VPS for Autoview: what it is and when you need one

Autoview · Guide · Updated July 11, 2026

Short version: a VPS matters if you run the Chrome extension and want it trading while your own computer is off. If you run the webhook platform, skip this guide entirely; it already runs on Autoview's servers and a VPS adds nothing. Read on for what a VPS actually is, which path you're on, and how to set one up if you need it.

What a VPS actually is

A Virtual Private Server is a computer you rent from a hosting company instead of one that sits on your desk. It lives in a data center, stays powered on, and stays connected to the internet around the clock. You connect to it remotely, over the internet, using a remote desktop tool or a terminal, and once you're in it behaves like any other computer: you install software, open programs, and leave them running. Close your laptop and the VPS keeps going, because it was never tied to your laptop's power or your home internet in the first place.

People rent VPS machines for all kinds of always-on jobs: hosting a website, running a bot, or in this case, keeping a browser open and logged in so a browser-based tool never stops.

Does Autoview need a VPS?

That depends entirely on which Autoview you run, and the two paths behave nothing alike here.

• The webhook platform. Runs on Autoview's own servers. An alert posts to your webhook URL, our infrastructure reads it and places the order, and none of that touches a machine of yours. Your computer can be off, asleep, or on the other side of the planet and the trade still executes. A VPS solves a problem this path doesn't have.
• The Chrome extension. Runs inside your own browser, on your own machine. It only trades while that browser is open, that machine is on, and the internet connection holds. Shut the laptop and the extension stops with it.

If you're not sure which one you're running, the do I need my computer on? guide walks through the distinction in more depth. Everything below this point is for extension users who want their setup running when they're away from their own computer.

Setting up a VPS to run the extension

The extension needs the same thing a VPS provides: a machine that's always on. Here's the shape of the setup.

Pick a VPS

Any mainstream provider works; Autoview has no partnership with one and doesn't require a specific host. A few things worth checking before you commit:

• Operating system. You need something that can run Chrome with a desktop you can see and click through, so a Windows VPS is the simplest choice. Linux works too, but you'll want a build with a graphical desktop and remote-desktop access set up, not a bare command-line box, since Chrome needs a visible window to run in.
• Enough memory. Chrome is not a light process, especially with multiple tabs and an extension polling continuously. Undersized plans get slow or unstable under real load. A budget tier built for a static website is usually too thin; look for something closer to what you'd expect from a low-end desktop.
• Uptime and support. The entire point is a machine that doesn't go down. Check the provider's uptime commitment and how they handle an outage, since an extension on a VPS that reboots unexpectedly is no better than a laptop that sleeps.
• Location, loosely. Some traders pick a VPS region near their exchange's servers to shave a little network latency off order execution. For most alert-driven strategies the difference is small enough not to chase, but it's a legitimate tie-breaker if two providers are otherwise equal.

Connect and install

1. Rent the VPS and get its remote-desktop or remote-login details from the provider.
2. Connect to it. Windows VPS machines typically use Remote Desktop Connection, built into Windows; Linux VPS images vary by provider.
3. Once you're in, install Chrome the same way you would on any new computer.
4. Follow the install the trading extension guide from inside that remote session: add the extension from the Chrome Web Store, connect your Autoview account, link TradingView, and add your exchange API keys.

Everything from here runs the same as it would on your own desktop. The only difference is that this desktop lives in a data center and doesn't sleep when you close your laptop.

A Linux-specific snag

If you set up on a Linux VPS, or certain minimal Windows images, you may hit an extension error about Google Subscriptions: something like "Could not establish connection. Receiving end does not exist." That's not a sign anything is broken with your trading setup; some VPS images just don't ship with Google's payments support built in. Open your Autoview permissions page, scroll to the bottom, and revoke the Google payments permission, and the error clears. The account disconnected guide covers this and a few other extension connection issues in more detail.

Two machines, one account: watch for duplicates

One mistake catches people who move to a VPS without fully retiring their old setup: leaving the extension logged in and running on both the VPS and their own computer at the same time. Both copies catch the same alert from TradingView and both place the order, so every signal fires twice. Pick one machine, the VPS or your own, and make sure only one has the extension actively running against your TradingView account.

Keeping it running

A VPS removes the "is my laptop on" problem, but the extension still needs the same care it would anywhere:

• Keep Chrome open with your TradingView tab active. Closing the browser stops the extension the same as it would on any machine.
• Watch for Chrome's Memory Saver feature putting inactive tabs to sleep; turn it off or exclude your TradingView tab, as covered in the account disconnected guide.
• Let the provider handle patching and reboots on their schedule where possible, and check in on the machine occasionally rather than assuming it's silently fine forever.

Securing an always-on VPS

A machine that never turns off is also a machine that's always reachable, so it deserves the same care you'd give any server holding access to your exchange accounts. None of this is Autoview-specific configuration; it's standard practice for running any always-on box, worth doing on this setup for a week or for a year.

• Harden the VPS itself. Disable password-based SSH login and use key-based auth instead, keep the operating system patched, and close any ports and services you're not using. Most providers give you a basic firewall; turn it on and allow only what you need.
• Turn on multi-factor authentication. Enable MFA on your VPS provider account, and on any exchange or broker account reachable from that machine. A stolen password alone shouldn't be enough to get in.
• Use a dedicated, non-root account for daily use. Don't run Chrome and do your day-to-day work as root or an administrator account. Create a separate user with the minimum access it needs, and reach for elevated permissions only when a specific task requires them.
• Back up your VPS configuration, encrypted. Take periodic snapshots or config backups of the machine, and keep them encrypted at rest. If the VPS is ever lost or compromised, you want a clean, trusted state to rebuild from.
• Monitor uptime. A simple external ping or heartbeat check tells you fast if the VPS drops offline, instead of finding out only when a signal fails to fire.
• Test restarts and reconnects on purpose. Periodically reboot the VPS yourself and confirm Chrome reopens, the extension reconnects, and your TradingView session is still logged in, rather than discovering a broken reconnect for the first time during a live signal.
• Keep the system clock synced. Make sure NTP or another time-sync service is running. Clock drift on the VPS can throw off the timestamps used to sign exchange API requests, and many exchanges reject requests whose timestamp is too far off.
• Set up alerting. A notification by email, SMS, or webhook when the VPS goes down or reboots means you find out from a monitor, not from a missed trade.
• Rotate exchange API keys periodically. Treat key rotation as routine maintenance, and rotate immediately, not eventually, if you ever suspect the VPS has been compromised.

Cloud platform vs. extension on a VPS

Both paths get your alerts executed. The difference is where the always-on machine lives, and how much of it you're responsible for.

Would the webhook platform just be simpler?

For a lot of people, yes. If the reason you're looking at a VPS is "I want my trades to fire while I'm away from my computer," the webhook platform gets you that without renting or maintaining a second machine at all; it already runs on Autoview's servers. The extension's advantage is that your API keys never leave your own browser. If that trade-off matters to you, a VPS is a reasonable way to get both: keys that stay local, and a machine that stays on. If it doesn't, the web platform setup guide is the more direct path.

Set up the web platform instead