Nginx Proxy Manager Setup: Free HTTPS for Self-Hosted Apps (2026)

Nginx Proxy Manager (NPM) is the easiest way to put HTTPS in front of your self-hosted apps. Instead of hand-writing Nginx configs and renewing certificates, you add a “proxy host” in a web UI and it requests a free Let’s Encrypt certificate for you. Every other guide on this site points here for the HTTPS step.

Prerequisites

• A VPS with Docker (which VPS).
• A domain pointed at the server (point a domain to a VPS).
• Ports 80 and 443 open in the firewall.

Step 1 — Compose file

services:
  npm:
    image: jc21/nginx-proxy-manager:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "81:81"   # admin UI
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
      - ./letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt

docker compose up -d

Step 2 — First login

Open http://your-server-ip:81. The default credentials are:

• Email: [email protected]
• Password: changeme

Change both immediately on first login.

Step 3 — Add a proxy host with HTTPS

For each app:

1. Hosts → Proxy Hosts → Add Proxy Host
2. Domain: e.g. cloud.yourdomain.com
3. Forward to the app’s container name and port (e.g. app / 80), or the host IP and published port.
4. SSL tab → Request a new Let’s Encrypt certificate, enable Force SSL.

Save, and the app is live on HTTPS.

Use it everywhere

This is the HTTPS step for every app guide here — Nextcloud and others. Run it on any small VPS — a Hetzner box is plenty. See Best VPS for Self-Hosting.