Hotplate is a lightning-fast HTTPS live-reload dev server written in Rust. Single binary, ~7.5MB, zero runtime dependency. Built to replace Live Server — for good.
Hotplate is purpose-built for frontend developers who want a fast, reliable dev server without the bloat.
Starts in ~10ms, uses ~3MB RAM. Powered by Axum and Tokio — the fastest async runtime in Rust.
Built-in TLS with rustls. Relative cert paths just work. No OpenSSL needed. Perfect for camera/mic APIs on LAN.
WebSocket-based live reload at /__lr. Auto-injected into HTML. Debounced at 150ms for smooth experience.
Uses ReadDirectoryChangesW (Win), inotify (Linux), kqueue (macOS). No polling, no overhead.
Reads VS Code's settings.json natively — comments, trailing commas, everything. No more crashes.
Automatically finds your LAN IP and displays it. Access from phones and tablets instantly.
Just one executable. No Node.js, no npm, no runtime. Copy it anywhere and it works.
Ignores .git, node_modules, __pycache__, .pyc automatically. No unnecessary reloads.
Thin JS wrapper around the Rust binary. Go Live button, output channel, context menu — all the DX you love.
See how Hotplate stacks up against the alternatives.
| Feature | Live Server (old) | Vite | 🔥 Hotplate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript | Rust |
| Binary Size | ~50MB (Node) | ~80MB (Node) | ~7.5MB |
| Startup Time | ~800ms | ~300ms | ~10ms |
| RAM (idle) | ~40MB | ~50MB | ~3MB |
| HTTPS | ⚠️ Buggy | ✅ | ✅ rustls |
| JSONC Support | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| No Runtime Needed | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| VS Code Extension | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ Phase 3 |
| Framework Agnostic | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Maintained | ❌ Since 2021 | ✅ | ✅ Active |
Every module is independent, testable, and designed for extensibility. The VS Code extension is just a thin wrapper — all the heavy lifting happens in the Rust binary.
From internal tool → VS Code extension → open-source ecosystem.
Static file serving, HTTPS/rustls, JSONC parser, live reload, file watcher, CLI, LAN auto-detect. Single binary ~7.5MB.
CSS hot reload, SPA fallback, custom headers, proxy pass, auto-open browser, QR code, Gzip/Brotli compression.
Status bar Go Live button, settings UI, output channel, context menu, Marketplace publish as maithanhduyan.hotplate.
AI-controllable via Model Context Protocol. Tools for start/stop, reload, screenshot, console logs, DOM query, eval.
Plugin system, Neovim/Zed integration, GitHub Action, Docker image, cross-platform binaries, middleware API.
Download the binary, run one command, and start developing at the speed of Rust.