Opportunities › Self-hosted iOS app distribution without developer account › Proposed app
Berthly
Self-hosted iOS app signing and install links, run on your own server
- Score
- 30
- confidence 42
- Evidence
- 1
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 0
- named in sources
- First version
- 45 d
- estimate
- Type
- Desktop and mobile
- PWA: on computers and phones alike
- Market since
- 2019
- Established market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Desktop and mobile: Developers set up and manage signing on a server, but testers install apps via link on their iPhone; both platforms are integral to the flow. Sample screens on a computer and a phone, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
Latest build
Ready to sharev2.4.1
About this appAI proposal
Berthly is a self-hosted server that signs iOS apps and serves them to devices over your own network. You run it on a home server, a small VPS or a company machine. Testers open a link on their iPhone and install. No computer is needed in the install step.
It is for iOS developers, hobbyists and teams who want to share builds without relying on a cloud signing service. You keep the files, the certificates and the install logs on hardware you control.
The core is free to run yourself. Paid plans add things that are hard to do alone: managed hosting, backups of signed builds, team roles and CI hooks. Whether a given signing method works on a given iOS version depends on Apple, and the app tells you plainly.
- Tagline
- Your own install server for iPhone apps. Run it at home, at work, anywhere.
- Voice
- PlainPracticalCalm
- Why this name
- A berth is a place where a boat is tied up on your own dock. Berthly is where your apps are signed and ready to hand out, on your own server.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
One-command self-hosting
Run it as a single container on a home server or small VPS. Setup is a short guided page, with no cloud account.
No member yet
Install from a link
Upload an app file and share a page. Testers tap Install on their iPhone, with no computer or cable.
No member yet
Signing on your server
Certificates and profiles stay in your storage. Re-sign builds on a schedule before they expire.
No member yet
Expiry reminders
See which builds and devices are close to expiring, and get notified by email or push before they stop opening.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#12303BHarbor Ink · primary#F6F1E7Paper Sand · surface#1B2427Deep Slate · text#E2674ASignal Coral · accent#5E8C6AMoss · data / success
Typography
Aa
Berthly
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789
Your own install server for iPhone apps. Run it at home, at work, anywhere.
PricingAI proposal
The material gives no competitor prices. These tiers are a starting point to test, based on the monetization ideas in the opportunity: managed hosting, backup, teams and CI.
Self-hosted
Free
- Run on your own server
- Signing and install pages
- Install log
- Community support
Hosted
$12 a month
- We run the server for you
- Backups of signed builds
- Expiry reminders
- Email support
Team
$39 a month
- Team roles
- CI upload hooks
- Install analytics
- Off-site archive
- Priority support
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$194,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- Shared outputs. Each build gets an install page and link that owners send to testers, friends or staff. The page shows a small 'Hosted with Berthly' line, and testers see it when they install.
- Do they become customers?
- Testers who open a link may run their own servers, but most only install. Test whether developers among link recipients click through and start a server, and whether teams then pay for hosting.
- First customers
- Solo and small-team iOS developers who already self-host tools at home or on a VPS and share test builds with a few people.
- Where to reach them
- GitHub and self-hosting forums: Publish the open core with a clear setup guide and post it where self-hosters share new tools.
- iOS developer communities: Offer help to indie developers with a build-sharing problem and ask for feedback on the install flow.
- Technical blog posts: Write honest guides on self-hosted sideloading, including its limits, to draw search traffic.
- First milestone
- Ten teams run it for a month, and five of them pay for hosting or backups.
Why people already pay for this
- VerifiedGitHub repository gained 2225 stars in 2064 days
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · Self-host packageContainer image with a lightweight serverUsers run the server themselves, so it needs a small image they can start with one command.
- This app · Signing workerIsolated signing service with encrypted key storageSigning needs tools that the web app cannot run itself, kept in an isolated worker.
RisksAI inference
- PlatformApple can change what iOS allows for signing and installing apps outside the App Store. Methods may stop working on some versions or in some regions, and the product depends on them.
- RegulatoryRules on alternative distribution differ by country. Users may sign apps they do not have rights to, so terms and abuse handling need legal review.
- CommercialThe core is free and self-hosted, so few users may pay. Hosted plans must be worth more than running it yourself.
- TechnicalRe-signing and install pages must work across iOS versions and device types. Testing these takes real devices and ongoing work.
- DataManaged hosting stores signing certificates and builds for customers. A leak would be serious, so key storage and access controls are needed.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.