The self-hosted ASO tool you run on your own machine

Why self-hosting matters for ASO

Your keyword research is competitive intelligence. The terms you target, the markets you scan, and the apps you treat as competitors all reveal what you're planning. Sending that information to a vendor's cloud means trusting them to never analyse it, never share it, and never get breached. Self-hosting removes that question from the table: the data lives on your hardware, in a database you control.

RespectASO is built around that idea. The free edition runs entirely on your machine — either as a native Mac app or as a Docker container — and never phones home. There's no analytics SDK, no vendor telemetry, and no account requirement. The same is true for Pro: the AI workflows execute on your machine using an LLM API key you provide, so even AI calls don't pass through RespectASO infrastructure.

Two ways to self-host

Path	Best for	What you get
Native Mac app	Indie iOS developers and Mac-based teams	Free edition + optional Pro AI workflows under a license key
Docker (Linux, Windows, or Mac host)	Teams without Macs, homelab/VPS users, anyone who wants the source running in a container	Full free edition only; Pro AI workflows are not included in this distribution

Both paths use the same open-source codebase from github.com/respectlytics/respectaso and the same direct iTunes Search API approach. The difference is packaging: the Mac app is the native bundle (with Pro modules layered on for license-key holders), the Docker image is the same free edition packaged as a long-running web service for your own host.

Self-host with Docker

If you're comfortable with Docker, you can be running RespectASO in under a minute on any host with Docker and Docker Compose installed.

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/respectlytics/respectaso.git
cd respectaso

2. Start the container

docker compose up -d

3. Open it in your browser

Visit http://localhost. The free edition is ready immediately — no signup, no setup wizard. The container auto-generates a Django secret key on first run and stores it on the persistent volume so subsequent restarts reuse it.

4. Update later

cd respectaso
git pull
docker compose down
docker compose build --no-cache
docker compose up -d

That's it. Your keyword research, search history, and tracked apps live in the aso_data Docker volume on your host, which is the only place that data exists.

Self-host as a native Mac app

If you're on macOS, the native app is the simplest path. Grab the .dmg from the download page, drag RespectASO to Applications, and launch it. The free edition is fully usable from the first run, and you can later unlock Pro AI workflows with a license from the pricing page. Pro requires you to bring your own LLM API key, so the AI cost — and the choice of provider — stays in your hands.

What stays on your machine

Data	Where it lives
Your keyword queries	Local SQLite database (Mac app: app sandbox; Docker: aso_data volume)
Competitor and ranking data	Same local database
Tracked apps and search history	Same local database
Your LLM API key (if you use Pro)	Stored locally and only sent to the LLM provider you configured
RespectASO licence key (if you use Pro)	Stored locally; validated against the licence service when you activate

What leaves your machine

• Apple iTunes Search API requests — outbound to Apple, no credentials, originating from your network.
• Pro AI requests, only if you trigger them — outbound to the LLM provider whose API key you configured.
• Pro license activation, one-time — outbound to RespectASO's license service to validate your key.

That's the full list. There is no analytics, telemetry, or "anonymous usage data" beacon in the free edition.

Evidence: what proves what

Claim	Where you can verify it
Free edition is open source under AGPL-3.0	Public repository with full source and license file.
Docker setup uses docker compose up -d against the public repo	docker-compose.yml and Dockerfile in the repo root.
Container runs on port 80, persists data to a named volume	docker-compose.yml service definition and volumes section.
SECRET_KEY auto-generated and stored locally on first run	entrypoint.sh in the repo root.
Free edition uses the public iTunes Search API only	Free-edition keyword services in the public repo. Methodology page explains scoring.
No telemetry or third-party data sharing	Privacy policy and the absence of analytics calls in the public repo.
Pro AI features are not in the Docker distribution	The public repo contains the free-edition modules only; Pro modules live in the proprietary upstream and ship inside the native Mac app.

Who this fits

• Indie iOS developers who want serious keyword research without trusting another vendor with their roadmap signals.
• Privacy-sensitive teams running on a homelab, internal Linux server, or cloud VPS they control.
• EU and other compliance-heavy teams who prefer processing on infrastructure they own.
• Agencies who don't want every client's ASO strategy passing through a shared vendor account.
• Engineers and tinkerers who like reading the source of their tools.

Honest limitations

• The Docker self-host path includes the full free edition but not the Pro AI workflows. If AI Niche Researcher, AI Competitor Analyzer, and ASO Score Simulator are why you're here, use the native Mac app with a Pro license.
• Self-hosting means you own the operating cost: backups of the Docker volume, host security, and update hygiene are on you.
• RespectASO is focused on the iOS App Store via the public iTunes Search API. It isn't an Apple Search Ads product and isn't Google Play.
• If you run a modified build under AGPL-3.0 and serve it to others, your modifications must be made available to those users under the same license.

FAQ

Is the Docker version a stripped-down trial?

No. It's the full free edition: keyword popularity and difficulty scoring, multi-keyword and multi-country search, app rank tracking, the Country Opportunity Finder, competitor data, and search history. The only thing missing from Docker self-hosting is the Pro AI workflows, which are proprietary and ship only with the native Mac app.

Can my whole team share a self-hosted instance?

The Docker container exposes the free edition as a local web app. You can put it behind your own reverse proxy, network controls, and authentication so your team can reach it on your network. AGPL-3.0 applies, so any modifications you make and serve to your team must be shared with those users under the same license.

How do I move from Docker to the native Mac app later?

The public repo ships with a one-time migration script that copies your existing data into the native app's storage. Once you've confirmed the Mac app shows your data, you can stop the Docker container and reclaim the volume.

Where do I get help self-hosting?

Use issues and discussions on the public repository. For Pro and licensing questions, reach the team via the contact page.

What's the difference between the open-source page and this one?

The open-source ASO tool page covers the licensing model and what's in the public repo. This page focuses on the operational side: how to actually run RespectASO yourself, where data lives, and what stays inside your network.