diff --git a/Dockerfile.dev b/Dockerfile.dev
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..784467f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile.dev
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+FROM node:18-alpine
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+COPY backend/package*.json ./
+RUN npm install
+
+COPY backend/ ./
+
+EXPOSE 4000
+
+CMD ["node", "src/index.js"]
diff --git a/backend/src/index.js b/backend/src/index.js
index 8668242..8e246d8 100644
--- a/backend/src/index.js
+++ b/backend/src/index.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import express from 'express';
 import cors from 'cors';
 import dotenv from 'dotenv';
 import path from 'path';
+import fs from 'fs';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
 import { initDB } from './db/index.js';
 import authRoutes from './routes/auth.js';
@@ -37,12 +38,24 @@ app.get('/api/health', (req, res) => {
 
 // Serve static frontend files (for production)
 const frontendPath = path.join(__dirname, '../../frontend/dist');
-app.use(express.static(frontendPath));
+const frontendExists = fs.existsSync(frontendPath);
 
-// Serve index.html for all non-API routes (SPA support)
-app.get('*', (req, res) => {
-  res.sendFile(path.join(frontendPath, 'index.html'));
-});
+if (frontendExists) {
+  app.use(express.static(frontendPath));
+
+  // Serve index.html for all non-API routes (SPA support)
+  app.get('*', (req, res) => {
+    res.sendFile(path.join(frontendPath, 'index.html'));
+  });
+} else {
+  console.log('ℹ️  Frontend dist not found - running in API-only mode (dev)');
+  app.get('*', (req, res) => {
+    res.json({ 
+      message: "What's The Point API - Frontend running separately",
+      frontend: "http://localhost:5173"
+    });
+  });
+}
 
 const PORT = process.env.PORT || 4000;
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index b176fdd..da8ed33 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -16,8 +16,10 @@ services:
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 5
 
-  web:
-    build: .
+  backend:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile.dev
     restart: unless-stopped
     environment:
       PORT: 4000
@@ -36,5 +38,20 @@ services:
       - ./backend:/app
       - /app/node_modules
 
+  frontend:
+    build:
+      context: ./frontend
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile.dev
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    environment:
+      VITE_API_URL: http://localhost:4000/api
+    depends_on:
+      - backend
+    ports:
+      - "5173:5173"
+    volumes:
+      - ./frontend:/app
+      - /app/node_modules
+
 volumes:
   db_data:
diff --git a/frontend/Dockerfile.dev b/frontend/Dockerfile.dev
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b1f1ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/Dockerfile.dev
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+FROM node:18-alpine
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+COPY package*.json ./
+RUN npm install
+
+COPY . .
+
+EXPOSE 5173
+
+CMD ["npm", "run", "dev"]