# Deploy Full-Stack Apps in Minutes

## What if deploying your entire stack was as simple as pushing to GitHub?

That's the question we asked ourselves when building Light Cloud. We were tired of the same story: you build an amazing app, and then you spend days configuring infrastructure. Setting up CI/CD. Wrestling with Docker. Figuring out how to connect your frontend to your backend to your database.

Today, we're launching Light Cloud, a deployment platform that handles all of it.

## A True Full-Stack Platform

Light Cloud isn't just another static site host. It's a complete deployment platform for modern applications. Frontend, backend, database, all in one place.

![Applications dashboard showing Node.js backends, static sites, and multiple environments](/assets/blog/introducing-light-cloud/applications.png)

Deploy Node.js, Python, Go, Java backends alongside React, Vue, Angular, Svelte frontends. Connect your GitHub and go.

### Every Framework, Every Runtime

**Static Sites**: React, Next.js, Vue, Angular, Svelte, plain HTML. We auto-detect your framework and build settings from your repository. Global CDN distribution included.

**Container Applications**: Node.js, Python, Go, Java, Ruby, PHP, .NET. Light Cloud generates Dockerfiles automatically for common runtimes, or bring your own. Configure CPU and memory to match your workload.

**Managed Databases**: PostgreSQL databases with automated provisioning, backups, and connection management. Spin one up in seconds, not hours.

## GitHub-Native Workflow

We built Light Cloud around how developers actually work:

- **Auto-deploy on push**: Every push to your tracked branch triggers a new deployment
- **Branch environments**: Push a new branch, get a new environment. Perfect for feature testing and PR previews
- **Auto-cleanup**: Delete a branch? We clean up the environment automatically (production is always protected)

![Deployment history with GitHub auto-deploy](/assets/blog/introducing-light-cloud/deployments.png)

Every commit deploys automatically. Full deployment history with commit links and status tracking.

Your deployment URL follows a predictable pattern: `{branch}-{app}-{org}.light-cloud.io`

Your `main` branch deploys to `main-myapp-acme.light-cloud.io`, and your `feature-auth` branch gets `feature-auth-myapp-acme.light-cloud.io`. No configuration needed.

## Real-Time Logs

Debug issues without SSH access. Stream logs from your containers in real-time, filter by severity, search across your entire log history.

![Live logs with severity filtering and search](/assets/blog/introducing-light-cloud/logs.png)

Searchable logs with timestamps, severity levels, and filtering. See exactly what your app is doing.

No more guessing why something failed. No more waiting for log aggregation. Just instant visibility into your running applications.

## Built-In Metrics Dashboard

Monitor your applications without setting up Prometheus, Grafana, or any other observability stack. Light Cloud tracks the metrics that matter:

- CPU and memory usage
- Request count and latency
- Active instances
- Bandwidth in/out

![Metrics dashboard showing CPU, memory, requests, and instances](/assets/blog/introducing-light-cloud/metrics.png)

Real-time metrics for every environment. Track performance, spot issues, understand your resource usage.

See exactly how your app performs, when it scales, and what resources it consumes. All built in.

## Scale-to-Zero by Default

Here's what makes Light Cloud different from traditional cloud providers: **you only pay when your app is running**.

Most platforms charge you 24/7 whether anyone is using your app or not. Light Cloud containers scale to zero when idle. That side project you're working on? It costs practically nothing until it gets traffic.

When a request comes in, we spin up your container in seconds. When traffic stops, we scale back down. Your bill reflects actual usage, not theoretical capacity.

## Pricing That Makes Sense

We believe in transparent, usage-based pricing. You control your wallet.

| Resource | Price | Real example |
|----------|-------|--------------|
| Container (Nano/Micro) | $0.03/hour | 1 hour test = three cents |
| Container (Small) | $0.03/hour | 100 hours = $3 |
| Database (Dev, shared) | pennies/hour | a few dollars/month |
| Static Site | $0.02/month | Six sites = twelve cents |
| Team Members | $9/user/month | |

**30-day free trial**: Up to 3 resources. No credit card required for the first two weeks. We show you exactly what your usage would cost, so there are no surprises when billing starts.

Scale-to-zero means your containers cost literally $0 when not running. Test environment for an hour? Three cents. Vacation month? Zero.

## Built for Developers Who Ship

Light Cloud is for:

- **Indie hackers** launching their next SaaS
- **Startups** that need production infrastructure without a DevOps hire
- **Developers** building side projects on weekends
- **Teams** wanting Vercel simplicity with container and database support

If you've ever wished you could just `git push` and have everything work, that's exactly what we built.

## Get Started in Minutes

1. Sign up at [console.light-cloud.com](https://console.light-cloud.com)
2. Connect your GitHub account
3. Select a repository
4. Click deploy

That's it. No Dockerfiles to write (unless you want to). No CI/CD pipelines to configure. No infrastructure to manage.

Your first deployment is live in minutes, not hours.