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WorklettoHelp

Install Workletto

Applies to Workletto 1.x.

The quickest install uses GitHub and Render and needs no terminal: you click through both, in the four steps below. Plan on about 5 minutes, including about 4 minutes while Render builds the app.

Using another host or your own server? See Install on another host.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”
  • A GitHub account. It is free.
  • A Render account. It is free to create. Render bills you directly for hosting: about $14.50 a month ($7 for the app + $7.50 for its database with 5 GB of storage), as checked in October 2026.
  • Nothing to buy: Workletto is free and open source (MIT license).

Install on Render

Section titled “Install on Render”

  1. Make your own copy.

    Open the Workletto repository on GitHub and click Use this template, then Create a new repository. Choose your own account, set the copy to Private, and create it. Don’t click Fork: a fork of a public repository is public too, and your copy should be private.

    Click the picture to zoom in.
    The top right of the Workletto repository page on GitHub, with the green Use this template button
    Click the picture to zoom in.
    Making your copy: your own account as the owner, a name for the copy, and Private chosen

  2. Get your deploy link.

    Open the Deploy My App page and paste the address of the repository you just made. Click Make my deploy link. The page makes a personal Deploy to Render button. The address stays in your browser; it is never sent to us.

    Click the picture to zoom in.
    The Deploy My App page: the copy's address pasted in, Render chosen, and the Deploy to Render button

  3. Deploy to Render.

    Click Deploy to Render. Render opens its Blueprint page for your repository.

    • Sign in to Render, or create a free account.

    • Let Render read your repository: if Render says it can’t access it, click GitHub and give Render access. You can limit it to that one repository.

      Click the picture to zoom in.
      Render saying it can't access the repository yet, with a GitHub button to give it access
      If you see this, click GitHub and give Render access to your copy.

    • Give the Blueprint a name, such as workletto. It’s only a label in your Render account: your app and its address don’t use it.

    • Leave Branch (main) and Blueprint Path (empty) as they are.

    • Check the estimate at the bottom: Render shows the monthly total, $14.50, before anything is created.

    • Click Deploy Blueprint.

    Click the picture to zoom in.
    The Render page that deploys Workletto: the Blueprint name, the two services it creates, the monthly estimate and the Deploy Blueprint button

    Render creates one web service, built from the Dockerfile in your copy, and one Postgres 17 database that only your app can reach. Your team and your clients open the app at its own web address, and only people you invite can sign in. Your copy of the code stays private in your GitHub account. Render also makes the secret that signs people in, and your setup code, so there is nothing else to type.

    Render then builds the app, which takes about 4 minutes. It starts at an address ending in .onrender.com; you can move it to your own, like time.yourstudio.com, later. See Use your own address.

    Click the picture to zoom in.
    Render's Blueprint page while it creates the database and the web service

  4. Open your app.

    When the build finishes, open the web service’s address on its Render page. It ends in .onrender.com. You should see a setup page with a button, Open Render to copy your setup code. Carry on with First-run setup.

In Europe?

Section titled “In Europe?”

The blueprint puts the app and its database in Render’s Oregon (US) region. To use Frankfurt instead, edit render.yaml in your copy on GitHub before step 3 and change both region: oregon lines to region: frankfurt. The app and its database must be in the same region.

Where it all runs

Section titled “Where it all runs”

Everything runs in accounts you own:

Ours

Yours

■ CodeWorkletto on GitHubFree and open sourceMIT license
Use this template
■ CodeYour copyYours to keep and changeYour GitHub account
Deploy
■ HostingYour appAnd its database, with your dataYour hosting account
Your own address
■ PeopleYour teamEveryone, no seat limitsAny browser, any device

The app doesn’t send anything to us. Your hours, clients and invoices stay in your database.

Hosting is paid to the host you choose. On Render, the quickest install, it’s about $14.50a month for the app and its database.

Why Render?

Section titled “Why Render?”
  • What it is. A hosting company that runs your app and its database for you. There’s no server to set up or keep patched.
  • Why we chose it. One button reads the setup file in your copy (render.yaml) and creates everything: the app, a private Postgres database and its secret keys. Secure web addresses (HTTPS) come built in.
  • Is it safe? Render is certified SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001. Everything is in your own Render account, and your database accepts no connections from outside it.
  • Is it reliable? Render checks the app is healthy before it switches to a new version, and restarts it if it stops. You can move to another host any time: your code and your data go with you.
  • What it costs. About $14.50 a month ($7 for the app + $7.50 for its database with 5 GB of storage), billed by Render to you. Prices were checked in October 2026.

What to keep

Section titled “What to keep”
  • Your setup code, until your admin account exists (on Render it stays in your service’s Environment page). After that it isn’t needed again.
  • Your private repository. It is your copy of the code, and updates arrive in it as pull requests.

Other ways to install

Section titled “Other ways to install”

Any host that runs a Docker container, and Docker Compose on your own server, are in Install on another host.