Every time we wanted to try something in Frappe or show someone ERPNext, we’d end up spending 20–30 minutes just getting the environment up. Install bench, set up MariaDB, create a site, install the app, cross your fingers… or try using frappe_docker or something similiar. It is a time consuming process and even experience developers struggle to set it up correctly.
So I made Frappista. And now it takes about 30 seconds.
So what exactly is it?
Frappista is a set of single-node bootable container images for Frappe and ERPNext, built using Source-to-Image (S2I) technology. The images ship with bench and a site already initialised inside — everything is pre-wired and ready. When you run the container, your site is live.
No docker-compose with five services. No “wait, which port is MariaDB on again”. Just one container, one command.
Think of it like a USB drive with a pre-installed OS — plug it in and it boots. Frappista does the same thing, but for Frappe.
Try it yourself
Pick your version and run. That’s it.
ERPNext v16 (stable):
# Docker
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 vyogo/erpnext:sne-version-16
# Podman
podman run -d -p 8080:8080 vyogo/erpnext:sne-version-16
ERPNext v15 (stable):
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 vyogo/erpnext:sne-version-15
ERPNext develop (bleeding edge):
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 vyogo/erpnext:sne-develop
Then open http://localhost:8080 — your site is already there, waiting for you.
But I have a custom app…
Covered. Mount your app as a volume and Frappista will automatically detect and install it into the site on startup — no need to exec into the container or run bench manually.
# Point it at your app folder and go
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 \
-v /path/to/my_app:/home/frappe/frappe-bench/apps/my_app \
vyogo/erpnext:sne-version-16
This is honestly one of my favourite parts. You can iterate on a custom app really fast — just mount it, start the container, and your app is already installed when the site comes up.
When would you actually use this?
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Trying out ERPNext — No cloud account, no VM setup. Just pull and run on your laptop.
-
Local dev — Get a clean Frappe environment going in seconds so you can focus on building, not yak shaving.
-
Client demos — Spin up a throwaway instance before a call, show what you’ve built, tear it down after.
-
CI pipelines — Use these images as a base to run integration tests against a real Frappe site without the setup overhead.
Architecture support
Images are built for all major architectures — so whether you’re on an Apple Silicon Mac, a Raspberry Pi, an x86 server, or a cloud VM, you’re covered.
Want your favourite Frappe app as a bootable image?
That’s exactly the kind of thing I’d love to add. If there’s a Frappe app you use regularly and you’d like a ready-to-run image for it, just raise an issue on the repo and let’s make it happen.
github.com/vyogotech/frappista
If you give it a go, I’d genuinely love to hear how it works for you — good or bad. Drop a reply below. And if something breaks, open an issue and I’ll take a look. Happy to answer questions here too.