Running Bedrud on a $5 VPS: A Practical Guide

One of Bedrud’s core promises: run video meetings on any cheap VPS. Here’s how to actually do it.

Requirements

• CPU: 1 vCPU (any modern x86_64 or ARM64)
• RAM: 512MB minimum, 1GB recommended for 20+ concurrent users
• Disk: 500MB for the binary + logs
• OS: Any 64-bit Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, AlmaLinux)

Step 1: Get a VPS

We tested with these providers:

Any of these work. Hetzner gives you the best bang for buck.

Step 2: Install Bedrud

curl -fsSL https://get.bedrud.org | bash

The script detects your OS, downloads the correct binary, and installs it to /usr/local/bin/bedrud.

Step 3: Configure DNS

Point your domain to the VPS IP:

meet.example.com  A  1.2.3.4

Step 4: Start the Server

bedrud serve --domain meet.example.com --tls auto

The --tls auto flag provisions a Let’s Encrypt certificate automatically.

Step 5: Create Your First Meeting

Open https://meet.example.com in a browser. Click “New Meeting”. Share the link. Done.

Performance Tips

• Enable JITSI-style last-n: Limits video streams sent to each participant. Reduces bandwidth usage by ~60% in large meetings.
• Set max bitrate: --max-bitrate 1500 caps video at 1.5 Mbps per participant.
• Use TURN for NAT traversal: Add --turn-server turn:your-turn-server:3478 if participants are behind strict firewalls.

Monitoring

Bedrud exposes a /metrics endpoint in Prometheus format. Track:

• Active rooms and participants
• Media bitrate per room
• Error rates and connection failures
• Memory and CPU usage

That’s it. Video meetings on a $5 VPS. No Docker, no config files, no ops team required.