OnionPress turns your Mac or Linux computer into a web server running WordPress, accessible via the Tor network. Your site gets its own permanent .onion address that no one can take away from you. It’s backed up automatically by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

Tor is a privacy network used by millions of people worldwide. It encrypts your traffic and routes it through multiple relays so no one can trace it back to you. OnionPress uses Tor’s “onion service” feature to make your blog reachable without exposing your IP address or location. Learn more at torproject.org.

Yes. OnionPress runs inside isolated Docker containers on your computer. Your site’s private key is generated locally and never leaves your machine. Database passwords are randomly generated per install. The Tor network protects your IP address from being discovered. All containers are sandboxed with minimal access to your files.

No. OnionPress installs like any Mac app — download the DMG, drag to Applications, and launch. There are a few security prompts to work through on first launch (macOS wants to make sure you trust the app), but we guide you step-by-step. After that, you’re writing in WordPress, which is the same interface used by 40% of the web.

One command does everything — installs Docker if needed, downloads OnionPress, and starts your site: Works on Ubuntu, Debian, Raspberry Pi (ARM64), and most Linux distributions. After install, manage your site with:

onionpress status — check if it’s running
onionpress address — show your .onion address
onionpress logs — stream container logs
sudo systemctl restart onionpress — restart

You can also download .deb packages from GitHub Releases.

Mac: macOS 13 (Ventura) or later, Apple Silicon or Intel, 4 GB RAM, 2 GB free disk space.
Linux: Docker and Docker Compose installed. Any modern x86_64 or ARM64 distribution.
No special network configuration needed — Tor works through firewalls, NATs, and campus Wi-Fi.

Anyone with a Tor-enabled browser: Tor Browser (Windows/Mac/Linux), Brave Browser (has built-in Tor), Onion Browser (iPhone/iPad), or Tor Browser for Android. You share your .onion address with whoever you want. When you’re offline, the Wayback Machine serves an archived copy.

Your site is automatically archived by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. When your computer is off or asleep, visitors are redirected to the archived version. When you come back online, they see the live version again. Your site is always available.

Yes. OnionPress includes backup and restore. Your .onion address (private key) travels with your backup, so your address stays the same on the new machine.

No. OnionPress is free and open source (AGPL 3). No hosting fees, no subscriptions, no ads. You run it on your own computer, so there are no ongoing costs. The Tor network and Wayback Machine archiving are free public services.

A .onion address is a permanent address on the Tor network, like abc123...xyz.onion. It’s generated from a cryptographic key that only you have. No domain registrar, no DNS, no one can take it from you or redirect it. It’s your address for as long as you want it.

Yes! You can make your OnionPress site reachable at a regular domain like www.example.com using a free Cloudflare Tunnel. Your .onion address keeps working too. What you need: OnionPress running, a domain name, and a free Cloudflare account.

Step 1: Add your domain to Cloudflare
Log in to dash.cloudflare.com, click Add a site, enter your domain, select the Free plan. Cloudflare will give you two nameservers — update them at your domain registrar.

Step 2: Create a tunnel
In Cloudflare, go to Zero Trust → Networks → Tunnels. Click Create a tunnel, choose Cloudflared, name it (e.g. onionpress).

Step 3: Copy the tunnel token
Cloudflare shows a command like cloudflared service install eyJhIGxvbmcg.... Copy just the long token string at the end. Step 4: Set the public hostname
In the tunnel setup, click Public Hostname → Add a public hostname. Set your domain, and under Service set Type: HTTP, URL: wordpress:80. (This works because the tunnel agent runs inside Docker alongside WordPress.)

Step 5: Paste the token in OnionPress
Click the OnionPress icon in your menu bar → Settings → paste your token into the Cloudflare Token field → Save. OnionPress restarts and your site is live at your domain with HTTPS.

Cost: Cloudflare Tunnel and DNS are free. You only pay for the domain name (~$10-15/year).
When your Mac is off: The clearnet domain shows a Cloudflare error, but your .onion address falls back to the Wayback Machine as usual.
To remove: Clear the token in OnionPress Settings and restart. Your site goes back to .onion-only.

Yes! This site is running on OnionPress on a Mac mini. It’s the same software you download — nothing special, no extra servers. What you’re reading right now is a WordPress blog served over a Tor onion service, backed up by the Wayback Machine, just like yours would be.

OnionHeaven is a community backup network built into OnionPress. It keeps your site reachable at the same .onion address even when your computer is off, asleep, or disconnected.

How it works: While your computer is running, OnionPress sends a quiet heartbeat to the OnionHeaven network to say “I’m online.” If your computer goes offline and the heartbeats stop, another OnionPress node in the network steps in and serves a cached copy of your site at your .onion address. When you come back online, OnionPress automatically reclaims your address and serves the live site again. The whole process is seamless — your visitors always see your site.

What about my onion service key? Your key is shared with the OnionHeaven network so that a backup node can serve your address while you’re away. The network is run by the Internet Archive, the same nonprofit that runs the Wayback Machine. Your key is only used to keep your site available — nothing else.

OnionHeaven is automatic — there’s nothing to configure. It starts working as soon as your OnionPress site is up.

Yes! WordPress has a built-in feature called Multisite that turns a single WordPress installation into a network of sites. Each user gets their own blog with their own posts, themes, and settings — all running under your one .onion address.

How it works: WordPress Multisite is enabled by default in OnionPress. The administrator invites users to create their own blogs from the WordPress dashboard. Each blog lives at a subpath like your-address.onion/alice/ and your-address.onion/bob/. Users manage their own content independently, while the administrator controls the overall network.

What you get:
• One OnionPress instance, many blogs
• Each user has their own login, posts, and media
• Shared hosting resources (one Tor connection, one database, one .onion address)
• The administrator can add or remove sites at any time

This is the recommended approach for hosting a community of bloggers on a single machine, whether it’s a family, a classroom, a newsroom, or an organization.

On a Mac? You can also give each person their own macOS account — each gets a completely independent OnionPress with its own .onion address. See “Can multiple Mac users run OnionPress at the same time?” below.

Yes. On a Mac with multiple user accounts, each user can launch OnionPress from the same /Applications/OnionPress.app and get their own independent site with its own .onion address.

How it works: Each macOS user gets a completely separate OnionPress environment — their own virtual machine, Docker containers, database, onion key, and data directory (~/.onionpress/). OnionPress automatically detects when another user is already running and shifts its network ports so there are no conflicts. Up to about 5 users can run simultaneously.

Key difference from Multisite: WordPress Multisite gives multiple blogs under one .onion address. Multiple Mac users give each person their own independent .onion address and WordPress installation, fully isolated from each other. Neither user can see the other’s data.

No configuration needed — just log in to your Mac account and launch OnionPress.