Not every team wants to configure Elixir releases. Maybe you're prototyping. Maybe you have a legacy app that predates releases. Maybe you just want the simplest possible deployment path. Mix mode deploys your source code directly, compiles on the server, and runs with mix phx.server. You still get zero-downtime deploys, automatic SSL, and full access to the Gigalixir CLI. The tradeoff is slightly slower startup times and larger slugs since source code ships to production. For many applications, especially during early development, that tradeoff makes sense.

Works Without Configuration: Point your existing Phoenix app at Gigalixir and deploy. We auto-detect Mix mode when there's no config/releases.exs file. Your prod.exs configuration works exactly as you wrote it.

Full Tooling Support: Remote console, migrations, and SSH access all work in Mix mode. We configure your node name and cookie automatically so gigalixir ps:migrate and gigalixir ps:remote_console connect without extra setup.

Easy Path to Releases: When you're ready for the performance benefits of releases, the migration is straightforward. Add a config/runtime.exs file and redeploy. Your buildpacks switch automatically.

Same Zero-Downtime Deploys: Mix mode still gets health-checked rolling deploys. We verify your new version passes TCP checks on port 4000 before terminating the old release. Failed deploys roll back automatically.

Phoenix with Mix

High-Performance Hosting for Modern Apps.