# Pier

> A lightweight, self-hosted PaaS written in Rust. Single ~15 MB binary. 20–40 MB RAM at idle. Open-source (AGPL-3.0) alternative to Coolify, Heroku, and Vercel. Deploys Docker containers, Compose stacks and Git repositories with automatic HTTPS, multi-server agents, alerts and notifications, scheduled S3 backups, load balancing with replicas and 35+ one-click templates.

Founded: 2026 by Aleksandr Litvinenko.
Language: Rust 2021. Runtime: Tokio. HTTP: Axum. Database: embedded SQLite (WAL).
Repository: https://github.com/joveptesg/pier
Current version: 1.0.0
Install: `curl -fsSL https://get.pier.dev | sh`

## Core pages

- [Home](https://pier.team/): what Pier is and why it exists
- [Services catalog](https://pier.team/services): 35+ official one-click templates (databases, dev tools, AI/vector, monitoring, CMS, games, VPN)
- [Features — Alerts & notifications](https://pier.team/features/alerts): 10 preset rules, Telegram/Discord/Slack/email
- [Features — Multi-server](https://pier.team/features/multi-server): lightweight agents, heartbeat, fleet dashboard
- [Features — Backups](https://pier.team/features/backups): scheduled DB & volume backups to S3 / Bunny.net
- [Features — Load balancing](https://pier.team/features/load-balancing): replicas with round-robin / weighted / sticky-cookie
- [Changelog](https://pier.team/changelog): every release, reverse-chronological
- [Sponsor](https://pier.team/sponsor): crypto donations — TON, Tron (USDT-TRC20), Solana (SOL + USDT-SPL)
- [Docs](https://pier.team/docs/getting-started/introduction): installation, concepts, applications, security
- [llms-full.txt](https://pier.team/llms-full.txt): full plain-text documentation dump

## Key facts

- Idle RAM: 20–40 MB
- Binary size: ~15 MB
- Minimum VPS: 512 MB RAM, 1 vCPU (a $5/month node is enough)
- License: AGPL-3.0; commercial licenses available on request
- Secrets at rest: AES-256-GCM with a key stored outside the database
- Reverse proxy: Traefik + Let's Encrypt, automatic HTTPS, custom domains, path-based routing
- Database backups: cron-scheduled `pg_dump` / `mysqldump` / `mongodump` / `redis BGSAVE` to any S3-compatible bucket (incl. Bunny.net Storage Zones)
- Multi-server: lightweight Pier agents installed via `curl | sh`, heartbeat, system metrics, location tracking
- Alerts: 10 preset rules (CPU/RAM/disk high, container crashed, deploy/backup failed, agent offline, SSL expiring), routed to Telegram, Discord, Slack and email with cooldowns
- Load balancing: scale services 1→N replicas with round-robin, weighted, or sticky-cookie strategies; replicas distribute across servers
- Authentication: bcrypt password hashing, TOTP 2FA, JWT sessions with revocation, bearer API tokens
- Private registries: per-project and global registry credentials (Docker Hub, GHCR, GitLab CR, AWS ECR, Harbor) — encrypted at rest
- Self-update: atomic binary swap with rollback if the new build fails
- Frontend: HTMX + Alpine.js, ~30 KB JS, server-rendered, dark mode, responsive

## Templates (35+ official, 47 deploy variants)

- **Databases (9):** PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Redis, Valkey, ClickHouse, Cassandra, ScyllaDB
- **Services (21):** Gitea, Grafana, Matrix Synapse, Elasticsearch, Kibana, RabbitMQ, Directus, Supabase, NocoBase, Portainer, Gotify, Audiobookshelf, Qdrant, Beszel, AmneziaWG, Minecraft, Terraria, and more
- **Applications (3):** Dockerfile, Docker image, Docker Compose
- **Git (3):** Public repo, private repo (deploy key), private repo (GitHub App)

## Comparison

- **Coolify:** Laravel/PHP, 6+ support containers, 750 MB–1.2 GB RAM at idle.
- **Pier:** single Rust binary using 20–40 MB RAM. Same core workflow, a fraction of the footprint.
- **Dokku / Kamal:** CLI-first, single-host orientation. Pier adds a full web UI, multi-server agents, alerts, encrypted secrets, registry auth and a 35+ template catalog.
- **CapRover:** heavier Docker Swarm UI. Pier ships smaller and works on a single Docker daemon out of the box.

## What's new (recent migrations / PRs)

- Registry credentials (per-project + global, AES-256-GCM)
- Per-database backup schedules
- Load balancing & service replicas (multi-server distribution)
- Federation: Core ↔ Core control via peer_cores
- Unified servers table (agent / peer / local)

## Contact

- Issues: https://github.com/joveptesg/pier/issues
- Security: https://pier.team/.well-known/security.txt
- Commercial licensing: info@devcom.app