Nightscout is the open-source glucose dashboard the diabetes community has leaned on for years — remote monitoring, a web dashboard, follower apps, and Home Assistant and Alexa integrations. The catch has always been hosting it. When Heroku ended its free tier in 2022, thousands of Nightscout sites went dark, and the common replacements (Railway or Fly.io plus a MongoDB Atlas cluster) are a real setup: accounts, environment variables, connection strings, and keeping it all patched. If you just want your CGM online without becoming your own sysadmin, that gap is exactly what glucoscout fills.
The three ways to run Nightscout in 2026
There is no wrong answer here — it comes down to how much you want to touch. The honest comparison:
| Option | What you actually do | Upkeep |
|---|---|---|
| Self-host (Railway + Atlas) | Make accounts, deploy the app, wire up a Mongo cluster, set env vars | You patch and fix it |
| "Deploy-it-yourself" free rebuilds | Click-deploy a fork to Vercel or similar — still your account, your deploy | You own the deploy |
| Fully-managed (glucoscout) | Sign up, connect your CGM. That is it. | We host + update it |
The difference in one line: with glucoscout you deploy nothing. The other free options still hand you the deployment — you are the one running it. glucoscout provisions your own isolated Nightscout on our servers and keeps it updated; you only connect your sensor.
How to get your CGM on Nightscout with glucoscout
- Sign up. Enter an email at app.glucoscout.com/signup. Your email is your login — no name, no card.
- Verify and set a password. Click the link in the confirmation email and set a password right there. Your own Nightscout instance provisions in about a minute.
- Connect your CGM in the portal:
- FreeStyle Libre → via LibreLinkUp (share to a follower, then connect that account).
- Dexcom → via Dexcom Share (the sharer account, not a follower).
- Anything else Nightscout supports → a free uploader app such as xDrip+ or Juggluco writes to your instance.
- See your glucose. It is live on your phone or computer, a watch, a follower app, and — if you want — Home Assistant, Alexa, or a physical panel.
Free, fully-hosted, nothing to deploy. In beta — use at your own risk.
Get your free Nightscout →What you can do once it is live
Because it is standard Nightscout, everything the ecosystem builds on works: phone and desktop dashboards, follower and watch apps, and xDrip+/Loop integrations. On top of that, glucoscout gives you a read-only device token so your reading can drive a Home Assistant dashboard, Alexa announcements, or an ESP32 glucose panel — your glucose reacting in your home, not just sitting in an app.
Your data stays yours: export or delete it any time, and since it is open-source you can self-host from the same images if you ever want to walk away. No ads, nothing sold.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nightscout hosting really free?
Yes — free and best-effort, with no subscription and no card. It is funded by optional hardware kits, so the software and hosting stay free. Prefer to run your own? The images are open-source.
Do I need to deploy or run anything myself?
No — that is the whole point. glucoscout provisions your own isolated Nightscout on our servers and keeps it updated. There is no Heroku, no Railway, no MongoDB Atlas, and no server at your home.
Which CGMs work?
Dexcom connects via Dexcom Share and FreeStyle Libre via LibreLinkUp (newer, still called beta). Everything else Nightscout supports — Eversense, Medtronic, Stelo and more — feeds in through a free uploader app such as xDrip+ or Juggluco on your phone.
Can I self-host Nightscout instead?
Yes. glucoscout is open-source, so you can run the whole thing yourself from the same images, no lock-in. Managed hosting is just the option for people who would rather not.
Is my glucose data private?
You get an isolated instance, can export your data any time, and can delete your account and all its data whenever you like. It is encrypted at rest, isolated per customer, and never sold.
Where is it available?
The United States only, for now. Outside the US, the software is open-source and you can self-host it today.
Is this a medical device?
No. glucoscout is an informational secondary display for data you already collect — not a medical device, not for dosing or treatment decisions, and not a replacement for your CGM's own app and alarms.
Ready to skip the server?
Create your free Nightscout →The honest fine print
Use at your own risk. glucoscout is made by a small independent maker and provided as is, with no warranty and no SLA. It is an informational secondary display — not a medical device, not for dosing or treatment decisions, and not a replacement for your CGM's own app and alarms.
Nightscout is an independent open-source project; glucoscout hosts it for you but is not affiliated with the Nightscout Foundation, Abbott, or Dexcom. FreeStyle Libre and Dexcom are trademarks of their respective owners.