How to Deploy an Express.js App to a VPS with ServerSinc
June 22, 2025 · Guides
Express.js is a popular, lightweight Node.js framework that’s great for building APIs and powering single-page applications. Here’s how you can deploy your Express app to a VPS using ServerSinc.
What you’ll need
Before deploying your ExpressJS app with ServerSinc, ensure you have:
- A working Express.js app stored in a GitHub repository
- An active ServerSinc account with at least one server configured
- All required environment variables (such as
PORT, database URLs, or API keys) on hand - Access to the Express app's repository on GitHub
New to ServerSinc? Sign up for a free account and follow our server setup guide first.
Why use ServerSinc for Express.js?
Deploying an Express app manually can be a pain — setting up servers, building images, and making sure your environment is configured correctly takes time and expertise. ServerSinc removes that friction, making it quick and easy to ship Express apps. You focus on coding, and ServerSinc handles the deployment, containerization, and environment setup for you.
With built-in support for Traefik, automatic build pipelines, and seamless environment variable management, it’s ideal for deploying and managing Express apps reliably.
Creating your Application
Log in to your ServerSinc Dashboard, click Applications, then Create Application.
Set the Application Type to GitHub Repository, give it a name, and specify its port (usually 3000).
If you’re using Traefik, you can also add a domain here, and it’ll automatically route traffic to your app.
Enter your repository details (for example, serversinc/express-js) and pick the branch you want to deploy. Then click Configure Environment.
Configure the Environment
Add any environment variables your app needs, like:
You can also set labels or volumes if needed. When you’re done, click Target Server.
Selecting the Target Server
Choose the server you want to deploy your app to, then click Deploy Application. You’ll be taken to the Application Overview screen, where you can track the deployment in real time.
Check the Deployments tab to watch the status. Once finished, it will show as Completed — your app is live and ready to use!
What happens behind the scenes
Behind the scenes, Serversinc gets to work preparing and deploying your app. Here’s what it’s doing for you:
- Pulls the repository onto your target server.
- Builds the repository using a Buildpack into a Docker image.
- Deploys the Docker image as a container, configured with the environment variables, labels, and volumes you added.
This approach ensures every deployment is built and run in its own container, making it predictable and easy to manage, although the build itself happens on the host server. This gives you a clean, reproducible result every time, while making the best use of your server’s resources.
What to do next
With your Express app now live, you can:
- Point a custom domain to your app using Traefik.
- Check the Logs tab in ServerSinc to review output and errors.
- Add a database or other services.
That’s it! You’ve successfully deployed an Express.js app to your own server using ServerSinc. 🚀