Early access · in development

Self-hosted OTA updates for embedded Linux fleets

FleetLift is a single-container update server and fleet dashboard for RAUC and SWUpdate devices. It speaks the hawkBit DDI protocol, so your existing update clients work unchanged. Runs entirely in your infrastructure. Flat annual price, not per-device.

Join the early access list

# the whole install
$ docker run -d -p 8080:8080 -v fleetlift:/data fleetlift/server
✓ dashboard on :8080 · DDI endpoint on /ddi · SQLite or Postgres · artifacts on disk or S3
# your devices already know how to talk to it
$ rauc-hawkbit-updater -c fleetlift.conf

You should not need Kubernetes to ship a firmware update

If you run a fleet of 20 to 500 embedded Linux devices, your current options look like this:

Mender is excellent software, but the supported self-hosted path is a Kubernetes cluster, and hosted plans reach $249/month at 250 devices.
balena gives you 10 free devices, then the next step is $159/month.
Eclipse hawkBit deprecated its management UI in 1.0. Self-hosters are left with a REST API and curl.
DIY means an nginx directory and shell scripts: no staged rollouts, no rollback visibility, no idea which device is on which version.

RAUC itself ships no fleet backend on purpose. FleetLift is that missing backend, small enough to run on the VPS you already have.

What you get

Deploy

One container, batteries included

Server, dashboard, and artifact storage in a single image. SQLite for small fleets, Postgres when you grow. Local disk or any S3-compatible store for bundles.

Compatible

hawkBit DDI protocol

rauc-hawkbit-updater and SWUpdate Suricatta connect on day one. No agent to write, no client migration, no lock-in on the device side.

RAUC-first

A/B updates done right

Bundle upload with signature verification, slot status per device, and rollback events surfaced in the dashboard instead of buried in journald.

Rollouts

Staged rollouts with a brake

Canary groups, percentage-based phases, and automatic halt when the failure rate crosses your threshold. Promote to the full fleet with one click.

Enrollment

Devices onboard themselves

Claim codes, pre-shared enrollment tokens, and bulk import by MAC or serial. Built for the factory line and the field retrofit alike.

Yours

Your infra, your data

Firmware never touches our servers. Works behind a VPN or fully air-gapped. The license key is the only thing that phones home, and even that is optional.

Planned pricing

Flat annual license per company. Self-reported fleet size, no metering agent, no per-device anxiety. Early-access members lock founding pricing for life.

Community

Free forever

up to 10 devices

All features included
Community support
Free for open source and personal projects at any size

Starter

$490/year

up to 100 devices

Everything in Community
Email support
Less than one month of Mender at this fleet size

Growth

$990/year

up to 1,000 devices

Everything in Starter
Priority email support
Multiple sites and environments

Enterprise

$2,900/year

unlimited devices

Source code access
Private support channel
Invoicing and procurement accommodations

Perpetual fallback: if you ever stop renewing, the last version you licensed keeps working forever. Updates and support are what the renewal buys.

Get early access

We are onboarding a small group of design partners before the public beta. Tell us about your fleet and we will be in touch.

Questions you are probably asking

Why not just run hawkBit?

hawkBit is solid protocol infrastructure, but the management UI was deprecated with 1.0 and the operational footprint is a Java stack you have to assemble yourself. FleetLift keeps the protocol (that part is great) and replaces everything around it with one container and a UI built for fleet operators.

How is this different from Mender?

Mender is a strong product with its own client and a hosted-first business model. FleetLift is server-side only, works with the update clients you already run (RAUC, SWUpdate), installs as a single container instead of a Kubernetes cluster, and is priced as a flat annual license instead of per-device.

Do you host anything?

No. FleetLift runs on your server, in your cloud account, or on an air-gapped network. Your firmware and device data never leave your infrastructure.

What is the status right now?

In development. The core (DDI endpoint, RAUC bundle handling, enrollment, rollout engine) builds on update infrastructure we already run in production on commercial fleets. We are recruiting design partners now; private beta is targeted for late 2026.

Who is building this?

A small team that builds and operates embedded Linux fleet infrastructure (Yocto, RAUC A/B updates, zero-touch enrollment) for commercial IoT deployments. FleetLift is that operational experience packaged into a product you can run yourself.