Introducing Launchpad
· The Launchpad crew · 3 min read
Today we're opening the doors on Launchpad: a place to build and ship a complete web application without touching infrastructure.
Here's the whole pitch in one line: from idea to live app, without the infrastructure.
What you get
Every Launchpad project comes with three things that normally take a week of setup and a person who knows what they're doing:
- A hosted application server. A dedicated Ubuntu box with nginx, MySQL and swap already configured, provisioned in minutes and patched by us.
- A managed database. MySQL is installed, secured and backed up. You create one database per app and get on with it.
- A Claude Code connector. A connector for the Claude desktop app that plugs Claude Code straight into your server, so Claude can build, deploy, read logs and iterate against your live environment from inside the conversation you're already having. No terminal, no config files.
Every project also gets its own address on *.asklaunchpad.com, with DNS and TLS handled.
Who it's for
We built Launchpad for small and medium businesses that need internal tools and team apps now, and don't have (or want) a DevOps function. The leave-request tracker. The quoting tool that replaces the spreadsheet. The dashboard the ops team has been asking for since March.
If you're a solo developer or an indie builder who would rather write the app than babysit the server, you'll feel at home too.
Why "sandboxed" matters
The thing we hear most from people trying AI coding tools is not "it's not smart enough". It's "I'm nervous about what it might touch".
That's the right instinct, and the fix is architectural, not a better prompt. On Launchpad, every project runs on its own server. Claude works on that server, and only that server, with an access certificate that expires in thirty minutes. Networking, DNS and the control plane are ours to run; you can't take them down because you can't reach them. If an experiment goes sideways, it stays on your box, and a fresh box is a minute away.
You get to be brave. We manage the blast radius.
One plan, no meters
Launchpad has exactly one plan: R1 199 a month, everything on board. Server, database, backups, subdomain, SSH access, deploy tooling and the connector. There's no usage tier to watch and no surprise invoice after a busy month. If your team's needs grow, you add another server to your account, and that's the only thing that changes.
(We're a South African company, so the plan is priced in rand. International cards work too.)
What's next
Launchpad is opening in small batches so every early crew gets a person at mission control while they get their first app live. Press the button, tell us what you're building, and we'll get your server ready.