Docker deployment services — reproducible from dev to prod
Dockerize the app, compose for dev, multi-stage build for prod. GigEasy and Imohub shipped on Docker + AWS. Monthly subscription.
Who this is for
Team running apps directly on VMs or bare EC2 and wanting reproducible environments.
The pain today
- 'Works on my machine' — nobody can reproduce prod locally.
- No reproducible dev — new engineer onboarding takes a week.
- Deploys take hours because images are 2GB with every dependency.
- Security scanning is a thing you read about in blog posts.
The outcome you get
- A Dockerized application with a multi-stage production image.
- Docker Compose for local dev that matches production behavior.
- Image size under 300MB for most apps (often under 100MB).
- Security scanning in CI (Trivy, Grype, or Snyk).
What Dockerization actually includes
The Docker engagement covers: Dockerfile authoring (multi-stage builds, small base images like distroless or alpine where appropriate, layer caching discipline), Docker Compose for local dev (services matching production topology, named volumes for stateful data, health checks), image registry setup (ECR, GHCR, Docker Hub with appropriate retention), CI integration (build on PR, push on merge, tag with SHA plus semver), security scanning (Trivy or Grype in CI blocking critical vulnerabilities), and production deploy target (ECS Fargate, Kubernetes, Fly.io, or DigitalOcean App Platform depending on fit).
GigEasy and Imohub — Docker in production
GigEasy shipped on Laravel plus React plus PostgreSQL plus Redis plus Docker plus Pulumi plus AWS in 3 weeks. Docker was the packaging layer — multi-stage Dockerfile, Compose for dev, ECR for the registry, ECS Fargate for production compute. Imohub runs Docker across the Next.js plus Laravel plus MongoDB plus Meilisearch stack with the same multi-stage discipline. Both projects treated Docker as infrastructure glue, not as the point. Docker itself is boring — the value is reproducibility, which is why every project gets it.
The image size conversation
Most teams ship Dockerfiles that produce 2GB images because they copy the entire workspace into the final layer. Multi-stage fixes that. A typical Laravel app lands at 250 to 400MB after multi-stage (PHP plus composer plus the app, built in a builder stage, copied into a slim runtime). A Next.js app with standalone output lands at 100 to 200MB. A Node NestJS service lands at 200 to 300MB. Image size directly translates to faster deploys, faster autoscaling, cheaper storage. The Dockerfile review is cheap and the payback is immediate.
Pricing and scope
Applications subscription at $3,499 per month flat for ongoing Docker work as part of a broader application engagement. Dockerization-only engagements (write Dockerfiles, compose, CI, and hand off) bill against the monthly rate pro-rated to actual scope, typically 2 to 4 weeks.
Recent proof
A comparable engagement, delivered and documented.
Built and shipped an investor-ready MVP from scratch
Built the entire technological base and delivered MVP in just 3 weeks, enabling a successful rapid launch and investor demo.
Frequently asked questions
The questions prospects ask before they book.
- Alpine or Debian or distroless?
- Distroless for runtime (smallest, most secure) when the app works on it. Alpine for apps that need shell access in containers. Debian slim when native libraries require glibc.
- Docker Compose or Docker Swarm?
- Compose for local dev and small-scale single-host production. Swarm is effectively deprecated — if you need orchestration, use Kubernetes or ECS.
- Build cache strategy?
- Ordered layers from least-changing to most-changing: base image, system deps, language deps (npm install, composer install), source code last. BuildKit cache mounts for package caches.
- Docker plus Laravel?
- PHP-FPM plus Nginx in a single image or split between two containers. Horizon workers in a separate container. Typical image 250 to 400MB after multi-stage.
- Docker plus Next.js?
- Next 16 standalone output in a slim Node base image. Typical image 100 to 200MB. Build with output: 'standalone' in next.config.
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