Ploy

Ploy is an open-source, self-hostable serverless deployment platform and Vercel alternative. It enables you to deploy and host web applications with GitHub integration, automatic builds, and continuous deployment, all on your own infrastructure.

Key Features

• GitHub Integration: Connect your repositories and deploy automatically on every push
• Branch Deployments: Each branch gets its own deployment URL for easy testing
• Automatic Builds: Zero-config deployments for popular frameworks (Next.js, React, Vue, and more)
• Custom Domains: Connect your own domains to your deployments
• Build Logs: Real-time build logs and deployment status tracking
• Organization Management: Multi-tenant support with teams and projects
• Self-Hosted: Complete control over your infrastructure and data

Why Ploy?

Unlike hosted platforms like Vercel, Ploy gives you:

• Full Ownership: Your code, your infrastructure, your data
• No Vendor Lock-in: Deploy anywhere you want
• Cost Control: No surprise bills or usage limits
• Privacy: Keep everything within your own infrastructure
• Customization: Modify and extend the platform to fit your needs

Deployment Workflow

1. Connect GitHub: Authenticate with GitHub and select repositories
2. Configure Project: Set build commands and environment variables
3. Deploy: Push to your repository and Ploy handles the rest
4. Monitor: Track build progress and view deployment logs
5. Share: Access your deployed application via auto-generated URLs

Architecture

Ploy consists of several components working together:

• UI Dashboard: Manage projects, deployments, and view analytics
• API Server: Handles authentication, GitHub webhooks, and deployment management
• Worker: Processes repository syncing and background jobs
• Handler: Serves deployed applications with edge routing
• Database: PostgreSQL for persistent storage
• Cache: Redis for session management and caching

Getting Started

Using Ploy is straightforward:

1. Sign in with your GitHub account
2. Create an organization and project
3. Connect a repository from GitHub
4. Push code to trigger automatic deployments
5. Access your app via the generated deployment URL

Hosted vs. Self-Hosted

You can use Ploy in two ways:

• Hosted Version: For immediate use without setup, visit meetploy.com to create an account
• Self-Hosted: Deploy Ploy on your own infrastructure for complete control

The self-hosted version offers full customization and ensures your code and deployments stay within your infrastructure.