Traccar
Open-source GPS tracking server in Java that supports a very wide range of tracker protocols, each on its own port. Use MySQL or PostgreSQL in production rather than the built-in database, and open only the ports your devices use.
Fleet tracking & logistics hosting Kenya
Your own GPS server for every truck, van and boda on the road
Run Traccar, a dispatch system or your courier app on a VPS with full root access. Open the ports your trackers report on, push live positions to the control room over WebSockets and keep months of trip history without paying per vehicle.
50 devices
We suggest
VPS V3
KES 7,000/mo
Four cores handle many open device connections and steady position writes, with 16 GB of RAM for Traccar and the database and 320 GB of disk for several months of history.
Order VPS V3Tracking platforms charge per vehicle. Your own server does not.
Kenyan transporters, courier firms and fleet installers often start on a hosted tracking platform billed per device per month. That is fine for ten vehicles and painful for three hundred. Running an open-source server such as Traccar on your own VPS turns that per-unit charge into a fixed server cost, and lets you brand the web and mobile apps as your own.
GPS workloads are unusual. Each tracker holds a connection open and reports every few seconds while moving, often over TCP on a protocol-specific port, so the server handles thousands of small writes rather than a few heavy page loads. Position history grows every day, and dispatchers expect the map to update live. That means open firewall ports, a well-tuned database, plenty of disk and a WebSocket layer for the control room.
Couriers and last-mile delivery apps add their own load: rider apps posting location, customers following a parcel link, and order updates going out by SMS or WhatsApp. A HostingKE VPS gives you root access to run the tracking server, the dispatch API and the database side by side, and our support team can help with firewall rules and sizing when you add vehicles.
The problem
Fleet and courier systems hit these limits first
Trackers that cannot connect
GPS devices report to an IP address and a port set during installation. Shared hosting cannot open custom TCP or UDP ports, so the units show as offline. A VPS lets you open exactly the ports your device models use.
Position tables that never stop growing
A vehicle reporting every ten seconds while moving produces thousands of rows a day. Without a retention policy, indexes and enough disk, reports slow down and the dashboard lags behind the trucks it is meant to follow.
A frozen control-room map
Dispatchers need positions to move on screen, not after a page refresh. Live updates over WebSockets need a long-running process and server memory, which a basic web hosting account will not give you.
Rider apps on patchy networks
Riders lose signal on the Thika Road underpasses or upcountry routes, then reconnect and upload a burst of queued points. Your API must accept those bursts quickly so deliveries are not marked late by mistake.
What runs on it
Open-source tools fleets run on a VPS
A typical Kenyan logistics stack pairs a GPS server with maps, routing and a live dispatch layer. These are the common building blocks.
OSRM
Open Source Routing Machine calculates driving routes and travel times from OpenStreetMap data. A Kenya extract is small enough to process on a VPS, but preprocessing needs extra memory, so plan RAM for that step.
Nominatim
OpenStreetMap geocoder that turns addresses and place names into coordinates. Importing just the Kenya extract keeps the PostgreSQL database manageable and avoids per-request charges from commercial geocoding services.
Laravel Reverb or Socket.IO
WebSocket servers that push new positions and order status to dispatch screens and customer tracking pages. Both run as long-lived processes behind Nginx, which is why they need a VPS rather than shared hosting.
Custom dispatch API
Most courier firms run their own Laravel, Django or Node.js backend for orders, rider assignment, proof of delivery photos and customer notifications, with Redis queues for background jobs.
Sizing
How many vehicles will report to the server
Count every tracker, rider phone and asset tag sending positions, not just vehicles out on the road today.
- 5–25 devices VPS V1 Enough for a pilot or a small fleet on Traccar with a modest MySQL configuration. Memory is tight for Java plus a database, so plan to move up as you add vehicles.
- 30–300 devices VPS V3 Four cores handle many open device connections and steady position writes, with 16 GB of RAM for Traccar and the database and 320 GB of disk for several months of history.
- 305–1,500 devices VPS V4 Six cores, 480 GB of disk and 24 TB of transfer for a large fleet or a tracking reseller, with room for a dispatch API and WebSocket server alongside Traccar.
- 1,505+ devices VPS V5 Ten cores and 40 GB of RAM to run Traccar, OSRM routing, a Nominatim geocoder and your dispatch platform on one server for thousands of devices.
Treat this as a guide: real load depends on how often each device reports, how long you keep history and how many people watch the live map.
VPS V1
KES 2,000/mo
- 1 Core
- 1 GB RAM
- 40 GB NVMe
- 1 TB transfer
VPS V2
KES 5,000/mo
- 2 Cores
- 8 GB RAM
- 160 GB SSD
- 8 TB transfer
VPS V3
KES 7,000/mo
- 4 Cores
- 16 GB RAM
- 320 GB SSD
- 16 TB transfer
VPS V4
KES 15,000/mo
- 6 Cores
- 24 GB RAM
- 480 GB SSD
- 24 TB transfer
VPS V5
KES 20,000/mo
- 10 Cores
- 40 GB RAM
- 800 GB SSD
- 40 TB transfer
Before you go live
Bringing a tracking server online
0 of 8 done. Tick them off as you go.
Built for Kenya
Running fleets on Kenyan roads
Coverage gaps are normal
Trackers and rider phones drop off the network on long upcountry stretches and in some estates, then upload stored points when they reconnect. Pick devices with good offline buffering and make sure your server accepts late, out-of-order positions.
SIM data costs add up
Every tracker runs on a mobile data SIM. Sensible reporting intervals, such as more frequent while moving and rarely when parked, keep monthly data bundles affordable for the fleet and also reduce the write load on your server.
Driver locations are personal data
Tracking a company vehicle also tracks the person driving it. Under the Data Protection Act 2019, tell drivers and riders what is recorded and why, restrict who can view history and keep it only as long as you need.
Questions
Logistics & fleet tracking: your questions, answered
Can I run Traccar on a VPS in Kenya?
Yes. Traccar is a Java application that you install with root access on any HostingKE VPS. Use MySQL or PostgreSQL rather than the built-in database for production, open the ports your trackers use and point devices at your server address. Small fleets can start on VPS V1.
Which ports do GPS trackers need open?
Each tracker protocol in Traccar listens on its own port, so the answer depends on your device models. Check the protocol for each model, open only those ports in the firewall and leave everything else closed. Our support team can help with firewall rules.
How much disk does GPS history use?
It depends on how many devices you have, how often they report and how long you keep data. A vehicle reporting every few seconds while moving adds thousands of rows a day. Set a retention period and archive older positions, and choose a plan with disk to spare.
Can I white-label a tracking service for my clients?
With your own server you can run the tracking platform under your domain, with your logo on the web interface and your own mobile apps. Check the licence of the software you use, and keep each client in a separate account so they only see their own vehicles.
Do I need WebSockets for live tracking?
For a map that moves without refreshing, yes. Traccar includes its own live updates, and custom dispatch apps usually add Laravel Reverb or Socket.IO. These run as long-lived processes, which a VPS supports and shared hosting generally does not.
Is VPS V1 enough for a courier startup?
For a pilot with a handful of riders and a lightweight API, often yes. Once you add a live dispatch map, customer tracking links and dozens of riders posting locations, move to VPS V3 for more cores and memory.
Also on VPS Hosting
VPS hosting for the systems Kenyan businesses run
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