HandBrake Web — Self-Hosted, Open-Source

Use one or more instances of HandBrake video transcoder on a headless device via a web interface.

License: AGPL-3.0. Built with: TypeScript, SCSS, Dockerfile, JavaScript, HTML. Source: https://github.com/TheNickOfTime/handbrake-web.

Features

Web Interface - Interact with HandBrake on a headless device via a web browser.
Job Queue - Create and manage a queue of jobs for your workers to tackle in order.
Bulk Job Creation - Easily create multiple jobs at once for videos in the same directory.
Preset Management - Upload, Rename, and Delete HandBrake presets in the web interface.
Directory Monitoring - Create directory _"Watchers"_ to automatically create jobs based on various criteria.
Distributed Encoding - Leverage multiple devices/nodes/workers to tackle encoding tasks concurrently.
Hardware Accelerated Encoding - Use a GPU to speed up encoding times.
Intel QSV - Use your discrete and/or integrated Intel GPU.
NVIDIA NVENC - Use your discrete NVIDIA GPU.
Preset Creator - Create presets directly in the web interface.

Installation

services: handbrake-server: image: ghcr.io/thenickoftime/handbrake-web-server:latest container_name: handbrake-web-server user: 1000:1000 # edit to run as user (uuid:guid) with permissions to access your media. 0:0 to run as root (not recommended). ports: - 9999:9999 volumes: - /path/to/your/data:/data - /path/to/your/media:/video # ensure this path is the same across all containers handbrake-worker: image: ghcr.io/thenickoftime/handbrake-web-worker:latest container_name: handbrake-web-worker user: 1000:1000 # edit to run as user (uuid:guid) with permissions to access your media. 0:0 to run as root (not recommended). environment: - WORKER_ID=handbrake-worker # give your worker a unique name - SERVER_URL=handbrake-server # change if setting up a standalone worker, prefix with http(s):// if necessary - SERVER_PORT=9999 # change if using a reverse proxy or the port is otherwise different than above volumes: - /path/to/your/media:/video # ensure this path is the same across all containers depends_on: - handbrake-server

Why self-host HandBrake Web

Self-hosting gives you three things SaaS can’t: data ownership (the files live on disks you control), cost predictability (a one-time setup vs. recurring per-seat fees that grow with your household or team), and longevity (open-source means the app keeps working even if the maintainers move on, since you can pin a working version). The trade-off is that you take on the operational work of running a server, applying updates, and handling backups.

What hardware do you need

Most self-hosted apps run comfortably on modest hardware — a Raspberry Pi 4, a mini PC, a NAS with Docker support, or a small VPS is usually enough for personal or family use. CPU and RAM requirements scale with how many simultaneous users or how much data you push through HandBrake Web. Storage requirements depend on the kind of data you keep; check the README for guidance on data retention.

Where to go from here

Last verified: 2026-04-21