On-Premise connectivity — on your servers, under your control
ServerKit is the self-hosted server suite (coordinator, relay, gateway) that helps your clients find each other and connect. No cloud dependency, and your traffic and keys never pass through an external SaaS. Install it even on closed or internal networks; licenses are verified offline with node-locked signatures.
On-Premise Air-gapped OK Self-hosted Free up to 5 peers Standard Premium
Components
🧭 Coordinator
The signaling server where peers find each other and negotiate connections. It counts peers and enforces the license limit.
🔁 Relay
A UDP relay that safely forwards traffic between networks where a direct P2P path isn't possible.
🚪 Gateway
A WebSocket (WSS) gateway that keeps connections working from browsers and restrictive networks.
Key features
- Self-hosted: shipped as container images — install on your own server, VPS or on-prem network.
- Node-locked licensing: offline ECDSA-signed licenses govern concurrent peers (5 by default) and the feature tier.
- Remote monitoring: track active nodes and usage remotely via the License Authority.
- Operator console: manage tenants, usage, audit logs and access from a web console.
- Compatibility: the same wire protocol as ConnectKit clients.
Detailed comparison with free alternatives
NAT traversal and relay are available in open source too. ServerKit's value is bundling the licensing, multi-tenancy and operations you need to safely embed and resell that connectivity inside a commercial product.
| Capability | ServerKit | RustDesk self-host | MeshCentral | coturn+DIY | DIY with AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost (license) | Paid | Free (AGPLv3) | Free (Apache-2) | Free (BSD) | Free |
| Embed / white-label in your product | ✅ Built as an SDK | ⚠️ AGPL — source disclosure on distribution | ⚠️ App-shaped, not embeddable | ✅ Wire it yourself | ✅ |
| Commercial redistribution license | ✅ Proprietary (free to resell) | ❌ AGPL copyleft | 🔶 Apache OK | ✅ | ✅ |
| Server never sees plaintext (E2E-blind) | ✅ Core design | 🔶 Conditional on relay | ❌ | Build it | Build it |
| NAT hole-punch + relay fallback | ✅ | ✅ | 🔶 | Relay only | Build it |
| Multi-tenant (per-company) | ✅ Same binaries | ❌ | 🔶 | ❌ | Build it |
| Control plane: RBAC | ✅ | ❌ | 🔶 user mgmt | ❌ | Build it |
| Hash-chained audit log | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | Build it |
| Versioned config push | ✅ | ❌ | 🔶 | ❌ | Build it |
| Built-in billing / subscriptions / invoices | ✅ (for resale) | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | Build it |
| Signed licensing (peer cap / tier) | ✅ ECDSA | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | Build it |
| Support / SLA / accountable vendor | ✅ Vendor-backed | ❌ Self | ❌ Self | ❌ | ❌ |
| Maintenance burden transferred | ✅ Vendor carries it | ❌ You | ❌ You | ❌ You | ❌ You |
Legend: ✅ strength · 🔶 partial/conditional · ⚠️ caution (license risk) · ❌ none. NAT hole-punching and relay fallback can be built several ways, but ServerKit layers licensing, multi-tenancy, operations and resale infrastructure on top — cutting your time to product.
Edition comparison
| Item | Free | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concurrent peers | Up to 5 | Per license | Per license (large) |
| Coordinator / Relay / Gateway | Included | Included | Included |
| Console · audit log | Basic | Basic | Advanced (RBAC · richer audit) |
| Control plane (remote config-push) | — | — | Included |
| Support | Community / docs | Priority |
Exact peer limits and feature scope are stated in the license you receive. See Pricing for details.
Five-minute start
Bring up a coordinator in a container and verify your first connection (example).
docker run -d --name serverkit-coordinator \
-p 7000:7000/udp -p 9090:9090 \
-e SVK_LICENSE=/etc/serverkit/license.jwt \
joohwanatyu/serverkit-coordinator:latest