diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 65e07b3..877899b 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ MONERO_WALLET_RPC_USER=
 MONERO_WALLET_RPC_PASSWORD=
 MONERO_WALLET_RPC_WALLET_PASSWORD=
 MONERO_WALLET_RPC_WALLET_DIR=/wallets
+
+# Monero daemon
+# - Default: uses a third-party daemon (low setup, external dependency)
+# - Local: run the bundled `monerod` service and set MONERO_DAEMON_URL=http://monerod:18081
 MONERO_DAEMON_URL=http://xmr-node.cakewallet.com:18081
 
 # UI
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 469632f..5861319 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -76,21 +76,35 @@ cp .env.example .env
 - `POSTGRES_USER`, `POSTGRES_PASSWORD`, `POSTGRES_DB`
 - `API_KEYS`, `API_KEY_ENCRYPTION_KEY`
 - `SITE_URL` (public URL for the UI)
-- Monero view-only wallet settings (`MONERO_WALLET_RPC_*`) and daemon URL
-- `MONERO_DAEMON_URL` if you use your own daemon
+- Monero view-only wallet settings (`MONERO_WALLET_RPC_*`)
+- `MONERO_DAEMON_URL` (choose one of the options below)
 
-3. Choose a wallet-rpc target and provision view-only wallets:
+3. Choose a Monero daemon source:
+- **Use a third-party daemon (default):**
+  - Leave `MONERO_DAEMON_URL` as-is (the default points at a public Monero daemon).
+- **Run your own daemon via Docker Compose:**
+  - Set `MONERO_DAEMON_URL=http://monerod:18081`
+  - Start the stack with the `local-daemon` profile (see step 5)
+  - Note: initial sync can take a long time and uses significant disk; payment detection won’t be reliable until the daemon is synced.
+
+4. Choose a wallet-rpc target and provision view-only wallets:
 - Use the bundled wallet-rpc containers:
   - Set `MONERO_WALLET_RPC_URLS=http://wallet-rpc-reconciler-1:18083,http://wallet-rpc-reconciler-2:18083,http://wallet-rpc-reconciler-3:18083`
 - Or point to an external wallet-rpc service:
   - Set `MONERO_WALLET_RPC_URLS`, `MONERO_WALLET_RPC_USER`, `MONERO_WALLET_RPC_PASSWORD`, and `MONERO_WALLET_RPC_WALLET_PASSWORD`
 
-4. Start the stack:
+5. Start the stack:
 
 ```
 docker compose up --build -d
 ```
 
+If you’re running the bundled `monerod` service:
+
+```
+docker compose --profile local-daemon up --build -d
+```
+
 ### Optional: donations (disabled by default)
 
 Donation endpoints and UI are off by default for self-hosted deployments.
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 41ca700..0bcc452 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -64,6 +64,37 @@ services:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy
     restart: on-failure
+  monerod:
+    build:
+      context: ./docker/monero
+      args:
+        MONERO_VERSION: ${MONERO_VERSION:-0.18.4.4}
+    image: monero-local:${MONERO_VERSION:-0.18.4.4}
+    entrypoint: ["monerod"]
+    command:
+      [
+        "--non-interactive",
+        "--rpc-bind-ip",
+        "0.0.0.0",
+        "--rpc-bind-port",
+        "18081",
+        "--confirm-external-bind",
+        "--prune-blockchain",
+        "--data-dir",
+        "/data",
+        "--log-level",
+        "0"
+      ]
+    volumes:
+      - monerod_data:/data
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18081/get_height >/dev/null || exit 1"]
+      interval: 30s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 10
+      start_period: 60s
+    restart: on-failure
+    profiles: ["local-daemon"]
   wallet-rpc-reconciler-1:
     build:
       context: ./docker/monero
@@ -187,3 +218,4 @@ services:
       retries: 10
 volumes:
   postgres_data:
+  monerod_data: