diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e889c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+/build*
+/.vscode
+/cpm_modules
+.DS_Store
+/.github
+/standalone/Dockerfile
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d54a4f4..8ad95d4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 /build*
 /.vscode
 /cpm_modules
-.DS_Store
\ No newline at end of file
+.DS_Store
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
deleted file mode 100644
index 3c875b8..0000000
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-FROM ubuntu:20.04 as build
-# install dev tools
-ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
-RUN set -eux; \
-    apt-get update; \
-    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-    ca-certificates \
-    make \
-    cmake \
-    git \
-    gcc \
-    g++ \
-    ; \
-    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-# build in release mode
-WORKDIR /build-all
-COPY ./all ./all
-COPY ./cmake ./cmake
-COPY ./documentation ./documentation
-COPY ./include ./include
-COPY ./source ./source
-COPY ./standalone ./standalone
-COPY ./test ./test
-COPY ./CMakeLists.txt .
-RUN cmake -S all -B build -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
-RUN cmake --build build
-
-# make a test image - could also be done directly from/in the build image
-FROM ubuntu:20.04 as test
-WORKDIR /test
-COPY --from=build /build-all/build/test/GreeterTests ./
-CMD ["./GreeterTests"]
-
-# make an image to deploy our 'app'
-FROM ubuntu:20.04 as deploy
-WORKDIR /app
-COPY --from=build /build-all/build/standalone/Greeter ./
-CMD ["./Greeter"]
diff --git a/standalone/CMakeLists.txt b/standalone/CMakeLists.txt
index a932149..efdbb08 100644
--- a/standalone/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/standalone/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.14...3.22)
 
-project(GreeterStandalone LANGUAGES CXX)
+project(
+  GreeterStandalone
+  DESCRIPTION "A standalone minimal webserver application using the Crow framework"
+  LANGUAGES CXX
+)
 
 # --- Import tools ----
 
@@ -10,12 +14,44 @@ include(../cmake/tools.cmake)
 
 include(../cmake/CPM.cmake)
 
+# Crow needs Boost 1.64 and does not provide CPM.cmake integration itself, so we have to get Boost first
+find_package(Boost 1.64 QUIET)
+if(NOT Boost_FOUND)
+  # Use CPM.cmake to get Boost from the official repo if not provided as system lib
+  message(STATUS "GreeterStandalone: Boost system lib NOT found")
+  CPMAddPackage(
+    NAME Boost
+    GITHUB_REPOSITORY boostorg/boost
+    GIT_TAG boost-1.78.0
+    VERSION 1.78.0
+  )
+  # Ugly workaround:
+  # Boost cmake support is still experimental, the Boost::boost target is not provided if downloaded via
+  # FetchContent_declare / CPM.cmake
+  # Crow uses it for asio, so we fake the Boost:boost target as asio
+  if(NOT TARGET Boost::boost)
+    add_library(Boost::boost INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+    target_link_libraries(Boost::boost INTERFACE Boost::asio)
+  endif()
+else()
+  message(STATUS "GreeterStandalone: Boost system lib found")
+endif()
+# add Crow
 CPMAddPackage(
+<<<<<<< HEAD
   GITHUB_REPOSITORY jarro2783/cxxopts
   VERSION 3.0.0
   OPTIONS "CXXOPTS_BUILD_EXAMPLES NO" "CXXOPTS_BUILD_TESTS NO" "CXXOPTS_ENABLE_INSTALL YES"
+=======
+  NAME Crow
+  GITHUB_REPOSITORY CrowCpp/Crow
+  GIT_TAG v1.0+1
+  VERSION 1.0.1
+  OPTIONS "CROW_INSTALL OFF"
+>>>>>>> a42d7c5 (add boost, make boost work in docker)
 )
 
+# get the Greeter lib
 CPMAddPackage(NAME Greeter SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/..)
 
 # ---- Create standalone executable ----
@@ -23,7 +59,5 @@ CPMAddPackage(NAME Greeter SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/..)
 file(GLOB sources CONFIGURE_DEPENDS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/source/*.cpp)
 
 add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} ${sources})
-
-set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES CXX_STANDARD 17 OUTPUT_NAME "Greeter")
-
-target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} Greeter::Greeter cxxopts)
+target_compile_features(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE cxx_std_11)
+target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE Greeter::Greeter Crow::Crow)
diff --git a/standalone/Dockerfile b/standalone/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30989e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/standalone/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# build
+FROM buildpack-deps:bullseye as webapp-build
+RUN set -eux; \
+    apt-get update; \
+    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    cmake \
+    ninja-build \
+    # build with Boost as system lib - this should be orders of magnitude faster to configure than
+    # downloading via CPM.cmake while Boost's CMake support is still experimental
+    libboost-all-dev \
+    ;
+COPY . .
+RUN cmake -S standalone -B build -G Ninja -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
+RUN cmake --build build
+
+
+# deploy
+FROM debian:bullseye-slim as webapp-run
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY --from=webapp-build /build/GreeterStandalone .
+CMD ["./GreeterStandalone"]
diff --git a/standalone/source/main.cpp b/standalone/source/main.cpp
index 938a386..6c3f728 100644
--- a/standalone/source/main.cpp
+++ b/standalone/source/main.cpp
@@ -1,53 +1,48 @@
+#include <crow.h>
 #include <greeter/greeter.h>
 #include <greeter/version.h>
 
-#include <cxxopts.hpp>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <string>
 #include <unordered_map>
 
-auto main(int argc, char** argv) -> int {
-  const std::unordered_map<std::string, greeter::LanguageCode> languages{
-      {"en", greeter::LanguageCode::EN},
-      {"de", greeter::LanguageCode::DE},
-      {"es", greeter::LanguageCode::ES},
-      {"fr", greeter::LanguageCode::FR},
-  };
+int main() {
+  crow::SimpleApp app;
 
-  cxxopts::Options options(*argv, "A program to welcome the world!");
+  CROW_ROUTE(app, "/hello")
+  ([](const crow::request& req) {
+    // check params
+    std::cout << "Params: " << req.url_params << "\n";
+    std::cout << "The key 'language' was "
+              << (req.url_params.get("language") == nullptr ? "not " : "") << "found.\n";
 
-  std::string language;
-  std::string name;
+    if (req.url_params.get("language") == nullptr) {
+      // return bad request
+      return crow::response(400, "please provide a 'language' argument");
+    }
+    const auto language = req.url_params.get("language");
 
-  // clang-format off
-  options.add_options()
-    ("h,help", "Show help")
-    ("v,version", "Print the current version number")
-    ("n,name", "Name to greet", cxxopts::value(name)->default_value("World"))
-    ("l,lang", "Language code to use", cxxopts::value(language)->default_value("en"))
-  ;
-  // clang-format on
+    // see if langauge was found
+    const std::unordered_map<std::string, greeter::LanguageCode> languages{
+        {"en", greeter::LanguageCode::EN},
+        {"de", greeter::LanguageCode::DE},
+        {"es", greeter::LanguageCode::ES},
+        {"fr", greeter::LanguageCode::FR},
+    };
+    const auto langIt = languages.find(language);
+    if (langIt == languages.end()) {
+      // return bad request
+      std::cout << "Greeting for language '" << language << "' is not available\n";
+      return crow::response(400, "language not recognized");
+    }
 
-  auto result = options.parse(argc, argv);
+    const greeter::Greeter greeter("Crow & Greeter");
+    std::cout << "Greeting for language '" << language << "' is available, returning message\n";
+    const auto message = greeter.greet(langIt->second);
 
-  if (result["help"].as<bool>()) {
-    std::cout << options.help() << std::endl;
-    return 0;
-  }
+    crow::json::wvalue ret({{"answer", message}});
+    return crow::response(200, ret);
+  });
 
-  if (result["version"].as<bool>()) {
-    std::cout << "Greeter, version " << GREETER_VERSION << std::endl;
-    return 0;
-  }
-
-  auto langIt = languages.find(language);
-  if (langIt == languages.end()) {
-    std::cerr << "unknown language code: " << language << std::endl;
-    return 1;
-  }
-
-  greeter::Greeter greeter(name);
-  std::cout << greeter.greet(langIt->second) << std::endl;
-
-  return 0;
+  app.port(3080).multithreaded().run();
 }