Deploying a Node.js App to Production: The Complete 2026 Guide

From local development to live server with HTTPS, monitoring, and auto-restarts. Everything you need.

What You'll End Up With

Your Domain (https://app.example.com) ↓ Cloudflare (CDN + SSL) ↓ Nginx (reverse proxy) ↓ Node.js (your app) ↓ SQLite / PostgreSQL (database) ↓ PM2 (process manager) ↓ Systemd (auto-restart on boot)

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Total cost: $5/month for a VPS. No Heroku, no Railway, no Render fees.

Step 1: Get a Server

I use a $5/month VPS (2 cores, 4GB RAM).…