Every one-click app catalogue puts a memory figure on the card. It is useful, but it answers a narrower question than most people assume it does. Here is how to read it honestly, and what else to check before picking an app to self-host.
What Does the Memory Figure on an App Card Actually Mean?
On a catalogue like the one in PNLCS's Docker app hosting, the memory figure shown on an app's card is the floor for that app's main container — the minimum it needs to start and run, not the total appetite of everything the app brings with it. That distinction matters because a meaningful share of the catalogue does not run as a single container.
Why Some Apps Need More Than the Card Says
Around twenty apps in the catalogue start more than one container when installed — a database alongside the application, a cache, a background worker, or a search index, depending on what the app is built on. Those helper containers draw from the same account allowance as the main app; the card states what the main container needs, and the app's own listing states how many containers it starts in total, so the honest reading is: check the container count on the card, not just the megabyte figure next to it.
WordPress is the everyday example — a proper install pairs the application container with a database container, and the two share the account's resource envelope rather than each getting its own separate allowance. Automation tools such as n8n and file-sync platforms such as Nextcloud follow the same pattern when deployed with their recommended database and worker containers rather than a bare single-container demo mode.
Immich is the clearest case to check against upstream directly, because the gap between "will start" and "will run comfortably" is unusually wide. Immich's own documentation asks for 6 GB of RAM as an absolute minimum and recommends 8 GB. A card showing a lower starting figure for the main container is not wrong — it is describing the floor for that one container — but it is not the number to plan a photo library around. For anything with its own resource-hungry reputation, read the upstream project's documentation before sizing a plan around the catalogue card alone.
Plain OS Containers, for Building Your Own Stack
Not everyone wants a pre-built app. The catalogue also includes plain operating system containers — Ubuntu, AlmaLinux, Debian and Alpine — for people who would rather install their own software inside a clean, isolated container than take a maintained template. These containers ship no SSH server; they are reached the way every other container is reached, through the panel's own web-based terminal, so there is no separate SSH key or port to manage for a container that is otherwise indistinguishable from a small VPS with a fixed resource ceiling.
What to Check Before You Choose an App
- Read the app's own documentation, not just the card. The card gives a floor for the main container; the project's own install guide gives the number to actually plan around, especially for anything media-, search- or AI-related.
- Check how many containers the app starts. One container and several containers draw from the same account allowance differently in practice, even when the headline memory figure looks similar.
- Check whether the app needs a domain. Some apps are meant to sit behind a domain with SSL from day one; others are internal tools accessed by address and port. Pointing a domain at an app is a deliberate step, not something every app requires.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best self-hosted alternatives to run in Docker?
That depends entirely on what is being replaced — a file-sync service, a password manager, an automation tool, a media server — and the honest answer is to pick from a catalogue that states memory and container count per app, then check the specific app's own documentation for anything with heavier real-world requirements, such as photo management or AI-assisted tools.
Can you run WordPress in Docker on a hosting panel?
Yes — a proper WordPress install through a one-click catalogue provisions the application container together with its database container, both fenced to the account's own isolation boundary, rather than a single container with no persistent database.
What does self-hosting n8n actually require?
n8n's automation workflows typically run alongside a database container for persistence, so the same rule applies as with WordPress: check the container count the catalogue states for n8n, not only the headline memory figure for its main container.
What are Nextcloud's real requirements?
A production Nextcloud deployment is commonly paired with its own database container rather than run as a single isolated container, and its comfortable resource footprint grows with the amount of data and the number of apps enabled inside it — check Nextcloud's own documentation for the install you are planning, the same way you would for any app with a wide range of possible use.
Why do Docker app memory requirements on a catalogue card sometimes look lower than what people report elsewhere?
Because the card states the floor for the app's main container specifically. If the app starts helper containers, or if the upstream project's own recommended figure is higher than its bare minimum, the card and the lived experience will not match unless the container count and the upstream documentation are both checked first.
Where to Go Next
The full catalogue and its per-app container counts are visible on the live PNLCS demo; the project is open source on GitHub with documentation at panelica.github.io/pnlcs, and questions on sizing a specific app are welcome on the community forum.