diff --git a/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/config.mjs b/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/config.mjs
index 6d2f414..cd90acc 100644
--- a/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/config.mjs
+++ b/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/config.mjs
@@ -1,11 +1,23 @@
 import { readFileSync } from "node:fs"
 import { resolve } from "node:path"
 
+const readNumber = (value) => {
+  if (typeof value !== "string" || value.length === 0) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  const parsed = Number.parseInt(value, 10)
+  return Number.isFinite(parsed) ? parsed : undefined
+}
+
 export const readSpawndockConfig = (cwd = process.cwd()) =>
   JSON.parse(readFileSync(resolve(cwd, "spawndock.config.json"), "utf8"))
 
+export const resolveConfiguredLocalPort = (config, env = process.env) =>
+  readNumber(env.SPAWNDOCK_PORT) ?? Number(config.localPort ?? 3000)
+
 export const resolveLocalOrigin = (config) =>
-  `http://127.0.0.1:${config.localPort ?? 3000}`
+  `http://127.0.0.1:${resolveConfiguredLocalPort(config)}`
 
 export const resolvePreviewOrigin = (config) =>
   config.previewOrigin ?? ""
diff --git a/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/dev.mjs b/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/dev.mjs
index 00d62cd..556d377 100644
--- a/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/dev.mjs
+++ b/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/dev.mjs
@@ -1,14 +1,28 @@
 import { spawn } from "node:child_process"
 import { setTimeout } from "node:timers"
 
-const scripts = [
-  ["node", ["spawndock/next.mjs"]],
-  ["node", ["spawndock/tunnel.mjs"]],
-]
+import { readSpawndockConfig, resolveConfiguredLocalPort } from "./config.mjs"
+import { findAvailablePort, waitForPort } from "./port.mjs"
 
 const children = []
+let shuttingDown = false
+
+const config = readSpawndockConfig()
+const requestedLocalPort = resolveConfiguredLocalPort(config)
+const localPort = await findAvailablePort(requestedLocalPort)
+const sharedEnv = {
+  ...process.env,
+  SPAWNDOCK_PORT: String(localPort),
+}
+
+if (localPort !== requestedLocalPort) {
+  console.warn(
+    `SpawnDock local port ${requestedLocalPort} is busy, using ${localPort} instead.`
+  )
+}
 
 const stopChildren = (signal) => {
+  shuttingDown = true
   for (const child of children) {
     if (!child.killed) {
       child.kill(signal ?? "SIGTERM")
@@ -26,10 +40,10 @@ process.on("SIGTERM", () => {
   process.exit(0)
 })
 
-for (const [command, args] of scripts) {
+const spawnChild = (command, args) => {
   const child = spawn(command, args, {
     cwd: process.cwd(),
-    env: process.env,
+    env: sharedEnv,
     stdio: "inherit",
   })
 
@@ -41,8 +55,18 @@ for (const [command, args] of scripts) {
       process.exit(code)
     }
   })
+
+  return child
 }
 
+const nextChild = spawnChild("node", ["spawndock/next.mjs"])
+
+await waitForPort(localPort, {
+  isCancelled: () => shuttingDown || nextChild.exitCode !== null,
+})
+
+spawnChild("node", ["spawndock/tunnel.mjs"])
+
 setTimeout(() => {
   console.log("SpawnDock dev session is ready.")
 }, 0)
diff --git a/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/next.mjs b/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/next.mjs
index 6cea45d..eac534e 100644
--- a/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/next.mjs
+++ b/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/next.mjs
@@ -1,13 +1,27 @@
 import { spawn } from "node:child_process"
 import readline from "node:readline"
 
-import { readSpawndockConfig, resolveAllowedDevOrigins } from "./config.mjs"
+import {
+  readSpawndockConfig,
+  resolveAllowedDevOrigins,
+  resolveConfiguredLocalPort,
+} from "./config.mjs"
+import { findAvailablePort } from "./port.mjs"
 
 const config = readSpawndockConfig()
-const localPort = Number(config.localPort ?? 3000)
+const requestedLocalPort = resolveConfiguredLocalPort(config)
+const localPort = process.env.SPAWNDOCK_PORT
+  ? requestedLocalPort
+  : await findAvailablePort(requestedLocalPort)
 const allowedOrigins = resolveAllowedDevOrigins(config)
 const previewOrigin = config.previewOrigin ?? ""
 
+if (localPort !== requestedLocalPort) {
+  console.warn(
+    `SpawnDock local port ${requestedLocalPort} is busy, using ${localPort} instead.`
+  )
+}
+
 const child = spawn("pnpm", ["exec", "next", "dev", "-p", String(localPort)], {
   cwd: process.cwd(),
   env: {
diff --git a/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/port.mjs b/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/port.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d158f1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/app/template-nextjs-overlay/spawndock/port.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+import { createServer, createConnection } from "node:net"
+
+const PORT_CHECK_TIMEOUT_MS = 500
+const PORT_READY_TIMEOUT_MS = 30_000
+const PORT_READY_POLL_MS = 200
+const MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS = 20
+
+const wait = (delayMs) =>
+  new Promise((resolve) => {
+    setTimeout(resolve, delayMs)
+  })
+
+export const isPortAvailable = (port) =>
+  new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const server = createServer()
+
+    server.unref()
+
+    server.once("error", (error) => {
+      if (error && typeof error === "object" && "code" in error) {
+        if (error.code === "EADDRINUSE" || error.code === "EACCES") {
+          resolve(false)
+          return
+        }
+      }
+
+      reject(error)
+    })
+
+    server.listen(port, () => {
+      server.close(() => resolve(true))
+    })
+  })
+
+export const findAvailablePort = async (preferredPort) => {
+  for (let offset = 0; offset < MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS; offset += 1) {
+    const candidate = preferredPort + offset
+    if (await isPortAvailable(candidate)) {
+      return candidate
+    }
+  }
+
+  throw new Error(
+    `Could not find a free local port starting from ${preferredPort} after ${MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS} attempts`
+  )
+}
+
+export const isPortReachable = (port) =>
+  new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const socket = createConnection({
+      host: "127.0.0.1",
+      port,
+    })
+
+    socket.setTimeout(PORT_CHECK_TIMEOUT_MS)
+
+    const finalize = (result) => {
+      socket.removeAllListeners()
+      socket.destroy()
+      resolve(result)
+    }
+
+    socket.once("connect", () => finalize(true))
+    socket.once("timeout", () => finalize(false))
+    socket.once("error", () => finalize(false))
+  })
+
+export const waitForPort = async (port, options = {}) => {
+  const timeoutMs = options.timeoutMs ?? PORT_READY_TIMEOUT_MS
+  const pollMs = options.pollMs ?? PORT_READY_POLL_MS
+  const isCancelled = options.isCancelled ?? (() => false)
+  const startedAt = Date.now()
+
+  while (Date.now() - startedAt < timeoutMs) {
+    if (isCancelled()) {
+      throw new Error(`Local dev server exited before port ${port} became ready`)
+    }
+
+    if (await isPortReachable(port)) {
+      return
+    }
+
+    await wait(pollMs)
+  }
+
+  throw new Error(`Timed out waiting for local dev server on port ${port}`)
+}