If you’re running a self-hosted platform like Coolify in your homelab, you’ve probably asked yourself: “How do I back up my databases and app data off-site without breaking the bank?” Enter Cloudflare R2 — an S3-compatible object storage service with no egress fees and a price point that makes it a great fit for DIY DevOps setups.
In this post, I’ll show you why Cloudflare R2 is a solid off-site backup solution for Coolify deployments, how to set it up, and how to get the most out of its generous free tier.
Why Off-Site Backups Matter in Homelabs
If you’re self-hosting apps via Coolify, chances are you’re also managing your own PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or other data services. While Coolify handles app orchestration and even provides scheduled database backups, those backups often live on the same physical machine — not ideal if the disk fails or something goes wrong.
A proper backup strategy includes at least one off-site backup, and that’s where R2 steps in.
Why Cloudflare R2?
Here’s what makes Cloudflare R2 a compelling choice:
- S3-compatible: Works out-of-the-box with Coolify's backup feature
- No egress fees: Restore your backups without paying for data retrieval
- Affordable storage: ~$0.015/GB/month
- Generous free tier: 10 GB storage, 1 million write ops, and 10 million read ops per month — more than enough for typical homelab setups
- Simple API & integration: Setup is fast and painless
- Works great even at small scale: Perfect for self-hosters and hobbyists
For homelab users, that 10 GB free tier can go a long way — especially if you're only storing daily database dumps or compressed archives of config and essential data. I'm using it for two sepparate coolify instance with plenty of databases deployed and at the moment i'm still under 500MB usage.
Setting Up R2 with Coolify
Coolify already supports S3-compatible storage for backups. Here's a quick walkthrough:
- Create an R2 Bucket in your Cloudflare dashboard.
- Generate Access Key + Secret Key.
- In Coolify Admin Panel -> S3 Storage -> Add, add your R2 credentials, chosen bucket and endpoint:
https://<accountid>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com - Go to Project → Backups, and enable backups for your databases.
- Choose the R2 storage from the dropdown and set a cron schedule.
Coolify will now automatically dump your databases (e.g., via pg_dump) and upload the files to R2 — no extra scripting needed.
What About Application Data?
Coolify’s built-in backups only handle databases (and internal Coolify config). But if you want to back up Docker volumes — e.g., for apps like Vaultwarden, Nextcloud, etc. — you can deploy tools like:
- Duplicati
- Restic
- Rclone
Deploy them via Coolify itself, mount the appropriate volumes, and push the archives to R2 on a schedule.
Final Thoughts
Coolify makes self-hosting feel like a breeze, and Cloudflare R2 fills the off-site backup gap perfectly. It’s cheap, simple to integrate, and scales well with your needs — even if you're just running a couple of apps at home.
And best of all? You will likely stay within the free tier, making R2 a no-brainer backup solution that costs nothing but brings peace of mind.
If you’re already using Cloudflare for DNS or tunnels, this is a natural extension to your stack. Set it up once, and rest easy knowing your data lives beyond your own machine.