Self-hosting CyberChef the easy way
Yulei ChenCyberChef is a free, open-source web app built by GCHQ that lets you perform encryption, encoding, compression, and data analysis right in your browser. It is often called "The Cyber Swiss Army Knife" because it chains together over 300 operations into simple drag-and-drop recipes. Many developers and security professionals rely on public instances, but if you work with sensitive data, running your own instance is the safer choice.
Sliplane is a managed container platform that makes self-hosting painless. With one-click deployment, you can get CyberChef up and running in minutes - no server setup, no reverse proxy config, no infrastructure to maintain.
Prerequisites
Before deploying, ensure you have a Sliplane account (free trial available).
Quick start
Sliplane provides one-click deployment with presets.
Deploy CyberChef >- 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 CyberChef preset. Here is what it includes:
- Official GCHQ CyberChef image (
ghcr.io/gchq/cyberchef) - Specific version tag (
10.23.0) for stability - Persistent storage mounted to
/app/data - Health check on
/to monitor availability
CyberChef is a fully client-side application. All encoding, decoding, and analysis happens in your browser - the server only hosts the static files.
Next steps
Once CyberChef is running on Sliplane, access it using the domain Sliplane provided (e.g. cyberchef-xxxx.sliplane.app).
Getting started
CyberChef has no login or authentication. You can start using it right away by dragging operations from the sidebar into the recipe panel. Some popular operations include:
- From Base64 / To Base64 for quick encoding and decoding
- AES Encrypt / AES Decrypt for symmetric encryption
- Parse X.509 certificate for inspecting SSL certificates
- Gunzip / Gzip for compression
- Magic to automatically detect and decode data
Adding authentication
Since CyberChef ships without built-in authentication, anyone with the URL can access your instance. If you want to restrict access, you can put it behind a VPN or use Sliplane's private networking feature to limit who can reach the service.
Logging
CyberChef uses a lightweight HTTP server (based on Node.js http-server). Logs go to STDOUT by default, which works well with Sliplane's built-in log viewer. For general Docker log tips, check out our post on how to use Docker logs.
Updating
To update CyberChef, change the image tag in your Sliplane service settings to the latest version and redeploy. Check the CyberChef releases page for new versions.
Cost comparison
Of course you can also self-host CyberChef 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-2x2 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 do with CyberChef?
CyberChef supports over 300 operations including Base64 encoding, AES encryption, hashing, data format conversions, regex extraction, and much more. You can chain multiple operations into "recipes" and share them with your team via URL.
Can I save and share recipes?
Yes. CyberChef encodes your recipe and input into the URL. You can bookmark or share the full URL with colleagues and they will see the exact same recipe and output. Since you are self-hosting, those URLs stay within your domain.
How do I update CyberChef?
Change the image tag in your Sliplane service settings to the latest version and redeploy. Check the CyberChef releases page for the latest stable version.
Is CyberChef safe for sensitive data?
Yes. All processing happens client-side in your browser. Your data never leaves the browser tab. Self-hosting adds another layer of safety since you control the server and the network path. For more tips on securing your server, check out our guide.
Are there alternatives to CyberChef?
There are a few tools that overlap with some of CyberChef's features, like dCode for puzzle solving and cryptanalysis, or command-line tools like openssl and jq. However, nothing matches CyberChef's breadth of 300+ operations in a single browser-based interface. If you need a secrets manager instead, check out our guide on deploying Infisical.
