---
title: "Overview"
description: "Learn about the different ways to host Arcade"
---

# Hosting Optoions Overview

The easiest and best way to use Arcade is via the Arcade Cloud service - sign up for free at [https://api.arcade.dev](https://api.arcade.dev).  However, you might need to connect your tools to local resources (e.g. a local database or filesystem) or keep data within your own infrastructure.  Don't worry, Arcade has you covered via either Arcade Cloud or our on-premise deployment options.

## Arcade Cloud

Arcade Cloud is the default option — sign up and start building immediately:

- **Zero Infrastructure**: No servers or databases to manage
- **Automatic Updates**: Always access the latest tools and features
- **Built-in Scaling**: Handles traffic spikes automatically
- **Free Tier**: Start building without a credit card

### MCP Server Deployment

You can route and manage tool calls from your agents to MCP servers hosted anywhere—on your machine, on your own infrastructure, in a private cloud, or on Arcade Cloud. This allows you to mix the best public tools with your own private tools.

Connect on-premises MCP servers to Arcade Cloud for a hybrid deployment:

- **Private Resources**: Access databases and APIs within your network
- **Data Control**: Keep sensitive data in your environment
- **Custom Dependencies**: Use specific runtime requirements or configurations
- **Compliance**: Meet regulatory requirements while using Arcade's capabilities

See [On-premise MCP Servers](/guides/deployment-hosting/on-prem) for more information about how to use your own MCP servers running anywhere, and see [Arcade Deploy](/guides/deployment-hosting/arcade-deploy) to learn how to deploy to Arcade Cloud.

### Customizing Auth

You don't have to self-host Arcade to customize your auth experiences. Arcade Cloud supports a number of auth providers out of the box, and you can provide your own OAuth app credentials to brand your end-user experience. We recommend doing this for all production use cases, so that you can have isolated rate limits with the OAuth service provider and you can give your users a consistent experience when they go through an auth flow.
You can still use the same tools when you customize your auth, no code changes are required.

See [Customizing Auth](/references/auth-providers) for more information.

### Arcade Cloud Pricing

Arcade Cloud offers a generous free tier to get started:

- **Free Tier**: Includes access to all public MCP Servers and basic features
- **Usage-Based**: Pay only for what you use as you scale

Visit [https://api.arcade.dev](https://api.arcade.dev) for current pricing details.

## On-Premise Deployments

Fully on-premise deployments of the Arcade platform are available!  Arcade can be deployed on Kubernetes via our Helm chart and Docker images as part of our enterprise offering.  [Contact us to learn more](/resources/contact-us).

The requirements for deploying Arcade on-premise are:
* Kubernetes cluster (1.30+) (We have tested this helm chart on AKS, GKE, and EKS).
* Helm 3.x
* kubectl configured to access your cluster
* Cert Manager for securing Redis and Postgres and public ingress (see below)
* Nginx Ingress for accessing Arcade.dev from outside the cluster (see below)