We kept solving the same Docker problems. So we automated them.

Every new project starts the same way: write a docker-compose.yml, figure out port mappings, debug why service A can't connect to service B because B isn't ready yet, manually set up nginx for HTTPS, and repeat when you deploy to production.

Pier exists because we built this scaffolding for the 15th time at JoonaPay and decided to extract it. We run 20+ microservices locally — API gateway, wallet service, risk engine, notification service, multiple databases. Managing all of that with raw Docker Compose was a daily time sink.

Pier adds the three things Docker Compose is missing: automatic HTTPS with local domains, health-aware service ordering, and a web dashboard. It reads the same service format, so migration is trivial. And the same config works in production with real domains and Let's Encrypt certificates.

Open source philosophy

The CLI is MIT licensed. We believe dev tooling should be open — you should be able to read, modify, and redistribute it. Pro adds team features (shared environments, RBAC for secrets, deploy notifications) that fund development. The core tool stays free.

The team

Built by the JoonaPay engineering team in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. We build fintech infrastructure — payment APIs, mobile wallets, risk engines — and we needed better local dev tooling. Pier is the tool we wished existed.