Port Pilot
Visual Localhost Port Manager for Windows
Every developer has hit “Port 3000 is already in use” and wasted 10 minutes on netstat commands. Port Pilot shows every listening port, what process owns it, and lets you kill it with one click. No install required.
Free
Price
25+
Stacks Detected
0
Install Required
BSL 1.1
License
The Problem
“Port 3000 is already in use”
You know the drill. Run your dev server. Get the error. Open a terminal. Type netstat -ano | findstr :3000. Get a PID. Type taskkill /PID 12345 /F. Hope you killed the right thing. Port Pilot replaces all of that with a single click.
Features
Everything you need. Nothing you don't.
Visual Port Dashboard
Every listening TCP port on your machine displayed in a clean, dark-themed table. PID, process name, port number, protocol — all at a glance. No terminal required.
One-Click Kill
See a rogue process hogging port 3000? Click the kill button. Done. No more googling 'how to kill process on port Windows' and running five netstat commands.
Smart Stack Detection
Auto-detects 25+ common dev stacks: React, Next.js, Vite, Django, Flask, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, Docker, and more. Instantly know what framework is running on each port.
Pinnable Ports
Pin your frequently-used ports to the top of the list. Port 3000 for your frontend, 8080 for your API, 5432 for Postgres — always visible, always accessible.
Search & Filter
Filter by port number, process name, or stack type. Find what you need in a 50-port haystack instantly.
System Tray & Auto-Refresh
Runs quietly in the system tray. Auto-refreshes on a configurable interval so your port list is always current. Launch it once, forget about it until you need it.
Portable — No Install
Download the .exe. Run it. That is it. No installer, no registry changes, no admin rights needed. Delete the file to uninstall. The way software should work.
Open Source (BSL 1.1)
Full source code on GitHub under the Business Source License 1.1. Read it, fork it, learn from it. Built transparently with Claude Code in a single session.
Real Problems, Solved
Scenarios every developer has encountered
"Port 3000 is already in use"
You run npm run dev and get the dreaded EADDRINUSE error. Something is squatting on your port. You open a terminal, run netstat -ano | findstr :3000, get a PID, then run taskkill /PID /F. That is 3 commands, 45 seconds, and mild rage.
Port Pilot: Open Port Pilot. See port 3000. See the process. Click kill. Done. 2 seconds.
"What is running on port 8080?"
You have 4 projects open. Something is using 8080 but you have no idea which one. Is it the Java backend? The Docker container? That test server you forgot about 3 days ago?
Port Pilot: Port Pilot shows the exact process name and PID for every port. Stack detection tells you it is your Spring Boot server before you even read the PID.
"I have 12 ports open and no idea what any of them are"
End of a long day. VS Code has spawned 4 processes, Docker is running 3 containers, and there is something on port 5173 that you swear you closed an hour ago.
Port Pilot: Port Pilot is your port traffic controller. See everything, search by name, pin the ones you care about, kill the rest.
"How do I even check what ports are open?"
Junior devs, bootcamp grads, people switching to Windows from Mac — not everyone has netstat memorized. Honestly, nobody should need to.
Port Pilot: Port Pilot is the GUI that should have always existed. No command-line knowledge required.
Built With
The technology behind Port Pilot
Electron
Cross-platform desktop app with web technologies
React
Component-based UI with hot reload
TypeScript
Type safety for the main and renderer processes
Node.js child_process
Runs netstat under the hood so you do not have to
Claude Code
Built the entire app in a single session
Built with AI
One Session. One Tool. Shipping Software.
Port Pilot was built with Claude Code in a single development session. From idea to working Electron app with 25+ stack detections, system tray support, pinnable ports, and a polished dark UI. This is what AI-augmented development looks like when you give it a clear problem to solve.
More free tools coming. If developers need it and it does not exist (or the existing options are bloated), we build it.
Ready to Stop Fighting Ports?
Download Port Pilot. Run the .exe. Never type netstat again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Port Pilot free?
Yes. Port Pilot is completely free to download and use. The source code is available on GitHub under the Business Source License 1.1.
Does Port Pilot work on Mac or Linux?
Currently Port Pilot is Windows-only. It uses Windows netstat commands under the hood. Mac and Linux support may come in the future — the Electron framework supports all three platforms.
Do I need to install Port Pilot?
No. Port Pilot is a portable application. Download the .exe, run it. No installer, no registry changes, no admin rights required. Delete the file to uninstall.
Is Port Pilot safe? Does it send data anywhere?
Port Pilot runs entirely locally. It does not phone home, collect telemetry, or send any data anywhere. The source code is public on GitHub — you can verify this yourself.
What dev stacks does Port Pilot detect?
Port Pilot auto-detects 25+ common development stacks including React (Create React App, Next.js, Vite), Python (Django, Flask, FastAPI), databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis), Docker, Java (Spring Boot, Tomcat), and more.
Can Port Pilot kill system processes?
Port Pilot can kill any user-level process. System-level processes may require running Port Pilot as administrator. Use caution when killing processes you do not recognize — they may be Windows services.
Who built Port Pilot?
Port Pilot was built by Glen Bradford at Nimba Solutions (Cloud Nimbus LLC) using Claude Code in a single development session. It is part of a growing suite of free developer tools.
Where is the source code?
The full source code is available at github.com/Nimba-Solutions/Port-Pilot. Licensed under BSL 1.1.
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Read moreNote: Port Pilot is provided as-is with no warranty. Use at your own risk. Killing system processes may cause instability. Port Pilot is a product of Nimba Solutions (Cloud Nimbus LLC). Licensed under BSL 1.1. This page was built with Claude Code.