Tools: I Built a Free Alternative to cPanel - Here's What I Learned

The Problem ## What is ServerKit? ## The Tech Stack ## Architecture Decisions ## Why Flask over FastAPI? ## Real-Time Metrics ## Dynamic Nginx Configuration ## What I Learned ## 1. Start with the UI ## 2. Security is Non-Negotiable ## 3. Real-Time Feels Premium ## 4. Don't Reinvent Everything ## Try It Last year I was managing a handful of WordPress sites and a few Python apps for clients. My options were: cPanel - $45/month per server. For 3 servers, that's $1,620/year just for a control panel. Coolify - Great for Docker but felt like overkill for WordPress sites. I don't need Kubernetes. CloudPanel - Nice and lightweight but no Docker support. I need both. HestiaCP - Free and feature-rich but the UI looks like it's from 2008. I wanted something in between: the simplicity of traditional hosting panels with the power of modern deployment tools. So I built ServerKit. ServerKit is an open-source server management panel that lets you: FastAPI is great for pure APIs, but ServerKit needs: Every second, the backend collects: The React frontend subscribes and updates the dashboard live. No polling, no page refreshes. Each app type has a Jinja2 template: When you create an app, ServerKit generates the config, symlinks it, and reloads Nginx. I built the backend first and regretted it. Users don't see your clean API - they see the interface. Start with mockups, validate the UX, then build the backend to support it. Server management panels are high-value targets. From day one: Static dashboards feel dead. Adding WebSocket-based live metrics made the app feel 10x more polished with relatively little code. Focus on the glue, not the components. GitHub: github.com/jhd3197/ServerKit MIT licensed, no telemetry, no cloud dependency. What features would make this useful for you? Drop a comment - I read everything. 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Hide child comments as well For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse CODE_BLOCK: metrics = { 'cpu': psutil.cpu_percent(), 'memory': psutil.virtual_memory().percent, 'disk': psutil.disk_usage('/').percent, 'network': get_network_stats() } socketio.emit('metrics', metrics, broadcast=True) Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode CODE_BLOCK: metrics = { 'cpu': psutil.cpu_percent(), 'memory': psutil.virtual_memory().percent, 'disk': psutil.disk_usage('/').percent, 'network': get_network_stats() } socketio.emit('metrics', metrics, broadcast=True) CODE_BLOCK: metrics = { 'cpu': psutil.cpu_percent(), 'memory': psutil.virtual_memory().percent, 'disk': psutil.disk_usage('/').percent, 'network': get_network_stats() } socketio.emit('metrics', metrics, broadcast=True) COMMAND_BLOCK: # PHP app nginx config server { listen 80; server_name {{ app.domain }}; root {{ app.path }}/public; location ~ \.php$ { fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php{{ app.php_version }}-fpm.sock; # ... } } Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode COMMAND_BLOCK: # PHP app nginx config server { listen 80; server_name {{ app.domain }}; root {{ app.path }}/public; location ~ \.php$ { fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php{{ app.php_version }}-fpm.sock; # ... } } COMMAND_BLOCK: # PHP app nginx config server { listen 80; server_name {{ app.domain }}; root {{ app.path }}/public; location ~ \.php$ { fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php{{ app.php_version }}-fpm.sock; # ... } } COMMAND_BLOCK: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jhd3197/ServerKit/main/install.sh | bash Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode COMMAND_BLOCK: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jhd3197/ServerKit/main/install.sh | bash COMMAND_BLOCK: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jhd3197/ServerKit/main/install.sh | bash COMMAND_BLOCK: git clone https://github.com/jhd3197/ServerKit.git cd ServerKit docker compose up -d Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode COMMAND_BLOCK: git clone https://github.com/jhd3197/ServerKit.git cd ServerKit docker compose up -d COMMAND_BLOCK: git clone https://github.com/jhd3197/ServerKit.git cd ServerKit docker compose up -d - cPanel - $45/month per server. For 3 servers, that's $1,620/year just for a control panel. - Coolify - Great for Docker but felt like overkill for WordPress sites. I don't need Kubernetes. - CloudPanel - Nice and lightweight but no Docker support. I need both. - HestiaCP - Free and feature-rich but the UI looks like it's from 2008. - Deploy WordPress, Flask, Django, and Node.js apps - Manage Docker containers alongside traditional apps - Automatic HTTPS via Let's Encrypt - Real-time monitoring with alerts to Discord/Slack/Telegram - Visual firewall and cron job management - 2FA security with ClamAV malware scanning - Python 3.11 with Flask - SQLAlchemy ORM - Flask-SocketIO for real-time updates - Gunicorn for production - React 18 with Vite - WebSocket connection for live metrics - LESS for styling - Nginx reverse proxy - Let's Encrypt via Certbot - Docker & Docker Compose - MySQL/PostgreSQL support - WebSocket support (Flask-SocketIO is mature) - Template rendering for some pages - Simpler debugging during development - JWT with short expiration - TOTP 2FA with backup codes - All secrets encrypted at rest - No shell commands built from user input - Certbot for SSL (don't roll your own ACME) - ClamAV for malware (don't write an antivirus) - systemd for service management (it works)