Quickstart - Get Your Payment Gateway Running in 5 Minutes

Get your self-hosted payment gateway running in 5 minutes. This guide covers the fastest path from zero to processing payments with OwnPay.

This guide assumes basic familiarity with web hosting. Developers looking to integrate the API should see the Developer Quickstart.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

PHP 8.3+ with required extensions
MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+
Web server (Apache or Nginx)
SSL certificate (required for production)

Don’t have a server? Skip to Shared Hosting for cPanel/DirectAdmin installation, or VPS for Ubuntu/Debian.

Installation

Shared Hosting
VPS / Cloud Server
Docker

A quick way to get started. Works with hosts like Hostinger, Namecheap, and SiteGround.

Download OwnPay

Go to the GitHub Releases page and download the latest .zip file.

Upload to hosting

Upload the .zip file to your web root (public_html/) using File Manager or FTP.

Extract and set PHP

Extract the ZIP file. Set PHP version to 8.3 in your hosting control panel.

Create MySQL database

Create a new database and user with All Privileges. Note the database name, username, and password.

Run the installer

Visit https://yourdomain.com/install and follow the 4-step wizard:

Requirements check
Database configuration
Admin account creation
Application settings

Set up cron job

Add a cron job to run every minute:

* * * * * php /home/your_username/public_html/public/index.php cron

For production use. Gives you full control, Redis caching support, and server-level configuration.

Connect via SSH

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

Update and install software

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y nginx mysql-server \
  php8.3-fpm php8.3-mysql php8.3-mbstring php8.3-curl \
  php8.3-xml php8.3-zip php8.3-gd php8.3-bcmath \
  php8.3-intl unzip curl

Set up MySQL database

sudo mysql_secure_installation
sudo mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE ownpay CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'ownpay'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'STRONG_PASSWORD';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ownpay.* TO 'ownpay'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Download and configure OwnPay

cd /var/www
sudo wget https://github.com/own-pay/OwnPay/releases/download/vX.X.X/ownpay-vX.X.X.zip
sudo unzip ownpay-vX.X.X.zip -d ownpay
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/ownpay
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/ownpay/storage

Configure Nginx

Create /etc/nginx/sites-available/ownpay with the PHP-FPM configuration, then:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/ownpay /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Install SSL

sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

Run installer and set up cron

Visit https://yourdomain.com/install to complete setup, then add the cron job:

sudo crontab -u www-data -e

* * * * * /usr/bin/php /var/www/ownpay/public/index.php cron >> /var/log/ownpay-cron.log 2>&1

Run OwnPay in containers for deployment and scaling.

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/own-pay/OwnPay.git
cd ownpay

Configure environment

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your database credentials

Start containers

docker-compose up -d

Run migrations

docker-compose exec app php public/index.php migrate

Navigate to https://yourdomain.com/login and log in with the admin credentials you created during installation.

Change your default password immediately after first login. Enable Two-Factor Authentication under your profile for security.

Create your first brand

Navigate to Brands

Go to People > Brands in the admin sidebar.

Create a brand

Click Add Brand and fill in:

Brand name and slug
Default currency
Timezone
Contact email

Configure a gateway

Go to Gateways and activate a payment gateway. Enter your provider’s API credentials.

Test a payment

Create a payment link and complete a test transaction to verify everything works.

What’s next?

For brand owners

Multi-brand setup

Configure multiple brands with isolated data and custom domains.

Production deployment

Optimize OwnPay for production with Redis, SSL, and monitoring.

For developers

API integration

Integrate OwnPay with your applications via REST API.

Gateway plugins

Build custom payment gateway plugins.

Need help? Check our Troubleshooting guide or open an issue on GitHub.

​Prerequisites

​Installation

​First login

​Create your first brand

​What’s next?

​For brand owners

Multi-brand setup

Production deployment

​For developers

API integration

Gateway plugins

Prerequisites

Installation

First login

Create your first brand

What’s next?

For brand owners

For developers