code-server
VS Code in the browser - a persistent cloud dev environment with your extensions and a 10 GB workspace, from any device.
One-click deploy, from $13/mo on a Miget plan.
code-server is the original "VS Code in a browser tab": the full editor - extensions, terminal, debugger - served from a container you own. Open it from a desktop, a tablet, or a borrowed machine, and your environment is exactly where you left it.
This template is one container with a 10 GB home volume: settings, extensions, and cloned repos all persist across redeploys. Password auth in front, your toolchains inside - apt and language runtimes install like on any dev box.
It completes the catalogue’s remote-dev story: agent-box gives you Claude Code and opencode in a terminal; code-server gives you the IDE. Same flat-price logic against Codespaces-style hourly metering - a box that is always on costs $13/month, not cents-per-minute anxiety.
Upstream project: code-server (Coder)
#what you get
- Full VS Code: extensions (Open VSX), terminal, debugging, settings sync via the volume
- Persistent 10 GB /home/coder workspace across redeploys
- Password-protected, served over the platform’s TLS
- Works from tablets and any browser
- Install your toolchains: node, python, go, docker CLIs, whatever apt has
- Pairs with agent-box for the terminal-first agent workflow
#topology
| Service | Role | Public |
|---|---|---|
| code-server | VS Code in the browser (:5000) | yes (password) |
#miget sizing
// this stack needs
2 GiB RAM · 10 GB disk · 1 service
2 GiB covers the editor plus typical language servers. Heavy compiles, containers-in-dev, or big monorepos want the next plan up - the IDE is only as fast as the box.
Hobby - recommended fit
$13/mo
1 vCPU · 2 GiB · 50 GiB disk
Headroom for your own apps: 2 GiB at $19/mo
Professional - production
$22/mo
1 vCPU · 2 GiB · 10 GiB disk
Dedicated resources, production SLOs - plan details
One Miget plan is a fixed pool of compute - the whole stack (managed databases included) deploys inside it, and anything left over runs your other apps. No per-service or per-seat math.
#vs. other PaaS
Estimated monthly cost of running this exact stack (2 GiB RAM, 10 GB disk, 1 container) elsewhere, from published June 2026 rates.
| Platform | Est. monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Miget ★ | $13 flat | compose stacks first-class: one deploy, dedicated vCPU, managed Postgres/Valkey, volumes and TLS all included in the plan |
| Heroku | ~$100 | no volumes; nothing between 1 GB ($50) and 2.5 GB ($250) dynos - 2 GB containers cost far more than shown |
| DO App Platform | ~$29 | no persistent volumes - stateful containers need managed DBs/Spaces (base $5 Spaces included here) |
| Render | ~$28 | per-service instances (0.5 GB $7, 2 GB $25) - every container is its own paid service |
| Railway | ~$22 | usage-based ($10/GB RAM-mo); vCPU billed separately at $20/vCPU-mo on top |
| Fly.io | ~$13 | cheapest sticker price - but burstable shared CPUs (1/16 core; dedicated vCPUs cost ~2-3×), no compose deploys (one app per container, manual wiring), managed DBs billed extra |
Estimates assume RAM fully allocated at published on-demand rates - and sticker price isn't the whole comparison: the cheaper rows buy burstable shared CPUs, per-service wiring instead of a compose deploy, and managed databases billed separately. Heroku and DO App Platform have no persistent volumes at all - stateful stacks like this one need workarounds there.
#deploy it
On Miget
- Create a Compose Stack in app.miget.com pointing at the templates repository
- Set the stack path to
code-server -
Set the required variable:
PASSWORD, browser login (openssl rand -base64 18)
- Deploy. Miget layers
compose.miget.yaml(RAM, privacy, volumes, managed services) automatically
Locally first?
Every template is portable, vanilla Docker Compose - the Miget overrides are ignored locally:
git clone https://github.com/deployable-sh/stacks
cd miget-compose-templates/code-server
docker compose up -dSame files, same behavior. The template README covers connection strings and scaling notes.
#faq
How does this compare to GitHub Codespaces?
Codespaces bills by the core-hour plus storage, which is great for spiky use and stressful for always-on. This box is $13/month flat, always warm, with state that never gets reclaimed. The trade: you maintain the toolchain inside it - which for a personal dev box is usually a feature.
Can I use my VS Code extensions?
code-server installs from Open VSX, which carries the large majority of popular extensions. A few Microsoft-proprietary ones (the official C# debugger, Live Share) are licensed only for official builds - the honest caveat of every VS Code fork.
Is it safe to expose an IDE to the internet?
It sits behind password auth over the platform’s TLS, like the catalogue’s other dev boxes. Use a long random password, keep real secrets in env rather than files where possible, and treat it like any machine that can run code - because it is one.
code-server or agent-box?
code-server when you want to write code in an IDE from anywhere; agent-box when you want agents (Claude Code, opencode) doing the writing in a persistent tmux session. Many people run both against the same repos - they are $5-13/month each, not a platform decision.
Ship code-server today
One compose stack, 2 GiB of RAM, from $13/month flat, and it runs on your laptop with the same files.