sh0

sh0 is a self-hosted deployment platform built in Rust that combines deployments, reverse proxy, SSL, monitoring, and backups in one binary. It connects with GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket for push-triggered deployments and pull-request preview environments. Users can choose from 170 one-click templates, including WordPress, PostgreSQL, Redis, Grafana, and Ollama; sh0 also detects 19 software stacks. Its REST API provides over 180 endpoints and supports bearer-token and API-key authentication. Listed features include custom domains, database previews, configurable preview expiry, and notifications through Slack, Discord, Telegram, email, or webhooks. Security features include encryption for secrets, two-factor authentication, role-based access controls, and audit logging. The Free plan allows one stack, while all listed plans include unlimited apps and deployments. Pro costs $19 a month, Scale $49 a month, and Business $99 a month. Support ranges from community support on Free to priority support on Business.

sh0 combines self-hosted deployments with preview environments, templates, API access, and backup features. The free tier's one-stack limit and the listed system requirements are key considerations before setup.

sh0 suits developers seeking a self-hosted deployment platform with Git-based workflows, templates, and deployment previews. Its plan descriptions also identify growing projects, agencies, and teams as intended users.

Overview

sh0 is a self-hosted platform for deploying and operating applications on infrastructure you control. It is best suited to developers and teams who want deployment workflows, previews and operational tools together, provided they are comfortable supplying and maintaining a capable host. The free tier makes it possible to start without a subscription, but its one-stack cap is a real constraint for multi-project use.

Key features

Deployments and previews

Connections to GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket enable push-triggered deployments, while the wider provider support also covers Gitea and Forgejo. Pull-request previews, database previews and configurable expiry controls make sh0 useful for reviewing changes in temporary environments rather than relying only on local setups. That workflow is strongest for teams able to run the required infrastructure themselves.

Templates and stack detection

The 170 one-click templates include WordPress, PostgreSQL, Redis, Grafana and Ollama. Automatic detection covers 19 stacks, including Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, PHP, Java, .NET and static HTML. These options can reduce initial setup for common workloads, though they do not remove the need to operate the host.

Operations, API and security

sh0 combines reverse proxy, SSL, monitoring and backups in a Rust-based, single-binary platform. Scheduled backups support 13 storage providers, including S3, R2, SFTP, Dropbox and Google Drive. Its REST API has more than 180 endpoints, with bearer-token and API-key authentication; deployment notifications can go to Slack, Discord, Telegram, email or a webhook.

All plans include an AI assistant, 103 AI tools and an MCP server for Claude Desktop and Cursor. Security controls include AES-256-GCM secret encryption, Argon2id password hashing, TOTP two-factor authentication, role-based access control and audit logging. The maker reports that three parallel security audits found 34 issues, including six critical and ten high-severity findings, and that all were resolved.

Pricing

The Free plan costs nothing and includes one stack, unlimited apps and deployments, 170+ templates, local backups and community support through Discord. It is a reasonable starting point for a single-stack project, but local backups and the one-stack ceiling narrow its fit for teams or anyone managing multiple independent stacks.

Pro costs $19 a month. It retains the one-stack limit while adding managed databases, storage, email, authentication, realtime and functions, a 90-day audit log and email support. It suits a developer who wants those managed services without taking on a larger stack portfolio; it does not solve the Free plan's capacity limit.

Scale costs $49 a month and raises the cap to unlimited stacks, with managed services, cloud backups, full monitoring and alerts, uptime monitoring, and email support. This is the more relevant step for growing projects and agencies that need multiple stacks and off-host backups. Business costs $99 a month and adds multi-server bring-your-own-server support, unlimited team members, RBAC, auto-scaling, a one-year audit log and priority support. It is aimed at teams, agencies and enterprises needing broader team and server controls. All plans list unlimited apps and deployments, but the Free and Pro one-stack limit still matters.

Platforms

sh0 is listed for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, self-hosted use, web and API access. Setup requires at least 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM and 10 GB disk, with Docker Engine 20+; the named minimum operating-system options are Linux x64 and macOS ARM64. The modest stated baseline may suit a small host, but the self-hosted model means infrastructure provisioning remains the user's responsibility.

Who it's for

Choose sh0 if you want to deploy on infrastructure you control and value integrated previews, templates, backups and operational controls. It is a weaker fit if you want a platform-managed deployment service or need several stacks on a no-cost plan.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Pull-request previews can include database previews and configurable expiry, supporting more realistic review workflows.
• Pro: Templates, stack detection, backups, monitoring and a substantial API cover a broad deployment and operations workflow in one platform.
• Pro: The paid tiers remove the stack cap, and Business adds unlimited team members and multi-server BYOS.
• Con: Free and Pro are both limited to one stack, limiting their usefulness for multi-stack projects.
• Con: Self-hosting requires a qualifying server and Docker Engine, so sh0 is not a hands-off hosting choice.
• Con: Free includes local backups; cloud backups appear on Scale, making off-host backup capability a paid-tier consideration.

Alternatives

For a directory of other preview-focused tools, see Preview Environment Software. Choose Firebase Cloud Messaging if you specifically need a no-cost messaging service rather than a self-hosted deployment platform. Railway is an option for readers looking for a freemium platform with a trial that provides $5 in one-time credit, two replicas, 1 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 1 GB ephemeral storage and 0.5 GB volume storage.

AWS Amplify DataStore is a paid alternative for Android, iOS and web. Netlify may suit web and API projects that prefer a freemium service with a Free plan capped at 300 credits per month, one concurrent build and one team owner. Temps offers a self-hosted option with local unmetered telemetry and storage and query compute on the user's hardware.

Cloudflare Pages is worth considering for web publishing with a Free plan that allows 500 builds per month, one concurrent build and 100 custom domains per project. Easel is another freemium API and web option, while Encore offers a freemium path with two free development environments, 1M trace events per month and seven-day log and trace retention.

Verdict

sh0 is a strong fit for developers and teams who want self-hosted deployments with preview environments and a wide set of operational features under one roof. Its key advantage is the combination of deployment workflows, backups and controls; the main reason to look elsewhere is the need to manage a host, especially if one stack is not enough on the free or Pro plan.