    container_name: baserow-db
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: baserow
      POSTGRES_USER: baserow
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: CHANGE_THIS_DB_PASSWORD
    volumes:
      - baserow_pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U baserow"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  baserow-redis:
    image: redis:7.4
    container_name: baserow-redis
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - baserow_redis:/data

volumes:
  baserow_media:
  baserow_pgdata:
  baserow_redis:

Generate secure keys:

# Secret key for Django
openssl rand -hex 32

# JWT signing key
openssl rand -hex 32

# Database password
openssl rand -hex 24

Replace all CHANGE_THIS_* values with your generated secrets.

Initial Setup

1. Open http://your-server-ip (all-in-one) or configure your reverse proxy (multi-service)
2. Click Sign up to create your first account — this becomes the admin
3. Create your first Database → add a Table
4. Add fields by clicking the + button in the column header
5. Available field types: Text, Long text, Number, Boolean, Date, File, Single select, Multiple select, Link to table, Formula, Lookup, Count, Rollup, and more

Configuration

Key Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
BASEROW_PUBLIC_URL	(required)	Full URL including protocol
SECRET_KEY	(auto-generated)	Django secret key for sessions/tokens
BASEROW_JWT_SIGNING_KEY	(auto-generated)	JWT token signing key
BASEROW_MAX_IMPORT_FILE_SIZE_MB	512	Max CSV/JSON import size
BASEROW_MAX_SNAPSHOTS_PER_GROUP	-1	Snapshot limit per workspace (-1 = unlimited)
BASEROW_FILE_UPLOAD_SIZE_LIMIT_MB	0	Per-file upload limit (0 = use Django default)
BASEROW_AMOUNT_OF_WORKERS	1	Gunicorn workers for backend API
DISABLE_ANONYMOUS_PUBLIC_VIEW_WS_CONNECTIONS	false	Disable WebSocket for anonymous viewers
BASEROW_TRIGGER_SYNC_TEMPLATES_AFTER_MIGRATION	true	Sync template library after upgrades

Disabling Signups

To prevent public registration after creating your admin account:

environment:
  BASEROW_PUBLIC_URL: "https://baserow.yourdomain.com"
  # Add this to disable new signups
  BASEROW_DISABLE_SIGNUPS: "true"

Existing accounts remain active. New users must be invited by an admin.

Reverse Proxy

All-in-One with Built-in Caddy

The all-in-one image includes Caddy for automatic HTTPS. Set BASEROW_CADDY_ADDRESSES and BASEROW_PUBLIC_URL:

environment:
  BASEROW_PUBLIC_URL: "https://baserow.yourdomain.com"
  BASEROW_CADDY_ADDRESSES: ":443"

Caddy handles Let’s Encrypt certificate provisioning automatically.

Multi-Service with External Reverse Proxy

Point your reverse proxy to the frontend (port 3000) for web traffic and the backend (port 8000) for API calls. For Nginx Proxy Manager, create two proxy hosts or use path-based routing.

Reverse Proxy Setup

Backup

What to Back Up

Data	Location	Priority
PostgreSQL database	baserow_pgdata volume	Critical
Uploaded files/media	baserow_media volume	Important
Redis data	baserow_redis volume	Low (task queue state, auto-recovers)

Database Backup

# Dump the database
docker exec baserow-db pg_dump -U baserow baserow > baserow_backup.sql

# Restore from dump
cat baserow_backup.sql | docker exec -i baserow-db psql -U baserow baserow

All-in-One Backup

For the all-in-one image, all data lives in /baserow/data:

docker compose stop
tar czf baserow-backup.tar.gz -C /var/lib/docker/volumes/baserow_data/_data .
docker compose start

Backup Strategy

Troubleshooting

”CSRF Verification Failed” After Domain Change

Symptom: Login fails with CSRF error after changing BASEROW_PUBLIC_URL.

Fix: Clear your browser cookies for the Baserow domain, or update BASEROW_PUBLIC_URL to exactly match the URL in your browser’s address bar (including protocol and port).

File Uploads Failing

Symptom: Uploading files to file fields returns an error.

Fix: Check that the baserow_media volume is writable and has sufficient space. For the multi-service setup, ensure all services sharing the media volume have the same volume mount.

Slow Performance with Large Tables

Symptom: Tables with 10,000+ rows become slow to load and filter.

Fix: Increase BASEROW_AMOUNT_OF_WORKERS (default 1) to match your CPU cores. Add more RAM — PostgreSQL uses memory aggressively for query caching. Consider the multi-service setup if using the all-in-one image.

Celery Tasks Not Processing

Symptom: Exports never complete. Webhooks don’t fire. Trash isn’t cleaned up.

Fix: Verify the celery-worker and celery-beat containers are running:

docker compose ps
docker compose logs baserow-celery-worker

Ensure Redis is accessible and the REDIS_HOST environment variable is correct.

Resource Requirements

• RAM: 1 GB minimum (all-in-one), 2 GB recommended. Multi-service needs 3 GB+.
• CPU: Low-Medium. Single core handles moderate usage.
• Disk: 5 GB for application data. File storage depends on uploads.

Verdict

Baserow is the best Airtable replacement for teams that value a polished UI and real-time collaboration. Its all-in-one Docker image makes initial setup trivial — one container, one command, working spreadsheet-database. The multi-service deployment scales well for production use.

Choose Baserow over NocoDB if you want the closest UX to Airtable and plan to build your database from scratch. Choose NocoDB if you need to connect to existing databases or want the ability to overlay a spreadsheet UI on PostgreSQL/MySQL tables you already have.

Related

• Best Self-Hosted Database Management Tools
• How to Self-Host NocoDB
• NocoDB vs Baserow
• Self-Hosted Alternatives to Airtable
• Self-Hosted Alternatives to Google Docs
• Best Self-Hosted Low-Code Platforms
• Docker Compose Basics
• Reverse Proxy Setup
• Backup Strategy