Images and styling go missing
The logo disappears and the page looks bare — your browser can no longer find the files the page links to, so it shows nothing instead.
With serrv: every file loads from the right place, exactly like your live server.
However you build it — by hand, with Eleventy or Astro, or with AI — serrv opens your site in your browser at a real address like https://portfolio.local/, with the secure lock icon, just like your live server. So you can check everything before you publish.
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Add your sites and preview them before they go live — each at its own address, all available at once, from one deliberately simple window. You stay focused on building your site; serrv quietly handles everything else under the hood, so it all runs smoothly and fast.
And because your site runs on a real web server — not just a file opened in the browser — every link, image and script behaves exactly as it will once you publish. Make a change, refresh, and you see it right away.
A finished website is more than one HTML file. Double-click it from your desktop and it behaves differently than it will online — often broken. Here's what tends to go wrong, and how serrv fixes it.
The logo disappears and the page looks bare — your browser can no longer find the files the page links to, so it shows nothing instead.
With serrv: every file loads from the right place, exactly like your live server.
Clicking “About” or any other page lands on “file not found,” even though the page is right there in your folder.
With serrv: every address resolves the way a real web server does.
Content that loads as you go — an image gallery, a navigation menu, a slideshow — never shows up, because browsers block that for loosely opened files.
With serrv: served over a real address, so everything loads and runs as intended.
Search boxes, live content, anything that pulls in data or extra code while you browse — it all quietly fails, because the browser won't run it for a file opened straight off your disk.
With serrv: your site runs from a real address the browser trusts, so every script works.
Features that need a secure connection — maps, camera, microphone, location, copying to the clipboard — are switched off when a page is just a file on your disk.
With serrv: a genuinely secure address, so these features are available — just like online.
No lock icon, no real web address — so you can't truly tell whether the site will work once it's published.
With serrv: a real https://….local address with the lock icon — just like online.
Opening a page as a file:// URL changes how the browser treats it, which breaks things that work fine over HTTP(S):
/css/style.css or /images/logo.png resolve against your disk root, not your project — so assets 404./about/ won't fall back to index.html.fetch(), JSON loading and ES modules from a file:// origin (it counts as “null”), so anything loaded at runtime fails.http(s) origin.A web server reproduces all of this locally, so what you see is what your visitors will get.
Preview your finished site exactly as it will go live — no technical settings, no security warnings, no fiddling. serrv takes care of the hard parts for you.
Your site opens with the lock icon browsers expect — exactly like your live site, with no scary "not secure" warnings.
Pick whatever browser you like — serrv makes sure your site works the same in all of them, with the secure lock icon and no warnings.
Type a name, pick a folder, done. serrv handles everything else behind the scenes.
Run three sites at no cost. Need more? serrv max adds unlimited sites and time-saving tools.
When a site's ready, send it straight to your web host — or pull files back — over FTP, SFTP or FTP with TLS, without a separate app.
Catch broken tags, duplicate IDs, missing alt text and more — checked right on your Mac, nothing uploaded. Jump straight to the spot in the source, with line numbers and the issue highlighted.
One-time setup — serrv takes care of the technical part and starts up automatically from then on.
Give it a name like portfolio. That becomes its address — portfolio.local, the same every time, with no port numbers to chase.
Point serrv at the folder with your website files. Nothing to move or copy.
Click the address and your site opens in any browser — with the secure lock icon, exactly as it will look live.
serrv fits right into your SSG workflow — build your site, check it locally, then send it live.
Run your SSG — Eleventy, Astro, Hugo, or any other — and it writes the finished files to your output folder.
Open https://portfolio.local/ and check everything — links, images, layout — exactly as it will look on your live server.
Happy with what you see? One click sends the changed files to your web host — only what's new or updated, so transfers stay fast.
astro dev or eleventy --serve? Keep it — that's your editing loop. serrv is the final check: your built site at a real https://….local address, with the lock icon in every browser.
Start free with up to three sites. Upgrade for unlimited sites and tools that save you time.
Preview a few sites before they go live.
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Download serrvUnlimited sites and tools that save you time.
Monthly subscription, cancel anytime · 1 Mac per license, team seats available. Prices exclude tax — your local currency and any tax are added at checkout by Polar.
Buy nowEverything worth knowing before you buy.
Because opening a page straight from your folder isn't the same as the real thing. Images and styling can go missing, links can lead nowhere, and parts of the page may stay blank — and you never see the secure lock icon. serrv runs your site on a real local web server at a proper https://….local address, so it behaves exactly as it will once published. See what tends to go wrong →
astro dev, eleventy --serve) — why serrv?Keep it — that's your editing loop, with live reload as you type. serrv is for what comes next: checking your built site exactly as it will be served. Most dev servers run on plain HTTP at an address like http://localhost:4321 — a port number, no lock icon. Turn on HTTPS and you usually get a self-signed certificate the browser doesn't trust, so it warns you — and Firefox needs its own extra step. serrv gives every site a real address like https://portfolio.local/ — no port, the genuine lock icon in every browser, Firefox included. All your sites stay available at once, automatically, whatever tool built them — nothing left running in a terminal.
No. serrv is for static sites only — HTML, CSS, JavaScript and assets. It doesn't run server-side languages like PHP or Python, and has no database support. For dynamic sites or databases, use MAMP PRO.
Everything in serrv, plus features that make everyday work faster: unlimited sites, uploading over FTP & SFTP, duplicating sites, a custom site order — with more added over time. The free version covers up to three sites.
Yes, with serrv max. Each site can store its own FTP, SFTP or FTP with TLS connection, so once you've previewed a site you can upload it to your web host — or download the files from there — right from serrv, with no separate FTP app. Your password is kept safely in the macOS keychain.
Yes, with serrv max. serrv checks a site's HTML for common problems — missing closing tags, duplicate IDs, images without alt text, a missing doctype and more — entirely on your Mac, nothing is uploaded. Results link straight to the spot in the source, with line numbers and syntax highlighting.
One Mac at a time. To move to another Mac, choose Remove serrv max Activation… in the serrv menu (or remove the Mac in the customer portal), then activate the new one. Need several at once? serrv max offers team seats.
Yes — manage or cancel your subscription in the customer portal. You keep full access until the end of the current billing period and can reverse the cancellation any time before then. After that, serrv simply returns to the free version (up to three sites); nothing is deleted.
After checkout you will find your key in the customer portal — you're taken there right after purchase. In serrv, choose serrv → Upgrade to serrv max…, paste the key, and click Activate.
Payment, invoicing and tax are handled by Polar, our payment provider (Merchant of Record). You can manage everything in the customer portal.