--- title: "How to deploy a Nuxt app in 2026: one command, a Node server and HTTPS | Pethost" description: "Deploy a Nuxt 4 app with one command: pethost deploy writes the Dockerfile, runs nuxt build and starts the Node server over HTTPS, for €9.99 a month." --- [Blog](https://pethost.dev/blog/) · Deploy guides # How to deploy a Nuxt app in 2026: one command, a Node server and HTTPS By the Pethost team · 10 October 2026 · 8 min read You have a Nuxt app that runs with `npm run dev`, and you want it online at an address with HTTPS, rendering on the server. On Pethost that is one command, `pethost deploy`, run in the folder that has `package.json`. It writes the Dockerfile for you, runs `nuxt build` and starts the server that the build wrote. Nuxt's own starter was built and started in 53 seconds the first time. **In short** - **One command:** `pethost deploy` in the folder that has `package.json`. There is no preset to choose and no start script to add. - **What it does:** finds `nuxt` and the script that runs `nuxt build`, writes a Dockerfile that runs it, and starts `node .output/server/index.mjs`. - **The port:** the Nuxt server listens on 3000. Pethost finds that and sends the address there, over HTTPS. - **The address:** `https://nuxt-app.yourname.pethost.app` at once. Your own domain is one DNS record. - **The price:** €9.99 a month for a machine of 2 vCPU, 3 GB and 30 GB that runs this app and every other project you have. There is no free tier. ## What you need to deploy a Nuxt app in 2026 Three things: the app, the `pethost` command and a Pethost account. **The app** here is what Nuxt's installation page leaves, with the minimal template and npm: ``` npm create nuxt@latest nuxt-app ``` It writes `nuxt.config.ts`, the `app/` folder and a `package.json` with these scripts. None of them is a start script, and none is needed: ``` "scripts": { "build": "nuxt build", "dev": "nuxt dev", "generate": "nuxt generate", "preview": "nuxt preview", "postinstall": "nuxt prepare" } ``` **The command** is one program, installed by one line. Every command it has is in the [CLI's reference](https://pethost.dev/docs/cli/). ``` curl -fsSL https://pethost.dev/install.sh | sh # macOS, Linux irm https://pethost.dev/install.ps1 | iex # Windows, in PowerShell ``` **The account** needs a plan. If you are not signed in, `pethost deploy` opens your browser and signs you in. If you have no plan yet, it shows you where to choose one, and waits. ## Deploy the Nuxt app with one command Go to the folder that has `package.json` and run `pethost deploy`. This is the whole screen, for the starter: ``` $ cd nuxt-app $ pethost deploy Name it [nuxt-app]: it will live at https://nuxt-app.sam.pethost.app ✓ Packed 45 files, 450 KB (left out node_modules) ✓ Uploaded straight to your machine ✗ /compose.yaml: the project directory has no compose.yaml at its root: add one ✓ Nuxt project detected, wrote Dockerfile. ✓ Packed 46 files, 451 KB (left out node_modules) ✓ Uploaded straight to your machine ✓ Built and started in 53 s · wrote compose.yaml for the Dockerfile: the service app, reading .env ✓ app listens on 3000 → https://nuxt-app.sam.pethost.app It answers 200. https://nuxt-app.sam.pethost.app Wrote .pethost (commit it). Next: pethost logs -f · pethost open ``` 1. **It asks one thing** The project's name, which is the first word of its address. Enter takes the folder's name. 2. **The machine finds nothing to run** The folder goes straight to your machine, without `node_modules`. The line with the cross is its answer: a project runs from a Dockerfile or a Compose file, and the folder has neither yet. 3. **pethost writes the Dockerfile** It saw `nuxt` in `package.json` and a script that runs `nuxt build`, and uploads the folder again. 4. **The machine builds and starts it** It sees that the server listens on 3000 and sends the address there. Then pethost asks the address itself, and prints what it answered: 200. The file `.pethost` says which project this folder is. Commit it with the Dockerfile, and the next deploy asks nothing. ## The Dockerfile that pethost writes for Nuxt This is the file as it was written into the starter's folder, whole: ``` # Written by pethost deploy for this Nuxt project: Node 24 (no .nvmrc names another), # npm installs it (package-lock.json), package.json builds it with "nuxt build", node # runs .output/server/index.mjs (package.json has no start script). # It is yours now: change it as you like. pethost does not write it again. FROM node:24 WORKDIR /app COPY . . # Every dependency: what builds the project, and may start it, is among the ones for # development. RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.npm \ npm install RUN npm run build ENV NODE_ENV=production CMD ["node", ".output/server/index.mjs"] ``` Its first lines say what pethost read in your folder. Three things come from there: - **The package manager** is the one your lockfile names: npm, pnpm, Yarn or Bun. - **The Node version** is the one `.nvmrc` or `.node-version` names, and Node 24 where there is neither. - **The start** is your `start` script if `package.json` has one. The starter has none, so the file runs what `nuxt build` writes with its default Node server preset: `.output/server/index.mjs`. The running starter took 30 MB of memory. If the machine cannot build or start the Dockerfile pethost wrote, pethost takes the file back out of your folder and says what failed. ## Runtime config and environment variables Nuxt reads its runtime config from variables that begin with `NUXT_` when the server starts. On Pethost a variable is one command. It goes into the project's `.env` file on the machine, which the service reads and every later deploy keeps: ``` pethost env set NUXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE=https://api.example.com pethost env set NUXT_API_SECRET # asks for the value without showing it ``` The app starts again with the new value. `pethost env` lists the names, and `pethost env --show` prints the file with its values. ## Change a page and deploy again Edit `app/app.vue` and run the same command. The second deploy of the starter took 12 seconds, because the machine keeps the build's layers and npm's cache: ``` $ pethost deploy nuxt-app (.pethost) ✓ Packed 47 files · uploaded · built and started in 12 s · wrote compose.yaml for the Dockerfile: the service app, reading .env · kept the project's x-pethost It answers 200. https://nuxt-app.sam.pethost.app ``` To deploy on every push instead, connect the repository once: ``` pethost github sam/nuxt-app # from now on, every push deploys itself ``` Pethost reads only the repositories you gave its GitHub App. If a deploy goes wrong, `pethost rollback` puts the version before it back, and your machine keeps the three versions before the current one. An AI agent can do all of this for you through Pethost's MCP server: [how an agent deploys and looks after a project](https://pethost.dev/blog/hosting-for-ai-coding-agents/). ## Use your own domain for the Nuxt app Any name under your account's domain is an address at once, with HTTPS. A domain you own takes one command and one DNS record: ``` pethost domain add app.example.com ``` The command prints the record to make: a CNAME from your name to your machine's name. The certificate comes by itself once the name resolves, and renews itself. `pethost password` puts a password page in front of the whole app, for one that is not public yet. ## What you get for the price Pethost is €9.99 a month for everything you host, on 2 vCPU, 3 GB of memory and 30 GB of disk. The starter's server took 30 MB of that memory, so the machine has room for the API the app calls, its database and your other projects. There is [no fee per project](https://pethost.dev/blog/unlimited-projects-flat-monthly-fee/) and [nothing metered](https://pethost.dev/blog/paas-without-usage-based-billing/): server rendering is not billed by the request. - **€9.99** a month for the whole machine - **53 s** to build and start the starter, the first time - **12 s** for the deploy after it What is already done on it: HTTPS with certificates that renew themselves, deploys from GitHub, nightly backups kept for 14 days, SSH into any container, and every request counted, with the busiest paths and the error rate of the last 30 days. The machine is always on, so a page [never waits for a cold start](https://pethost.dev/blog/always-on-hosting-no-cold-starts/). The plans are on the [pricing](https://pethost.dev/#pricing) part of the first page. **What each project takes.** The capacity page: every project with its memory, CPU and disk. ![The Pethost panel's capacity page: each project with its memory, CPU and disk.](https://pethost.dev/shots/capacity.webp) ### Pethost is the best pick for - **Vue developers with a full-stack app**: the Nuxt server, its API routes and its database on one machine, on one bill - **Solo developers** with several side projects, each at an address of its own - **People whose agent deploys for them**: Claude Code or Codex puts the app online and reads its logs - **Early startups** who want a fixed monthly cost while the product is small ### Look elsewhere if - Your application needs several regions or autoscaling ## Questions ### Does a Nuxt app need a Dockerfile to deploy? On Pethost a project runs from a Dockerfile or a Compose file, and you do not have to write it: in a folder that has neither, `pethost deploy` writes the Dockerfile for a Nuxt project and deploys it. The file stays in your folder, and you can change it. ### Which Nitro preset does Nuxt need on Pethost? None has to be set. `nuxt build` writes a Node server into `.output` by default, and the Dockerfile starts it with `node .output/server/index.mjs`. ### Which port does the Nuxt server listen on? 3000 by default. Pethost finds the port the running server listens on and sends the address there, over HTTPS, so there is no port to declare. ### How do I set environment variables for a Nuxt app in production? Run `pethost env set NUXT_API_SECRET` in the app's folder. It asks for the value without showing it and puts it into the project's `.env` file on the machine. Nuxt reads variables that begin with `NUXT_` into its runtime config when the server starts. ### Can I deploy a Nuxt app from GitHub on every push? Yes. Deploy the folder once with `pethost deploy`, then run `pethost github owner/repository`. From then on every push to the repository deploys itself, and `pethost rollback` goes back to an earlier commit. ### What does it cost to host a Nuxt app on Pethost? €9.99 a month for the Starter machine of 2 vCPU, 3 GB and 30 GB, with no fee per project and no charge per request: the same machine runs your other apps, sites and databases. There is no free tier. Prices are without VAT. The screens are deploys of the app that `npm create nuxt@latest` writes from its minimal template, with Nuxt 4.6.1 and pethost 0.2.1, on a test machine of ours. The account in them is the example one, `sam`. 1. [Nuxt: installation](https://nuxt.com/docs/getting-started/installation) 2. [Nuxt: deployment](https://nuxt.com/docs/getting-started/deployment) 3. [Nuxt: runtime config](https://nuxt.com/docs/guide/going-further/runtime-config) 4. [pethost, the command line of Pethost](https://pethost.dev/docs/cli/) ## Put your projects online today A machine of your own, as many projects as fit, one flat price. Nothing metered, nothing billed on top. [Host all your projects for €9.99/mo](https://console.pethost.dev/) ## Keep reading - 10 October 2026 [How to deploy a React Router app in 2026: the template's Dockerfile, one command and HTTPS](https://pethost.dev/blog/deploy-react-router-app/) Deploy a React Router app with server rendering: pethost deploy builds the template's own Dockerfile and serves it over HTTPS in 11 seconds, for €9.99 a month. - 10 October 2026 [How to deploy a TanStack Start app in 2026: Nitro, a start script and one command](https://pethost.dev/blog/deploy-tanstack-start-app/) Deploy TanStack Start on a Node server: add Nitro and a start script, run pethost deploy, and the app is online over HTTPS in 29 seconds, for €9.99 a month. - 10 October 2026 [How to deploy a VitePress site in 2026: one command, HTTPS and a Dockerfile you keep](https://pethost.dev/blog/deploy-vitepress-site/) Deploy a VitePress site with one command: pethost deploy writes the Dockerfile, builds the site and serves it over HTTPS, on a machine that is €9.99 a month. - 10 October 2026 [How to deploy an Eleventy site in 2026: one command, HTTPS and a Dockerfile you keep](https://pethost.dev/blog/deploy-eleventy-site/) Deploy an Eleventy (11ty) site with one command: pethost deploy writes the Dockerfile, builds _site and serves it over HTTPS, on a machine for €9.99 a month. 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