# Hatchbox.io

> Hatchbox deploys web applications to servers you own — DigitalOcean, Hetzner, AWS,
> Linode, Vultr, or any machine running Ubuntu LTS. It provisions the server, builds
> from your git repository, manages your processes, and handles SSL through Caddy.
> Billing is $10 per server per month regardless of how many applications run on it,
> with a 7-day free trial included.

Hatchbox has deployed 24,000+ applications over 2 million times since 2016. It is
operated by GoRails, LLC.

## What makes it different

- Billed per server, not per application. Running ten apps on one server costs the same as running one.
- Your applications run on infrastructure you own and can SSH into. Hatchbox is not in the request path, so a Hatchbox outage does not take your apps down.
- No buildpacks and no Dockerfile. Hatchbox detects supported frameworks from the files already in your repository and configures the build itself.
- Zero-downtime deploys, automatic Let's Encrypt SSL, cron jobs, background workers, managed databases, and streaming deploy logs are all included.
- Support comes from a real person with Linux, hosting, and software development expertise — not an AI chat bot.

## Frameworks detected automatically

| Framework | Language | Detected by | Build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby on Rails | Ruby | `rails` in Gemfile | bundle, `assets:precompile`, `db:migrate` on the cron server |
| Hanami | Ruby | Hanami in Gemfile.lock | `bin/hanami db migrate`, `bin/hanami assets compile` (2.x) |
| Bridgetown | Ruby | `bridgetown` in Gemfile.lock | `bin/bridgetown deploy`, then `mv output public` |
| Hugo | Go | `hugo.toml` in repository | downloads latest Hugo, checks out submodules, `bin/hugo --gc --minify` |
| Jekyll | Ruby | `jekyll` gem in Gemfile.lock | `jekyll build -d public` |
| Middleman | Ruby | `middleman` gem in Gemfile.lock | `middleman build --build-dir public` |
| Astro | JavaScript | `astro` in package.json | `npm run build`, then `mv public public-original && mv dist public` |

Anything else that installs from a build script and runs as a process also deploys —
Sinatra, Roda, Django, Express, Phoenix, and plain static output — you write the build
script yourself.

## MCP server (beta)

Hatchbox publishes an MCP server, `@hatchbox/hatchbox-mcp` on npm, that connects any Model
Context Protocol client to a Hatchbox account — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor,
VS Code in agent mode, or anything else that can launch a local stdio server. It wraps the
Hatchbox `/api/v1` API with one tool per operation — read-only tools and write tools
annotated separately — covering apps and deploys, databases and backups, servers and
clusters, domains, environment variables, cron jobs, and logs. It runs locally via `npx`,
authenticates with a per-developer API token, and requires an active subscription. Creating a
new cloud instance is not available through the API yet. Claude Code is verified end-to-end;
other clients use the same standard stdio configuration but have not been individually tested
by Hatchbox.

- [MCP server page](https://hatchbox.io/mcp): what it does, per-client setup, and FAQs
- [Machine-readable MCP details](https://hatchbox.io/mcp.md)

## Docs

- [Frameworks overview](https://hatchbox.io/frameworks): every framework Hatchbox deploys
- [Deploy Ruby on Rails](https://hatchbox.io/frameworks/rails)
- [Deploy Hanami](https://hatchbox.io/frameworks/hanami)
- [Deploy Bridgetown](https://hatchbox.io/frameworks/bridgetown)
- [Deploy Hugo](https://hatchbox.io/frameworks/hugo)
- [Deploy Jekyll](https://hatchbox.io/frameworks/jekyll)
- [Deploy Middleman](https://hatchbox.io/frameworks/middleman)
- [Deploy Astro](https://hatchbox.io/frameworks/astro)
- [Documentation](https://hatchbox.io/docs)

## Documentation articles

Each article is available as Markdown by appending `.md` to its URL; the links below
point at the Markdown versions directly.

- [Getting Started with Hatchbox: Deploy your first application with Hatchbox](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/1-deploy-your-first.md): Start using Hatchbox to deploy your apps
- [Getting Started with Hatchbox: What are Clusters in Hatchbox?](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/7-what-are-clusters-in.md): Clusters are a group of servers with separate responsibilities
- [Clusters & Servers: Hatchbox IP Addresses](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/8-hatchbox-ip.md): Want to allowlist the Hatchbox IP addresses in your firewall?
- [Clusters & Servers: How are Hatchbox servers hardened for security?](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/9-how-are-hatchbox.md): Hatchbox locks down servers with good security defaults for you.
- [Clusters & Servers: How do I change my server timezone?](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/10-how-do-i-change-my.md): Learn how to change your server timezone
- [Clusters & Servers: Using Jump Servers or Bastion Hosts with Hatchbox](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/11-using-jump-servers.md): Restrict access to servers in the private network using a Jump Server or Bastion Host
- [Clusters & Servers: Transfer Clusters & Servers to another Hatchbox account](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/12-transfer-clusters.md): Learn who to move Hatchbox clusters between accounts
- [Clusters & Servers: Upgrade Ubuntu server versions](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/13-upgrade-ubuntu.md): Upgrading Ubuntu server is a common practice every 2 years when a new Long-Term Support (LTS) version is released.
- [Clusters & Servers: Moving Your App to a Different-Sized Server (When In-Place Resizing Isn't Available)](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/14-moving-your-app-to-a.md): Need a bigger or smaller server but your provider can't resize it in place? Learn how to migrate your app to a new server in Hatchbox — without recreating your apps, env vars, domains, or cron jobs.
- [Clusters & Servers: Scaling From a Single Server to a Multi-Server Cluster](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/15-scaling-from-a.md): Ready to grow past a single server? Learn how to add a worker server for background jobs and put a load balancer in front of your web servers in Hatchbox — what's automatic, what you need to do, and why there's no downtime.
- [Clusters & Servers: How to configure AWS EC2 credentials](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/44-how-to-configure-aws.md): Set the right permissions so Hatchbox can manage your Amazon EC2 instances
- [Apps: Build Scripts and Deploy Scripts](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/18-build-scripts-and.md): You can customize Hatchbox's deployment process with your own build scripts and deploy scripts.
- [Apps: Deploying with Docker Compose](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/19-deploying-with.md): Learn how to use Hatchbox to deploy an app with Docker Compose
- [Apps: Cron Jobs](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/20-cron-jobs.md): Applications can define cron jobs to run recurring tasks at scheduled times
- [SSL, Load Balancers & Caddy: Enabling SSL on your app and domains](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/21-enabling-ssl-on-your.md): Hatchbox uses Caddy to seamlessly generate and renew SSL certificates
- [SSL, Load Balancers & Caddy: On-Demand TLS](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/22-on-demand-tls.md): Generate SSL certificates for custom domains on the fly
- [SSL, Load Balancers & Caddy: Blocking HTTP Requests](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/23-blocking-http.md): Learn how to block requests in Caddy
- [SSL, Load Balancers & Caddy: Health Checks](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/24-health-checks.md): Load balance applications can use health checks to route traffic around affected servers
- [SSL, Load Balancers & Caddy: Limiting file upload sizes](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/25-limiting-file-upload.md): Caddy allows you to limit file uploads to a maximum size to prevent abuse
- [SSL, Load Balancers & Caddy: Custom Headers](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/26-custom-headers.md): Learn how to add or modify headers with Caddy
- [SSL, Load Balancers & Caddy: Custom Redirects](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/27-custom-redirects.md): Caddy can be configured to do custom redirects and other fancy rewriting before requests hit your application.
- [SSL, Load Balancers & Caddy: How Load Balancers Work](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/28-how-load-balancers.md): Load balancers in Hatchbox distribute HTTP traffic across your web servers automatically
- [SSL, Load Balancers & Caddy: Wildcard SSL Certificates with LetsEncrypt](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/41-wildcard-ssl.md): LetsEncrypt supports wildcard SSL certificates but they must be verified using the DNS challenge
- [Billing: How does metered billing work?](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/16-how-does-metered.md): Hatchbox measures usage so you're only charged for what you use
- [Databases: PostgreSQL](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/17-postgresql.md): Learn how to use PostgreSQL databases with Hatchbox
- [Databases: MySQL](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/36-mysql.md): Learn how to use MySQL databases with Hatchbox
- [Databases: SQLite](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/37-sqlite.md): Learn how to use SQLite database with Hatchbox
- [Frameworks: Ruby on Rails](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/29-ruby-on-rails.md): How to deploy Ruby on Rails apps with Hatchbox
- [Frameworks: Hanami](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/30-hanami.md): Learn how to deploy Hanami apps with Hatchbox
- [Frameworks: Bridgetown](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/31-bridgetown.md): Learn how to deploy Bridgetown apps with Hatchbox
- [Frameworks: Hugo](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/32-hugo.md): Learn how to deploy Hugo apps with Hatchbox
- [Frameworks: Jekyll](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/33-jekyll.md): Learn how to deploy Jekyll static sites with Hatchbox
- [Frameworks: Middleman](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/34-middleman.md): Learn how to deploy Middleman static sites with Hatchbox
- [Frameworks: Astro](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/35-astro.md): Learn how to deploy Astro apps with Hatchbox
- [Frameworks: AnyCable](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/42-anycable.md): AnyCable is a high-performance drop-in replacement for ActionCable in Rails
- [Supported Languages: Ruby](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/4-ruby.md): Learn how to deploy Ruby applications with Hatchbox
- [Supported Languages: Node.js](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/5-node-js.md): Learn how to deploy Node.js applications with Hatchbox
- [Supported Languages: How do I use jemalloc with my application?](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/6-how-do-i-use.md): Jemalloc is an alternative memory allocator that can be significantly more efficient
- [Open Source Apps: Campfire](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/40-campfire.md): Campfire is a web-based chat application by 37Signals
- [Open Source Apps: Fizzy](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/38-fizzy.md): Fizzy is a Kanban tracking tool for issues and ideas by 37Signals
- [Open Source Apps: Writebook](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/39-writebook.md): Instantly publish your own books on the web for free, no publisher required.
- [Open Source Apps: Uptime Kuma](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/3-uptime-kuma.md): A fancy self-hosted monitoring tool
- [Hatchbox API: API Endpoints](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/2-api-endpoints.md): Learn how to use the Hatchbox REST API Endpoints
- [Hatchbox API: MCP Server](https://hatchbox.io/docs/articles/43-mcp-server.md): Connect Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, and other MCP clients to your Hatchbox account

## Pricing

- [Pricing page](https://hatchbox.io/pricing)
- [Machine-readable pricing](https://hatchbox.io/pricing.md)
- [Hatchbox vs Heroku](https://hatchbox.io/vs/heroku): itemized cost comparisons for production, staging, and side-project setups — Hatchbox runs 70-85% cheaper than equivalent Heroku plans
- [Hatchbox vs Kamal](https://hatchbox.io/vs/kamal): what Kamal leaves to you (hardening, backups, cron, dashboard, team access) and what Hatchbox includes for $10/server
- [Hatchbox vs Render](https://hatchbox.io/vs/render): per-service billing vs flat per-server pricing — a production Rails setup runs ~$103/month on Hatchbox vs ~$193 on Render
- [Hatchbox vs Fly.io](https://hatchbox.io/vs/fly): usage-based billing vs flat pricing — the same production setup runs ~$103/month on Hatchbox vs ~$346 on Fly.io
- [Hatchbox vs Cloud 66](https://hatchbox.io/vs/cloud-66): both deploy to your own servers; Hatchbox is flat $10/server with unlimited seats, deploys, and backups vs Cloud 66's plan buckets and metered extras
- [Heroku alternatives](https://hatchbox.io/heroku-alternatives): honest roundup of Hatchbox, Render, Fly.io, Railway, Kamal, and Dokku with recommendations by use case

## Optional

- [Monitoring with AppSignal](https://hatchbox.io/features/appsignal)
- [Customer testimonials](https://hatchbox.io/testimonials): real customer quotes, several with specific before/after cost numbers
- [About](https://hatchbox.io/about)