diff --git a/frontend/embed.go b/frontend/embed.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f8c5ccff4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/embed.go
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+package frontend
+
+import "embed"
+
+//go:embed dist
+var Files embed.FS
diff --git a/pkg/routes/routes.go b/pkg/routes/routes.go
index 3c450473b..baf30da6d 100644
--- a/pkg/routes/routes.go
+++ b/pkg/routes/routes.go
@@ -178,15 +178,9 @@ func RegisterRoutes(e *echo.Echo) {
 	// healthcheck
 	e.GET("/health", HealthcheckHandler)
 
-	// static files
-	if static := config.ServiceStaticpath.GetString(); static != "" {
-		e.Use(middleware.StaticWithConfig(middleware.StaticConfig{
-			Root:  static,
-			HTML5: true,
-		}))
-	}
+	setupStaticFrontendFilesHandler(e)
 
-	// CORS_SHIT
+	// CORS
 	if config.CorsEnable.GetBool() {
 		e.Use(middleware.CORSWithConfig(middleware.CORSConfig{
 			AllowOrigins: config.CorsOrigins.GetStringSlice(),
diff --git a/pkg/routes/static.go b/pkg/routes/static.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5c47061db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/routes/static.go
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package routes
+
+import (
+	"code.vikunja.io/api/frontend"
+	"github.com/labstack/echo/v4/middleware"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/labstack/echo/v4"
+)
+
+func setupStaticFrontendFilesHandler(e *echo.Echo) {
+	e.Use(middleware.GzipWithConfig(middleware.GzipConfig{
+		Level:     6,
+		MinLength: 256,
+		Skipper: func(c echo.Context) bool {
+			return strings.HasPrefix(c.Path(), "/api/")
+		},
+	}))
+
+	e.Use(func(next echo.HandlerFunc) echo.HandlerFunc {
+		return func(c echo.Context) error {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(c.Path(), "/api/") {
+				return next(c)
+			}
+
+			c.Response().Header().Set("Server", "Vikunja")
+			c.Response().Header().Set("Vary", "Accept-Encoding")
+
+			// TODO how to get last modified and etag header?
+			// Cache-Control: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9111#section-5.2
+			/*
+
+			   nginx returns these headers:
+
+			   --content-encoding: gzip
+			   --content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8
+			   --date: Thu, 08 Feb 2024 15:53:23 GMT
+			   etag: W/"65c39587-bf7"
+			   --last-modified: Wed, 07 Feb 2024 14:36:55 GMT
+			   --server: nginx
+			   --vary: Accept-Encoding
+			   cache-control: public, max-age=0, s-maxage=0, must-revalidate
+
+			*/
+
+			return next(c)
+		}
+	})
+
+	e.Use(middleware.StaticWithConfig(middleware.StaticConfig{
+		Filesystem: http.FS(frontend.Files),
+		HTML5:      true,
+		Root:       "dist/",
+	}))
+}