Fly.io
Global app hosting close to users at the edge
Sidekick
Deploy side projects to your VPS like Fly.io
CLI tool that transforms any Ubuntu VPS into a production-ready platform with one-command setup, zero-downtime deploys, automatic SSL, and built-in secrets management.
Overview
Escape Platform Lock-In Without Sacrificing Developer Experience
Sidekick brings the simplicity of modern PaaS platforms to your own VPS. Designed for developers tired of vendor lock-in and rising hosting costs, it automates the entire journey from bare metal Ubuntu server to production-ready infrastructure in minutes.
What You Get
With a single sidekick init command, your VPS is configured with Docker, Traefik reverse proxy, automatic SSL certificate provisioning, and SOPS-based secrets encryption. Deploy any Dockerfile-based application with sidekick launch, and push updates with zero downtime using sidekick deploy. Preview environments tied to git commits let you test changes before promoting to production.
Built for Side Projects, Ready for Real Traffic
Sidekick targets developers hosting side projects, MVPs, and small-to-medium production workloads who want control over their infrastructure without operational complexity. The tool handles load balancing, high availability, and security hardening automatically. Whether you're using DigitalOcean, Hetzner, or your own hardware, any Ubuntu VPS with SSH access becomes a powerful deployment target—often handling significant traffic on an $8/month instance.
Highlights
One-command VPS provisioning with Docker, Traefik, and security hardening
Zero-downtime deployments with automatic SSL certificate management
Built-in SOPS encryption for secure environment variable handling
Git-based preview environments for testing before production
Pros
- Dramatically simpler than manual VPS configuration and maintenance
- Eliminates vendor lock-in while matching PaaS developer experience
- Cost-effective: leverage inexpensive VPS instances for real workloads
- Automatic security best practices including root user disabling
Considerations
- Requires Homebrew on local machine for dependency management
- Limited to Ubuntu LTS distributions on the server side
- Single-VPS architecture lacks multi-region redundancy out of the box
- Assumes Dockerfile-based applications; no native support for other runtimes
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Fit guide
Great for
- Developers hosting multiple side projects on a budget
- Teams wanting PaaS convenience without recurring platform fees
- Projects outgrowing free tiers but not needing enterprise infrastructure
- Engineers comfortable with SSH and basic Linux administration
Not ideal when
- Applications requiring multi-region global distribution
- Teams without any Linux or Docker familiarity
- Windows or macOS-based development workflows without Homebrew
- Workloads needing managed databases or stateful service orchestration
How teams use it
MVP Launch on a Shoestring Budget
Deploy a full-stack web app with SSL and secrets management for under $10/month while retaining flexibility to scale or migrate.
Multi-Project Developer Portfolio
Host a dozen side projects on a single VPS with automatic routing, SSL, and zero-downtime updates for each application.
Preview Environments for Solo Developers
Test feature branches in isolated environments tied to git commits before merging, all on the same VPS infrastructure.
Escape Heroku or Fly.io Lock-In
Migrate existing Dockerfile-based apps to your own VPS with comparable deployment experience and predictable monthly costs.
Tech snapshot
Go96%
Python4%
Frequently asked questions
What happens during the initial VPS setup?
Sidekick creates a non-root user, disables root login, installs Docker and Traefik, configures SOPS/age encryption keys, and sets up automatic SSL certificate provisioning—all in about two minutes.
Which SSH keys does Sidekick use?
It checks your default .ssh directory for id_rsa.pub, id_ecdsa.pub, or id_ed25519.pub, and also tries keys loaded in ssh-agent. Add custom keys via ssh-add before running Sidekick.
How does zero-downtime deployment work?
Sidekick builds a new Docker image, transfers it to the VPS, and uses Docker Compose with Traefik to route traffic seamlessly from the old container to the new one without dropping requests.
Can I use my own domain name?
Yes. Point your domain's DNS A record to your VPS IP address, then specify the domain during sidekick launch. SSL certificates are provisioned automatically via Traefik.
What VPS providers are supported?
Any provider offering Ubuntu LTS with SSH access works—DigitalOcean and Hetzner are recommended, but you can also use your own hardware as long as it has a public IP.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 7,305
- Watchers
- 7,305
- Forks
- 159
LicenseGPL-3.0
Repo age1 year old
Last commit2 weeks ago
Self-hostingSupported
Primary languageGo
Last synced 2 hours ago