diff --git a/scripts/dev-cluster-host.sh b/scripts/dev-cluster-host.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..9ce083707
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/dev-cluster-host.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+## This starts configurable number of core and replicant nodes on the same host (not in docker).
+## The nodes are named as core1, core2, replicant3, replicant4, ... where the number monotically increases.
+## The number in node name is used as an offset for ekka to avoid clashing (see ekka_dist:offset/1).
+## Nodes are started on loopback addresses starting from 127.0.0.1.
+## The script uses sudo to add loopback aliases.
+## The boot script is ./_build/emqx/rel/emqx/bin/emqx.
+## The data and log directories are configured to use ./tmp/
+
+# ensure dir
+cd -P -- "$(dirname -- "$0")/../"
+
+help() {
+    echo
+    echo "start | stop"
+    echo "-h|--help: To display this usage info"
+    echo "-n|--nodes: total number of nodes to start (default: 2)"
+    echo "-c|--core_nodes: number of core nodes to start (default: 1)"
+    echo "-b|--boot: boot script (default: ./_build/emqx/rel/emqx/bin/emqx)"
+}
+
+CMD="$1"
+shift || true
+
+export EMQX_NODE__COOKIE=test
+BOOT_SCRIPT='./_build/emqx/rel/emqx/bin/emqx'
+NODES=2
+CORE_NODES=1
+
+while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
+    case $1 in
+        -h|--help)
+            help
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+        -n|--nodes)
+            NODES="$2"
+            shift 2
+            ;;
+        -c|--core-nodes)
+            CORE_NODES="$2"
+            shift 2
+            ;;
+        -b|--boot)
+            BOOT_SCRIPT="$2"
+            shift 2
+            ;;
+        *)
+            echo "unknown option $1"
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+REPLICANT_NODES=$((NODES - CORE_NODES))
+
+# cannot use the same node name even IPs are different because Erlang distribution listens on 0.0.0.0
+CORE_IDS=()
+REPLICANT_IDS=()
+SEEDS_ARRAY=()
+for i in $(seq 1 "$CORE_NODES"); do
+    SEEDS_ARRAY+=("core${i}@127.0.0.$i")
+    CORE_IDS+=("$i")
+done
+for i in $(seq "$((CORE_NODES+1))" "$((CORE_NODES+REPLICANT_NODES))"); do
+    REPLICANT_IDS+=("$i")
+done
+
+SEEDS="$(IFS=,; echo "${SEEDS_ARRAY[*]}")"
+
+if [ "$CMD" = "stop" ]; then
+    for id in "${REPLICANT_IDS[@]}"; do
+        env EMQX_NODE_NAME="replicant${id}@127.0.0.$id" "$BOOT_SCRIPT" stop || true
+    done
+    for id in "${CORE_IDS[@]}"; do
+        env EMQX_NODE_NAME="core${id}@127.0.0.$id" "$BOOT_SCRIPT" stop || true
+    done
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+start_cmd() {
+    local role="$1"
+    local id="$2"
+    local ip="127.0.0.$id"
+    local nodename="$role$id"
+    local nodehome="$(pwd)/tmp/$nodename"
+    mkdir -p "${nodehome}/data" "${nodehome}/log"
+    cat <<-EOF
+env DEBUG="${DEBUG:-0}" \
+EMQX_NODE_NAME="$nodename@$ip" \
+EMQX_CLUSTER__STATIC__SEEDS="$SEEDS" \
+EMQX_CLUSTER__DISCOVERY_STRATEGY=static \
+EMQX_NODE__DB_ROLE="$role" \
+EMQX_LOG__FILE_HANDLERS__DEFAULT__LEVEL="${EMQX_LOG__FILE_HANDLERS__DEFAULT__LEVEL:-debug}" \
+EMQX_LOG__FILE_HANDLERS__DEFAULT__FILE="${nodehome}/log/emqx.log" \
+EMQX_LOG_DIR="${nodehome}/log" \
+EMQX_NODE__DATA_DIR="${nodehome}/data" \
+EMQX_LISTENERS__TCP__DEFAULT__BIND="$ip:1883" \
+EMQX_LISTENERS__SSL__DEFAULT__BIND="$ip:8883" \
+EMQX_LISTENERS__WS__DEFAULT__BIND="$ip:8083" \
+EMQX_LISTENERS__WSS__DEFAULT__BIND="$ip:8084" \
+EMQX_DASHBOARD__LISTENERS__HTTP__BIND="$ip:18083" \
+"$BOOT_SCRIPT" start
+EOF
+}
+
+start_node() {
+    local cmd
+    cmd="$(start_cmd "$1" "$2" | envsubst)"
+    echo "$cmd"
+    eval "$cmd"
+}
+
+for id in "${CORE_IDS[@]}"; do
+    sudo ifconfig lo0 alias 127.0.0.$id up
+    start_node core "$id" &
+done
+
+for id in "${REPLICANT_IDS[@]}"; do
+    sudo ifconfig lo0 alias 127.0.0.$id up
+    start_node replicant "$id" &
+done