HostingGuru
Deploy Dockerin minutes.
Bring your own Dockerfile and deploy anything. HostingGuru builds your image from GitHub, runs your container, and routes traffic to it — giving you full control over your build process and runtime environment. Any language, any framework, any stack.
Steps
1. Connect your GitHub
Sign up and install the HostingGuru GitHub App. We'll list all your repositories — pick the one with your Dockerfile.
2. We detect your Dockerfile
HostingGuru looks for a Dockerfile in the repository root (or a path you specify). We support multi-stage builds, build arguments, and .dockerignore files. If you have a docker-compose.yml, we read the service definition to understand exposed ports and health checks. Build context and target stage can be customized from the dashboard.
3. Your app is live
Your Docker image is built and the container starts with your environment variables injected securely. We detect the exposed port from your Dockerfile's EXPOSE directive and route HTTPS traffic to it. Health checks keep your container responsive, and if it crashes, it's restarted automatically. You get the exact same runtime in production that you test locally.
Docker deployment with the controls you want
Dockerfile is the source of truth
Your Dockerfile defines the build. We run docker build with your FROM, RUN, COPY, ENV, USER, WORKDIR, CMD, and ENTRYPOINT exactly as written. Multi-stage builds work; .dockerignore is respected.
Multi-stage builds, small images
Build with a fat node:20 or rust:1.78 stage, copy artifacts into a slim distroless or alpine stage, ship a 30 MB image. Cold starts proportional to the image size — pick a small base and your app starts instantly.
Build args and BuildKit features
--build-arg values come from your env vars. BuildKit features (RUN --mount=type=cache, RUN --mount=type=secret, --platform) work — your apt cache and pip wheel cache survive between builds, dramatically cutting redeploy time.
HEALTHCHECK and EXPOSE respected
EXPOSE 3000 tells us where to route traffic. HEALTHCHECK directives drive our liveness checks — your container is only marked healthy after your check passes, not after some arbitrary 30-second wait.
Custom registries and private base images
Pull base images from private registries via env-injected credentials. docker login happens before build with your encrypted credentials. Your internal base image strategy works the same as on a CI runner you control.
Free tier for your container project
One container service, free, 24/7. Whether your image is a Go binary, a Python ML inference server, or a third-party tool you just want to run somewhere with HTTPS — the Starter plan covers it without a credit card.
Ready to deploy your Docker app?
From GitHub to production in under 5 minutes. No credit card needed.
Key facts and common questions
Docker hosting on HostingGuru is a managed Platform-as-a-Service that builds and runs your Docker application directly from a GitHub repository, without you operating servers, container registries, or build pipelines.
What is the fastest way to deploy a Docker app on HostingGuru?
Install the HostingGuru GitHub App on the repository, pick the branch, and click Deploy. HostingGuru detects a Dockerfile at the repository root, runs docker build in an isolated BuildKit environment, and runs the resulting image as your service. Multi-stage builds, build args, and BuildKit cache mounts all work. The first deploy of a standard Docker project finishes in about 2–4 minutes.
How long does a Docker deployment take on HostingGuru?
Build time depends on your Dockerfile. A 2-stage Node image typically builds in 60–120 seconds; a complex multi-stage build with native dependencies can take 5–10 minutes on the first run, with layer caching cutting subsequent builds by 60–80%.
Which Docker versions does HostingGuru support?
HostingGuru builds images on x86_64 (linux/amd64) by default. Pin a specific runtime in your Dockerfile (FROM node:22-alpine, FROM python:3.13-slim, etc.) — HostingGuru does not override your base image.
How much does it cost to deploy a Docker app on HostingGuru?
The Starter plan is free for one always-on Docker service. Hobby is $19/month for 3 services on shared infrastructure. Pro is $35/month for 10 services on a dedicated CX22 server. See pricing for the full plan matrix.