Platform tour
One protocol. One portal. Infrastructure you finally own.
Open Cloud is a portal built on top of the Internet Computer Protocol. It lets you compose independent compute nodes into a sovereign cloud platform tailored to your requirements, and then manage it, without a systems team.
What you get
A cloud you own, operated by the network.
Your own execution environment
Motoko-authored apps (called canisters) run inside a virtualized runtime created by your chosen nodes. Only your code can touch your data; there is no shared operating system to compromise.
One-click deploys for agent-built apps
Caffeine, Claude Code, and other builders produce a signed .icp file. Drag it into your control panel and it deploys atomically across every node.
Usage-based, prepaid billing
Engines run against a prepaid balance of cycles. Top up with a credit card. No surprise invoices, no capacity-planning meetings.
A console built for reading
Live node health, per-canister cycle burn, compute history over hours or weeks, and one-button moves between operators.
From first engine to first ship
- 1.Sign in with a passkey.
- 2.Pick a starter node class. Small engines: ~$400/mo. High-performance: ~$1,500/mo.
- 3.Pick nodes from providers that match your geography and compliance needs.
- 4.Top up cycles with a card. Track burn in real-time.
- 5.Install an app, or connect Caffeine.ai and chat your first feature live.
What a cloud engine is not
- · Not a VM or container orchestrator.
- · Not a serverless function platform.
- · Not a managed database.
- · Not a place to host legacy Node/Python/Rails apps.
It is a new substrate for AI-built software: simpler, safer, and native to the way modern agents write code.
Compared to
How cloud engines stand apart.
| Capability | Traditional cloud (IaaS) | Serverless / PaaS | Cloud engine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tamperproof from the OS down | No, patched OS stack | No, platform-trusted | Yes, no OS below protocol |
| Moves between providers without downtime | Weeks of migration | Vendor-locked | Seconds, swap nodes live |
| Rejects lossy data migrations | Your problem | Your problem | Verified by platform |
| Requires systems team | Yes | Smaller, still needed | None |
| Billing model | Per-instance | Per-request | Prepaid cycles |
| Native app unit | Container / VM | Function / endpoint | Canister (code + state) |
AI access
Build with agents. Operate with them too.
ICP MCP is DFINITY's official connector between an AI assistant and the Internet Computer. Add it to Claude, ChatGPT, or any MCP-capable app, and the assistant you build with can also read the interfaces of the canisters on your engine, query their data, call their methods, and watch their cycles.
Set up ICP MCPWhat the connector gives you
Chat with your apps
Look things up, call methods, and manage app accounts in plain language, without writing code or opening a console tab.
It acts as your identity
The assistant signs in with your Internet Identity, and delegations are minted per app, so each app sees the principal it already knows.
Grants are scoped and expire
Pick questions-only or actions too, pick how long the session lasts, and revoke the connector whenever you want.
Connector URL
https://mcp.internetcomputer.org/mcp
Interoperation
Your canisters can talk to the wider network.
Canisters you choose to expose publicly can be addressed by canisters on other cloud engines, forming a larger, composable application surface. Engines running on customer-owned on-prem hardware receive reduced interop permissions, since their security guarantees are weaker.
Interop modelTrust classes
Verified operator engine
Nodes from KYC-verified providers in independent data centers. Full interop.
Cloud-backed engine
Nodes provisioned on AWS, GCP, or Azure by KYC-verified providers. Full interop.
On-prem engine
Customer-run hardware. Reduced interop permissions; cannot be called from others by default.
Ready when you are.
Sign in with a passkey. No credit card required until you top up your first engine.