The latest articles on DEV Community by Navodya Bimsara (@bimsarathennakoon). https://dev.to/bimsarathennakoon https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4245897%2Ff27d7f38-d2c2-4c6e-952b-56eef958aa8b.png https://dev.to/bimsarathennakoon en Navodya Bimsara Sun, 15 Nov 2026 12:21:43 +0000 https://dev.to/bimsarathennakoon/im-16-and-built-a-tiny-hosting-platform-to-earn-from-my-hobby-it-has-0-users-so-far-2bam https://dev.to/bimsarathennakoon/im-16-and-built-a-tiny-hosting-platform-to-earn-from-my-hobby-it-has-0-users-so-far-2bam <p>I'm 16, and coding is my hobby. I wanted to see if I could turn it into a little income, so I built <strong>tinybox</strong>: tiny servers you can start in a minute.</p> <h2> What it does </h2> <ul> <li>Deploy from a GitHub repo (Node.js, Python or static sites)</li> <li>A web terminal in your browser</li> <li>Your own <code>name.tinybox.online</code> address with HTTPS</li> <li>2 custom domains</li> <li>Free for 7 days, no card needed</li> <li>Paid plans start at $1/month (crypto accepted, or pay manually)</li> </ul> <h2> The hard parts </h2> <ul> <li>Connecting my backend to the VPS so one click creates a working server for each user</li> <li>Building the web terminal</li> <li>Setting up subdomains and HTTPS automatically</li> </ul> <p>Each of these took me longer than I expected, and I learned a lot doing them.</p> <h2> Where it stands </h2> <p>I launched a few days ago. Number of users: zero. 😅 I'm sharing it now because I'd rather learn from real feedback than keep polishing alone.</p> <h2> What I'd love to know </h2> <ul> <li>Would you use something like this for a side project or a bot?</li> <li>Is 256MB RAM enough for what you build?</li> <li>What's missing?</li> </ul> <h2> Try it </h2> <p><a href="https://tinybox.online" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://tinybox.online</a></p> <p>The first 10 testers get a free month of the Starter plan (512MB RAM) on top of the 7-day trial. Sign up, then comment "tester" below and I'll upgrade your slot.</p> <p>I'll reply to every comment. Thanks for reading! 🙏<br> <a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F66emoqbhuf7da5fxfiiy.jpg" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F66emoqbhuf7da5fxfiiy.jpg" alt=" " width="720" height="1600"></a><br> <a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fuga00ccw9a72num6boan.jpg" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fuga00ccw9a72num6boan.jpg" alt=" " width="720" height="1600"></a></p> showdev buildinpublic webdev beginners