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Managing servers by hand, or with airepeat
You can run everything with SSH, Docker and a few scripts. airepeat does the same jobs with checks, approvals and a record of every change.
Plenty of good sites run on a server someone set up by hand: SSH, Docker Compose, a reverse proxy, certificates and a backup script on a timer. It works, and you learn a lot doing it.
airepeat does those jobs for you on the same kind of server, through Coolify, and keeps the parts that are easy to forget: tested backups, alerts, key handling, and a log of who changed what.
Capabilities
Side by side
| Capability | By hand | With airepeat |
|---|---|---|
| Full control of the server | Complete | It's still your server; SSH stays available |
| Deploy from Git | Scripts or CI you write and maintain | Coolify builds each site's repository |
| Certificates and DNS | Set up and renewed by you | Cloudflare DNS and certificates handled |
| Backups | Whatever you script | Daily database backups; code and settings verified by restore |
| Monitoring and alerts | Extra tools to install | Uptime, response times, resources; email, Slack or webhook alerts |
| Keys and secrets | Env files and good habits | Encrypted vault, never shown again |
| Record of changes | Shell history, if kept | Audit log with approvals |
| Time to a new site | Hours, depending on the stack | From a description or template, with a preview |
Last reviewed . Capabilities only; no prices or performance claims about other products. Something out of date? Tell us.
Doing it by hand makes sense when
- You run one or two sites and enjoy the work.
- You need a setup Coolify doesn't support.
- Learning the details is the point.
airepeat helps when
- The number of sites keeps growing.
- Other people need to make changes safely.
- You want backups and alerts you don't have to remember.
More comparisons
Other ways to run your sites
- Coolify on its own, or with airepeat on topCoolify is a great open-source platform for running apps on your own servers. airepeat uses it, and adds AI building, approvals, a key vault and the accounts around it.
- A managed PaaS, or your own servers with airepeatA managed platform runs everything for you. airepeat gives you much of that convenience on servers in your own account, at your providers' prices.
Run your next site on your own servers
Free while in beta. Bring your own keys; you pay your providers directly.