Shipown is a cross-platform Electron desktop application that deploys and operates web applications on Linux servers you own. It gives you the workflow of a managed deployment platform — connect a source, build, get a live URL, roll back — while the servers and the data stay yours.

How is Shipown different from Vercel or Netlify?

Managed platforms run your app on their runtime and their account. Shipown deploys to a server you already rent or own, over plain SSH, and installs no agent to do it. You keep the smooth workflow without handing over the infrastructure.

What can it deploy today?

Three runtimes. Node applications run by PM2 — Next.js, Nuxt, Remix, SvelteKit, NestJS, Fastify and plain Express. Static sites served by Nginx, including Vite with React or Vue, Astro and plain HTML. And Docker, from a Dockerfile or a compose file, which covers any language that ships in a container. Python, Go, Rust, PHP, Ruby, Java and .NET have no native runtime here; deploy them in a container.

Does Shipown need Docker?

No. Node applications run directly under PM2 and static sites are served by Nginx, on a server with no Docker at all. If you do use Docker, Shipown deploys to it as well — a Dockerfile or a compose file, with releases, health checks and rollback — and manages the containers already on the server: every container inspected, published and internal ports mapped, CPU and memory gauges, crash loops called out, start, stop, restart, a shell inside the container, and its logs. It can also install Docker on a server that has none.

Where does it deploy to?

A Linux server you can reach over SSH — a VPS, a cloud VM, or a box in your office. Ubuntu, Debian, the RHEL family and Alpine are handled. Your own computer is where a project comes from, not somewhere Shipown deploys to.

Are my SSH keys or environment variables uploaded anywhere?

No. SSH private keys, passwords, passphrases, environment variable values, source code and project files never leave your machine for licensing or telemetry. Credentials are held by the Electron main process and are never exposed to the interface. The one exception is one you opt into: the AI terminal sends its conversation to the AI provider you pick.

Where does the AI terminal send my server’s data?

Only to the provider you choose (DeepSeek, Anthropic Claude, or OpenAI), and only while you actively interact with it. The AI operator sends your prompt and the terminal outputs of the commands it runs under your own encrypted API key. Shipown does not intercept or store this telemetry. Destructive commands (reboots, rm -rf, firewall changes, stopping SSH) are never executed automatically without your explicit confirmation.

Can I roll a bad deployment back?

Yes. Every deploy lands in its own release directory, and the live pointer moves only after the build and the health check pass. A deploy that fails restores the previous release by itself, and you can switch back to an earlier release later from the app.

Does it deploy automatically when I push?

No. Shipown tells you when a branch has moved ahead of what a server is running, and how many commits are waiting, but a person still presses deploy. Automatic deployment on push is not part of it.

Is Shipown open source?

No. Shipown is a commercial product and its source is not published. What runs on your servers is plain SSH and shell — nothing is installed to phone home — but the desktop application itself is licensed, not open.

Is Shipown free, and how do I get access?

Every plan starts with a free 30-day trial and no card is asked for until you buy. What you get is a licence key with an expiry and a device limit — typically two machines. Activation is checked by the licence server rather than by the app, so a key can be extended, replaced, or have a device slot freed without reinstalling anything.

Which platforms does the desktop app run on?

Windows, as an .exe installer, and Linux, as a .deb for Debian and Ubuntu. Both come from the same download server the app updates from, so the file on the download page and the file an update fetches are the same file. macOS is not published yet.

● Direct SSH2 · Interactive Simulation · v0.1.0-rc.8

Operate your Linux servers without third-party agents.

Direct SSH telemetry, live Docker container lifecycle controls, atomic release rollbacks, automated Nginx HTTPS routing, and multi-model AI troubleshooting — all from your own desktop.

A live simulation of the Shipown desktop application. Explore the fleet view, switch servers, monitor real-time SSH telemetry gauges, control containers, and test the AI operator.

Shipown/prod-ec2-mumbaiDirect SSH2

Encrypted Session18ms

Telemetry · 2s refresh

System Resources

Direct SSH metrics pipeline

ProcessorCPU Usage

18%Load

Cores2 vCPU

Archx86_64

Load avg0.24 · 0.31 · 0.28

MemoryRAM Status

64%Allocated

Used1.28 / 2.00 GB

Available720 MB

Swap Free2.00 GB

StorageRoot Disk

42%Used

Used space16.8 / 40.0 GB

Available23.2 GB

NetworkBandwidth I/O

ActiveTraffic

Download (RX)142 KB/s

Upload (TX)89 KB/s

Total Transferred4.8 GB

AvailabilityUptime

14dOnline

Duration14 days, 6 hours

KernelLinux 6.8.0-1012…

Operating SystemUbuntu

Live Top Processes

Active Server Tasks

Sorted by CPU allocation

Command / Process	PID	User	CPU	Memory	Status
node server.js (web-storefront)	8421	ubuntu	2.8%	94.2 MB	RUNNING
nginx: worker process	1120	www-data	1.2%	38.4 MB	RUNNING
postgres: writer	904	postgres	0.9%	248.0 MB	RUNNING
docker-proxy :5999	1340	root	0.4%	14.1 MB	RUNNING

Zero-Agent Architecture

Native Linux primitives. Zero daemon overhead.

Most platforms force you to install an always-on root daemon that phones home to a cloud control plane.Shipown operates in reverse: your own desktop acts as the control plane using standard OpenSSH, systemd, and the Docker socket.

01 / Transport

Direct Encrypted SSH2 Transport

Connections run strictly over standard OpenSSH. Your private SSH keys stay safely encapsulated in your operating system's native keychain (Windows DPAPI, macOS Keychain, Linux Secret Service) and never touch any third-party cloud.

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 deploy@server

No background root daemons consuming RAM
No inbound ports opened besides standard SSH (port 22)
Compatible with SSH jump hosts, bastions, and WireGuard VPNs

02 / Releases

Atomic Symlink Deployment Engine

Each release is built in an isolated timestamped directory. Once builds and health checks pass, Shipown atomically swaps the current symbolic link. If an uncaught exception occurs, instant rollback restores the previous release in 300ms.

ln -sfn releases/8f21c0 /var/www/app/current

Zero downtime during npm / bun package compilation
Keeps last N releases on disk for instant rollbacks
Git branch drift tracking against GitHub remote HEAD

03 / Edge Proxy

OpenResty & Nginx Edge Routing

Automatic reverse proxy generation with Let's Encrypt TLS. Every routing change is pre-validated with nginx -t before reloading the daemon, preventing bad configurations from ever knocking live domains offline.

nginx -t && systemctl reload nginx

Automated Certbot TLS certificate generation & auto-renewal
WebSocket, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3 support out of the box
Direct proxy routing to local ports or Docker container sockets

Fleet Capabilities

Engineered for developers who own their infrastructure.

Everything required to operate production machines reliably — without paying a 400% cloud markup.

Real-Time Fleet Telemetry

Monitor CPU usage, allocated memory, disk consumption, network I/O transfer rates, and system uptime scraped every 2 seconds over SSH directly into local state.

Docker Container Controls

Complete Docker daemon control over SSH. Inspect running containers, review mapped ports, check live memory bounds, and trigger start, stop, and restart operations.

PM2 & Node.js Clustering

Deploy Node.js, Next.js, and Express apps in cluster mode. Reload worker threads without dropping connections, save process lists across reboots, and inspect memory leaks.

Nginx Reverse Proxy & SSL

Connect domain names to internal services in seconds. Let's Encrypt certificates are provisioned automatically and auto-renewed 30 days before expiration.

Hygiene & Kernel Tuning

Clean /tmp tmpfs RAM storage, purge orphaned @notty SSH sessions, configure OpenSSH keepalive parameters, and reclaim Linux pagecache memory.

AI Terminal Operator

Diagnose port collisions, 502 Bad Gateway errors, and log exceptions with your own Claude, DeepSeek, or GPT key. Commands require explicit approval before execution.

The Direct Difference

Shipown vs. Cloud PaaS vs. Raw Terminal Scripts

See how direct desktop orchestration compares to expensive cloud abstractions and fragile bash scripts.

Capability	Shipown Desktop	Cloud PaaS (Vercel / Heroku)	Raw Terminal & Bash
Monthly Hosting Cost	$4–$10/mo (Raw VPS)	$20–$250+/mo per seat	$4–$10/mo (Raw VPS)
Agent Overhead on Server	0 MB RAM / 0% CPU (Agentless)	250 MB+ background daemon	0 MB (None)
Private Key & Credential Security	Encrypted on your computer only	Stored on third-party cloud	Plaintext ~/.ssh on local machine
Atomic Rollback Speed	< 300ms (Instant Symlink Swap)	3–6 minutes (Container rebuild)	Manual git checkout & restart
Unified Multi-Server Fleet UI	Yes, 1-click fleet switcher	Yes, locked to their platform	20 open terminal tabs & aliases
Docker & Native PM2 Support	Both supported side-by-side	Proprietary serverless/container lock	Manual systemctl / docker commands
Built-in AI Assistant with Safety Guard	Included (DeepSeek, Claude, GPT)	None / Paid add-on	Manual copy-paste into ChatGPT

Infrastructure Agnostic

Deploy to any cloud, VPS, or bare-metal machine.

If your machine runs Linux and accepts SSH connections, Shipown can manage, monitor, and deploy to it.

Amazon Web ServicesAWS EC2 & Lightsail

Ubuntu, Debian, and Amazon Linux instances in any AWS region.

Hetzner CloudCX, CPX & Dedicated

Ultra low-cost European and US instances with NVMe storage.

DigitalOceanDroplets & VPC

Standard and CPU-optimized droplets with automatic private networking.

Oracle CloudOCI Always Free Tier

Deploy to 4-core Ampere ARM or x86 instances at zero hosting cost.

Akamai / LinodeLinode Compute

Fast Linux VPS nodes with standard root access and static IPv4.

Bare-Metal & HomelabAny SSH Server

Intel NUCs, Raspberry Pi 5 clusters, and custom on-premise racks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Server Management Questions Answered

Does Shipown install any background agent or daemon on my server?

No. Shipown is 100% agentless. It connects strictly through standard SSH2 (the exact same protocol used when you run ssh user@host in your terminal). There are zero background daemons consuming RAM or listening on open network ports.

Where are my private SSH keys and server passwords stored?

On your local computer only. Private keys are never transmitted to Shipown servers or any third-party infrastructure. When saved, credentials are encrypted using your operating system's native keychain (Windows DPAPI, macOS Keychain, Linux Secret Service).

Can I connect to servers with custom SSH ports, bastions, or VPNs?

Yes. You can specify any custom SSH port (e.g. 2222), connect over Tailscale or WireGuard private IP addresses, or route through SSH jump hosts. Because standard SSH is used, any network topology that works in your terminal works in Shipown.

How does atomic zero-downtime rollback work?

Every deployment creates a timestamped folder inside /var/www/shipown/releases/<sha>. Once dependencies are installed and health checks pass, a symbolic link (current) is atomically swapped. If an update fails, Shipown flips the symlink back in under 300 milliseconds.

Can I run Docker containers and standard Node/PM2 apps on the same machine?

Yes. Shipown supports hybrid setups out of the box. You can run PostgreSQL or Redis in Docker while running Next.js or Fastify directly through PM2 and Nginx on the same machine.

How does the AI Terminal Operator protect against destructive commands?

The AI assistant operates in proposal mode. It inspects server errors and proposes a shell command with a safety guard badge. The command is never executed until you explicitly review it and click "Approve & Run".

Desktop Release · v0.1.0-rc.8

Ready to take complete ownership of your servers?

Shipown connects directly over standard SSH2. No cloud markups, zero proprietary agent overhead, and your private keys remain encrypted on your machine.

Download Shipown for Windows & Linux Read Technical Documentation →

Free beta access · No credit card required · Compatible with Ubuntu, Debian & AlmaLinux