How I Started Building Laranode — an Open-Source, Laravel based Hosting Control Panel
Hey IndieHackers 👋
I’m Alexandru, a developer who loves Laravel, building tools, and solving my own pain points. For the past few months, I’ve been quietly working on a project that means a lot to me — Laranode, an open-source hosting control panel built with Laravel.
Today I want to share the story behind it, why I’m building it, and what the journey looks like so far.
Why Laranode?
For years, I managed my own VPSs using expensive control panels like cPanel and Plesk. They work, but:
they’re closed-source
they’re expensive
they feel outdated
they limit how much control you have
and for developers like me, they’re often more bloated than helpful
On the other side, the open-source alternatives felt… unfinished. Fragmented. Poor UI, poor documentation, hard to extend, or simply not developer-friendly.
At some point, I realised something simple:
If the ideal control panel for developers doesn’t exist — I should build it.
What Laranode Is
Laranode is a modern, open-source hosting control panel built with Laravel.
A clean, developer-focused alternative to cPanel or Plesk.
The goal is to make it easy to manage:
servers
domains
DNS
PHP (multiple versions, FPM pools, custom configs)
firewalls
SSL
logs
real-time system metrics (CPU, RAM, network, etc.)
Basically: everything you need to run a clean, modern VPS — without paying a subscription, and without fighting with outdated UIs.
Why Laravel?
Because I love Laravel — and because the Laravel ecosystem has everything needed to build a clean, well-structured, extensible platform.
Real-time events
Horizon
Queues
Policies
Broadcasting
Blade + Tailwind
Testing ecosystem
Clean architecture
Laravel gives me superpowers, and I want to share those superpowers with anyone managing a server.
The Bigger Vision
I’m not building this just as another GitHub repo.
I want Laranode to become:
the standard for managing VPSs
a free alternative to cPanel/Plesk for developers
an open-source project that hosting companies can sponsor
a tool that beginners find friendly and experts find powerful
something the Laravel community is proud of
This is a long-term project.
Something I want to build slowly, cleanly, and with care.
My Current Work
Right now I’m focusing on:
1. Real-time Stats Dashboard
CPU usage (user/system/idle), RAM, network usage, load averages — beautiful charts built with Tailwind and Chart.js.
2. Domains & SSL Manager
Automatic SSL via ACME clients, manual imports, and renewal monitoring.
3. PHP Manager
Multiple PHP versions, FPM pools, configuration per domain — without touching the terminal.
4. Documentation
I want Laranode to have the kind of documentation that makes even beginners confident.
Why I’m Sharing This Now
I’ve spent too long building things in silence.
This time, I want to build in the open.
If IndieHackers has taught me anything, it’s that the journey matters as much as the product.
I want to share my progress, my struggles, my wins, and the reality of building something big as a solo dev.
If You Want to Support the Project
⭐ You can follow Laranode here:
GitHub: https://github.com/crivion/laranode
Website: https://laranode.com
Every star helps with visibility — and honestly, it means a lot.
What’s Next?
I’ll be posting updates about:
the architecture
UI decisions
the control panel ecosystem
building real-time server tooling
security features
and the progress toward the first public release
Thanks for reading this far.
This project is my way of giving back to the community — and hopefully building something that lasts.
If you have questions, feature ideas, or just want to follow the journey, I’d love to connect.
Hey Alexandru, I just read your post about Laranode seriously impressive work. Since you’re building in public and trying to get more eyes on the project, I wanted to mention something that could help you a lot: Reddit.
Reddit is one of the best places for early-stage dev tools to get real traction because the audience is already technical, vocal, and actively looking for solutions. With the right subreddits, you can get:
• Highly targeted exposure places like r/selfhosted are full of people who actually need what you’re building.
• Early adopters & testers Redditors love trying out new open-source tools and giving brutally honest feedback.
• Stars, contributors, and community growth A single strong Reddit post can translate directly into GitHub stars, follows, and long term users.
• Organic traction No ads, no budget; just hitting the right angle in the right community.
• Search visibility Reddit posts rank fast on Google, giving Laranode passive exposure over time.
Since you’re building an open-source, developer-focused tool, Reddit is basically where your ideal users live. A well-crafted Reddit post can easily bring in traffic, feedback, and early fans that help shape the project.
If you’d like, I can help you create a strong Reddit post or even run the posting strategy for you just let me know.
Impressive journey! Turning open-source passion into Laranode shows dedication, innovation, and Laravel expertise. Exciting project ahead!
This is such an exciting project! Open-source, developer-focused control panels are seriously overdue, and Laranode looks like it could fill that gap beautifully. Love that you’re leaning into Laravel — the ecosystem really gives you the tools to make something clean, extensible, and developer-friendly. The focus on real-time metrics, multiple PHP versions, and intuitive SSL/domain management shows you’re thinking about both beginners and advanced users. Building in the open is the right move — the journey and transparency will attract contributors and users alike. Can’t wait to see Laranode evolve!
Hey — this looks really cool! 👏
I love the idea behind Laranode. An open-source hosting control panel built with modern tools (Laravel + InertiaJS) feels like exactly what a lot of developers want — clean UI, full control over a VPS, and without having to pay license fees.
The features like real-time server stats, SSL via Let’s Encrypt, multi-account support, and simple website/file management are very appealing. For small projects or personal servers, this could save a lot of setup headaches.
That said — since this seems like a “v1 by a solo dev” release, I’d be curious about long-term support, security updates, and documentation. If you plan to rely on it for production, those things matter a lot.
Overall: awesome job! I’m excited to try Laranode myself and see how it performs. If you want, I can test it and give you a short feedback report after using it.
Building Laranode demonstrates open-source commitment, Laravel expertise, and creating a powerful, community-driven hosting control panel.
Building Laranode showcases dedication to open-source, Laravel expertise, and creating a powerful, community-driven hosting solution.
Building a modern, open-source alternative to cPanel is a massive undertaking for a solo dev. Huge respect for tackling such a big and important problem for the developer community.
The vision is spot-on. We definitely need more developer-focused tools in this space. Starred the repo, and looking forward to seeing the progress!