Deploy SvelteKit to VPS: Complete Guide

What you need

Why deploy SvelteKit to a VPS?

Vercel and similar platforms are excellent for prototypes and small projects. But as your app grows, costs can skyrocket — Vercel charges $0.15/GB for bandwidth above 100 GB, and team plans start at $20/month per member.

A $5/month VPS from Hetzner or DigitalOcean can host multiple production SvelteKit apps with no traffic limits, full SSH access, and complete control over your environment. The tradeoff used to be complexity — but that's what DeployWise solves.

SvelteKit Adapters: Which one to use?

SvelteKit uses adapters to build for different platforms. Your choice determines how your app runs and what you deploy:

Step 1: Configure your SvelteKit app

Ensure your svelte.config.js is set up for Node.js deployment:

import adapter from '@sveltejs/adapter-node';
import { vitePreprocess } from 'svelte-preprocess/parseAst';

export default {
  preprocess: vitePreprocess(),
  kit: {
    adapter: adapter({
      // env: {
      //   path: '.env',
      //   prefix: 'CONFIG_'
      // }
    }),
    // Optional: Set your app's base path
    paths: {
      base: process.env.BASE_PATH || '',
    },
  },
};

The adapter-node will compile your SvelteKit app to Node.js during build. The output is stored in the build directory.

1Build your SvelteKit app for production

Compile your SvelteKit app locally to ensure it builds successfully before deploying to your VPS:

npm run build

This will:

Your build output is ready when you see .svelte-kit/build generated. Never commit this directory to git — it's generated during build.

2Environment Variables in SvelteKit

SvelteKit provides different environment variable strategies depending on when they're needed:

DeployWise handles environment variables in the web UI. Set them in project settings before deployment, and they'll be injected at runtime.

3Set up your VPS

Start with a fresh Ubuntu 22.04 LTS droplet/instance. Make sure SSH is accessible on port 22 (or a custom port). You'll need either a root password or an SSH private key.

Recommended minimum specs for a single SvelteKit app:

SvelteKit has a minimal footprint and can run on smaller VPS instances compared to Next.js or Nuxt.

4Add your server to DeployWise

Open DeployWise dashboard and sign in with GitHub. Then navigate to Servers → Add Server and fill in:

Click Test Connection. DeployWise will SSH into your server to verify connectivity. If the test passes, save the server.

5Create your SvelteKit project

Go to Projects → New Project. Connect your GitHub account if you haven't already, then configure:

6PM2 Configuration for SvelteKit

DeployWise automatically configures PM2, but here's what it does under the hood. PM2 ensures your SvelteKit app restarts on crashes and boots on server reboot:

module.exports = {
  apps: [
    {
      name: 'sveltekit-app',
      script: './build/index.js',
      exec_mode: 'cluster',
      instances: 2, // Or 'max' for all CPU cores
      env: {
        NODE_ENV: 'production',
        HOST: '0.0.0.0',
        PORT: 5173,
      },
      error_file: './logs/err.log',
      out_file: './logs/out.log',
      merge_logs: true,
      autorestart: true,
      watch: false,
      max_memory_restart: '200M',
    },
  ],
};

Key points: The exec_mode: 'cluster' spreads your app across multiple CPU cores. max_memory_restart prevents memory leaks. DeployWise creates and manages this for you.

7Nginx Reverse Proxy Setup

Nginx sits in front of your SvelteKit app, handling SSL, compression, and static file serving. DeployWise configures this automatically:

upstream sveltekit_app {
  server 127.0.0.1:5173;
}

server {
  listen 80;
  listen [::]:80;
  server_name yourdomain.com;

  # Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
  return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
  listen 443 ssl http2;
  listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
  server_name yourdomain.com;

  # SSL certificates (Let's Encrypt)
  ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
  ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

  # Gzip compression
  gzip on;
  gzip_types text/plain text/css application/javascript;

  location / {
    proxy_pass http://sveltekit_app;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
  }
}

This configuration redirects HTTP to HTTPS, serves static assets efficiently, and proxies dynamic requests to your SvelteKit app on port 5173.

SSL Certificates with Let's Encrypt

DeployWise uses Certbot to issue and auto-renew free SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt. To enable:

Certificates auto-renew every 90 days. Certbot runs as a systemd timer on your server.

Common SvelteKit Deployment Mistakes

8Deploy your SvelteKit app

Click Deploy Now. DeployWise will execute the following steps on your server automatically:

The entire process typically takes 30–60 seconds. You can watch every step live in the deployment log panel.

What happens after deployment

Your SvelteKit app is now:

Future deploys are one click away. If something breaks, roll back to any previous commit from the deployment history.

How DeployWise Automates SvelteKit Deployment

Manually deploying SvelteKit involves 20+ manual steps: SSH setup, dependency installation, build configuration, adapter selection, PM2 ecosystem files, Nginx config generation, SSL certificate management, and environment variable handling. DeployWise does all of this automatically.

Troubleshooting SvelteKit deployments