diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28aa464
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Git
+.git
+.gitignore
+
+# Binaries
+alpenqueue
+*.exe
+*.dll
+*.so
+*.dylib
+
+# Test files
+*_test.go
+
+# Database files
+*.db
+*.db-shm
+*.db-wal
+
+# Documentation
+README.md
+*.md
+
+# Docker files (prevent recursion)
+Dockerfile
+docker-compose.yml
+.dockerignore
+
+# IDE files
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+*.swp
+*.swo
+
+# OS files
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..68ec2f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+# Multi-stage build for smaller final image
+FROM golang:1.25-alpine AS builder
+
+# Install build dependencies for CGO (required for SQLite)
+RUN apk add --no-cache gcc musl-dev sqlite-dev
+
+# Set working directory
+WORKDIR /build
+
+# Copy go mod files
+COPY go.mod go.sum ./
+
+# Download dependencies
+RUN go mod download
+
+# Copy source code
+COPY . .
+
+# Build the application with CGO enabled for SQLite
+RUN CGO_ENABLED=1 GOOS=linux go build -a -installsuffix cgo -o alpenqueue ./cmd/alpenqueue
+
+# Final stage - minimal image
+FROM alpine:latest
+
+# Install runtime dependencies
+RUN apk --no-cache add ca-certificates sqlite-libs
+
+# Create non-root user
+RUN addgroup -g 1001 -S alpenqueue && \
+    adduser -u 1001 -S alpenqueue -G alpenqueue
+
+# Set working directory
+WORKDIR /app
+
+# Copy binary from builder
+COPY --from=builder /build/alpenqueue .
+
+# Create directory for SQLite database
+RUN mkdir -p /app/data && chown -R alpenqueue:alpenqueue /app
+
+# Switch to non-root user
+USER alpenqueue
+
+# Expose port
+EXPOSE 8080
+
+# Volume for persistent data
+VOLUME ["/app/data"]
+
+# Run the application
+CMD ["./alpenqueue"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 14dbdef..a485882 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,15 +14,39 @@ A simple, self-hosted web scraping task queue with SQLite persistence, flexible
 
 ## Quick Start
 
-### Prerequisites
+### 🐳 Docker (Recommended)
+
+The easiest way to run AlpenQueue is with Docker:
+
+```bash
+# Using Docker Compose (recommended)
+docker-compose up -d
+
+# Or build and run manually
+docker build -t alpenqueue .
+docker run -d -p 8080:8080 -v alpenqueue-data:/app/data alpenqueue
+```
+
+That's it! AlpenQueue is now running on http://localhost:8080
+
+#### Docker Configuration
+
+- **Port**: 8080 (configurable in docker-compose.yml)
+- **Data**: Persisted in Docker volume `alpenqueue-data`
+- **Database**: SQLite database stored in `/app/data/`
+- **User**: Runs as non-root user for security
+
+### Manual Installation
+
+#### Prerequisites
 
 - Go 1.25 or later
 - SQLite (automatically included via go-sqlite3)
 
-### Installation
+#### Installation
 
 ```bash
-git clone https://github.com/yourusername/alpenqueue.git
+git clone https://git.maxtheweb.com/maxtheweb/AlpenQueue.git
 cd AlpenQueue
 go build -o alpenqueue ./cmd/alpenqueue
 ```
diff --git a/cmd/alpenqueue/main.go b/cmd/alpenqueue/main.go
index 70a8068..e518405 100644
--- a/cmd/alpenqueue/main.go
+++ b/cmd/alpenqueue/main.go
@@ -8,10 +8,17 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
+	"os"
 )
 
 func main() {
-	database, err := db.Init("./alpenqueue.db")
+	// Get database path from environment or use default
+	dbPath := os.Getenv("DATABASE_PATH")
+	if dbPath == "" {
+		dbPath = "./alpenqueue.db"
+	}
+
+	database, err := db.Init(dbPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d21390a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+version: '3.8'
+
+services:
+  alpenqueue:
+    build: .
+    image: alpenqueue:latest
+    container_name: alpenqueue
+    ports:
+      - "8080:8080"
+    volumes:
+      # Persist SQLite database
+      - alpenqueue-data:/app/data
+    environment:
+      # Optional: Override default database location
+      - DATABASE_PATH=/app/data/alpenqueue.db
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--no-verbose", "--tries=1", "--spider", "http://localhost:8080/"]
+      interval: 30s
+      timeout: 10s
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 10s
+    networks:
+      - alpenqueue-network
+
+volumes:
+  alpenqueue-data:
+    driver: local
+
+networks:
+  alpenqueue-network:
+    driver: bridge
\ No newline at end of file