Student projects
Deploy your hackathon project online
Hackathon judges want a working URL, and you do not want to lose the last two hours to deployment. DormHost is built to get a project online in minutes, from a repository you already have.
What you get.
Deploy during the hackathon: a live URL in minutes, from GitHub.
How it fits
- Deploy from GitHub, no terminal and no Docker expertise needed
- A database on the same machine if your project needs one
- Environment variables for API keys, straight from the dashboard
- Point a custom domain at it through your own Cloudflare
Deploy it, step by step
The dashboard flow is the same for every project:
- Sign in with GitHub. Go to the dashboard and sign in. Your first sign-in puts 30 days of Nap credit in your balance, with no card and nothing to cancel.
- Create an application. Press New app and give it a name: three characters or more, letters, numbers and hyphens. The address is shown under the field as you type, and it is yourapp-yourlogin.dormhost.app.
- Pick the plan. Nap sleeps when nobody is using it. Awake never sleeps, which is what a bot, a worker or a scheduled job needs. Either way, you choose Mumbai, London or Ashburn.
- Point it at your repository. Paste the GitHub URL and the branch. Press Connect GitHub to pick from a list instead, which is also how a private repository is deployed. Then press Create and deploy.
- Watch the build log. The application opens on Overview, and Live logs streams the build. Listen on the port in the PORT variable we set, or EXPOSE one port in your Dockerfile, and the address answers as soon as the build finishes.
What is different about Hackathon
- Create the app early, on whatever is pushed. The build log finds the missing dependency faster than you will.
- Turn on Deploy on push from the Deploy card on Overview and add the webhook it gives you on GitHub, then every commit ships without anyone leaving the editor.
- Add the database from the Database section. The connection string is already in the app's environment, so nobody has to share credentials.
- Put the address on the submission form as soon as the first build is green, and keep pushing.
- Delete the app from Settings when the weekend is over, or leave it up: the trial credit covers both.
Hosting is ₹99 a month on Nap, all in: the build, the running app, the database and the storage. Nothing is metered separately, so the bill cannot surprise you. Start with 30 days of free credit, no card required. The docs cover databases, domains and what to do when a build fails.