FAQ and troubleshooting

Before you buy#

Can I run it as a SaaS with the Regular License?#

Only if your end users are not charged. The Envato Regular License covers one end product whose users do not pay. If creators pay you for a plan, you need the Extended License. See Envato's licence terms and Selling it as SaaS.

What are the server requirements?#

Node.js 22, Postgres, and a domain with HTTPS. It runs as one Docker container on a VPS (Coolify works), as a Node process on a VM, or on Vercel. No Redis, queue or file storage. Full details: Requirements.

Can I install it on shared PHP hosting?#

No. It needs a Node 22 process.

Can I host it on Vercel?#

Yes. Vercel is the default build target, and on Vercel analytics also get the visitor's region and city. Set DATABASE_URL so it is available during the build, which runs the migrations. See Deploying on Vercel.

Are there default admin credentials?#

No. You list admin email addresses in ADMIN_EMAILS, then sign up with them. Addresses are not verified, so register them yourself before you share the URL. See Admins.

Does it need an AI key?#

No. The only AI feature, the page co-pilot, falls back to a built-in planner without XAI_API_KEY. With a key it uses xAI's grok-4-1-fast-non-reasoning.

Which payment gateways work?#

Stripe, PayPal and Razorpay, for plan subscriptions and for creators' tips and products. Any one is enough. See Selling it as SaaS.

Do creators get paid directly?#

No. Tips and product sales go to your gateway account; creators request payouts and you pay them by hand. See Earn and payouts.

Does it work without any payment gateway?#

Yes. Every page stays on Free unless you change plans by hand under Admin → People, and creators can still publish. Tips can point at an external tip page.

Can I rebrand it?#

Yes. Admin → Brand sets the product name, logo, favicon, SEO text and share image, and you have the full source for the rest. Some strings, such as linknest.app/<username>, are hard-coded in 1.0.0; see Known limitations.

Is there a demo?#

Yes: linknest.link. Open Sign in and choose Explore the creator studio or Explore the admin panel for a one-click, read-only tour, or sign up to build your own page. /u/solandclay is the demo’s public page.

Troubleshooting#

Sign-in says "Invalid origin"#

The site's origin is not trusted. Set BETTER_AUTH_URL to your exact HTTPS origin (for example https://links.example.com) and VITE_PUBLIC_HOSTNAME to the host (links.example.com), then restart. Locally, use http://localhost:8080; another port is not trusted unless BETTER_AUTH_URL names it.

I sign in and am immediately signed out#

Session cookies are Secure and need HTTPS on any host except localhost. Serve the site over HTTPS. If everyone is signed out after each restart, BETTER_AUTH_SECRET is not set.

Google or X sign-in fails#

Those buttons use a hosted sign-in broker that does not accept self-hosted domains. Set VITE_SOCIAL_AUTH=false, rebuild, and use email and password.

"Can't open admin"#

Your account is not in the admins table and its email is not in ADMIN_EMAILS. Add the exact address you signed up with, restart, and open /admin again. See Fixing the admin seat.

The live status, co-pilot or face schedules say they are on Pro or Premium#

The page's plan does not include that feature key. The migrations give Pro live_status and copilot, and Premium also face_schedule; plans you created yourself get nothing automatically. Tick the keys under Admin → Plans, then reload the studio. See Feature keys.

My data disappeared after a restart#

DATABASE_URL was empty, so the app ran on the in-memory database. Set it and restart; the container applies the migrations to the new database. Data written to the in-memory database cannot be recovered.

The container exits straight away#

Read docker logs. A [migrate] failed: line means a migration could not be applied; the lines after it give the Postgres error. Common causes are a wrong DATABASE_URL, a database that is not reachable yet, or a user without permission to create tables.

I built it and node .output/server/index.mjs does not exist#

The build used the default Vercel target. Rebuild with NITRO_PRESET=node-server.

Payments succeed but the plan does not change#

• Check that the webhook is registered with the provider and the secret or webhook ID is saved under Admin → Payment settings. A webhook without its secret answers 503.
• For PayPal, check that Sandbox matches the keys you use.
• Look in your provider's webhook log for the response code from /api/stripe/webhook, /api/paypal/webhook or /api/razorpay/webhook.

I changed STRIPE_SECRET_KEY in the environment and nothing changed#

Payment keys from the environment are copied into the database on first use, and the database copy wins from then on. Change them under Admin → Payment settings, or choose Clear under the saved secret so the new environment value is used. See How payment settings are resolved.

Payments stopped after I changed a secret in the environment#

If you changed or first set SETTINGS_ENCRYPTION_KEY after saving payment secrets, or changed BETTER_AUTH_SECRET while SETTINGS_ENCRYPTION_KEY was empty, the saved payment secrets can no longer be decrypted and count as not set. The log shows [settings] ... is encrypted but could not be decrypted. Enter the secrets again under Admin → Payment settings. See Encrypted payment secrets.

Razorpay charges in dollars#

Razorpay charges USD unless the currency is INR and an INR per 1 USD rate is saved under Admin → Payment settings. See Razorpay.

Visitors see "Too many tries"#

A public form or unlock hit its rate limit. If many unrelated visitors see it, your proxy is probably passing its own address instead of theirs; see Client IP for rate limits.

Checkout says "Untrusted checkout origin"#

The request came from a host that is not VITE_PUBLIC_HOSTNAME, the host in BETTER_AUTH_URL or localhost. Set those to the domain visitors use.

A custom domain verifies but shows a certificate error#

LinkNest only verifies DNS. Your proxy has to serve HTTPS for that domain. See HTTPS for custom domains.

Broadcasts are saved but nobody receives them#

Set RESEND_API_KEY and a RESEND_FROM address on a domain verified in Resend. Without the key, broadcasts are saved as "ready" for the creator to send from their own mail.

Insights show no cities#

City data comes from Vercel's headers only. See Analytics.