OnionShare Server VPS for Persistent Anonymous Drops

OnionShare supports four modes: send files, receive files, host a website, and host an anonymous chat room. On a server VPS we run OnionShare in headless mode using onionshare-cli or the python API so the modes are scriptable and survive disconnections. The receive mode in particular benefits from a server deployment because journalists and sources need a stable address that does not depend on the operator keeping a laptop online.

Each mode publishes its own onion v3 address. Operators commonly run one persistent receive endpoint and rotate send endpoints per package. We provide systemd unit templates that restart OnionShare cleanly on update and on reboot without regenerating onion keys when persistence is enabled.

Receive mode is the most exposed surface because anonymous senders push data through the endpoint. We harden receive endpoints with disk quotas, antivirus optional integration, and explicit rate limits. Uploaded files are quarantined into a directory owned by an unprivileged user with no execute bit, so even hostile uploads cannot escalate inside the VPS. Operators retrieve files through SSH or through a separate onion based admin path.

Optional client auth is supported on OnionShare 2.5 and later. Adding a private key requirement to the receive endpoint prevents random discovery and ties access to a pre-shared credential, which suits whistleblowing platforms that distribute auth tokens through trusted channels.

OnionShare itself is anonymous to the visitor by design, but the operator is only anonymous if the hosting is. AnubizHost provides anonymous signup, crypto only billing, and no KYC at any tier. We never share customer identifiers with third parties and we do not retain hypervisor side traffic captures. An OnionShare receive endpoint run on an AnubizHost VPS can sit online for years without ever pointing back at a real operator.

For high risk deployments we recommend pairing the OnionShare VPS with a separate AnubizHost VPS used as an admin jump host through a different onion. The two VPS communicate only over Tor, and the only clearnet exposure is at the AnubizHost billing layer, which never touches the workload.