diff --git a/backend/.env.test b/backend/.env.test
index 535628cd..9020e581 100644
--- a/backend/.env.test
+++ b/backend/.env.test
@@ -11,3 +11,5 @@ DWENGO_PORT=3000
 
 DWENGO_DB_NAME=":memory:"
 DWENGO_DB_UPDATE=true
+
+DWENGO_CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:5173,http://localhost:3000
diff --git a/backend/tool/seed.ts b/backend/tool/seed.ts
index 3ded9379..c781cdf4 100644
--- a/backend/tool/seed.ts
+++ b/backend/tool/seed.ts
@@ -15,13 +15,13 @@ import { makeTestStudents } from '../tests/test_assets/users/students.testdata.j
 import { makeTestTeachers } from '../tests/test_assets/users/teachers.testdata.js';
 import { getLogger, Logger } from '../src/logging/initalize.js';
 import { Collection } from '@mikro-orm/core';
-import { Group } from '../dist/entities/assignments/group.entity.js';
+import { Group } from '../src/entities/assignments/group.entity.js';
 
 const logger: Logger = getLogger();
 
-export async function seedDatabase(): Promise<void> {
-    dotenv.config({ path: '.env.development.local' });
-    const orm = await initORM();
+export async function seedDatabase(envFile = '.env.development.local', testMode = false): Promise<void> {
+    dotenv.config({ path: envFile });
+    const orm = await initORM(testMode);
     await orm.schema.clearDatabase();
 
     const em = forkEntityManager();
diff --git a/backend/tool/startTestApp.ts b/backend/tool/startTestApp.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6dab054d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tool/startTestApp.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import express, { Express } from 'express';
+import { initORM } from '../src/orm.js';
+import apiRouter from '../src/routes/router.js';
+import { errorHandler } from '../src/middleware/error-handling/error-handler.js';
+import dotenv from 'dotenv';
+import cors from '../src/middleware/cors';
+import { authenticateUser } from '../src/middleware/auth/auth';
+import { seedDatabase } from './seed';
+
+const envFile = '../.env.test';
+console.log(`Using env file: ${envFile}`);
+
+dotenv.config({ path: envFile });
+
+const app: Express = express();
+
+app.use(express.json());
+app.use(cors);
+app.use(authenticateUser);
+
+app.use('/api', apiRouter);
+app.use(errorHandler);
+
+async function startServer(): Promise<void> {
+    await seedDatabase(envFile, true);
+    await initORM(true);
+
+    app.listen(9876, () => {
+        console.log('Server is running on http://localhost:9876/api');
+    });
+}
+
+await startServer();
diff --git a/frontend/tests/setup-backend.ts b/frontend/tests/setup-backend.ts
index 722accb5..3b7aee24 100644
--- a/frontend/tests/setup-backend.ts
+++ b/frontend/tests/setup-backend.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import { spawn } from "child_process";
-import { ChildProcess, execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { ChildProcess, spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
 
-let wasRunningBefore: boolean;
 let backendProcess: ChildProcess;
 
 async function waitForEndpoint(url: string, delay = 1000, retries = 60): Promise<void> {
@@ -16,32 +15,28 @@ async function waitForEndpoint(url: string, delay = 1000, retries = 60): Promise
 }
 
 export async function setup(): Promise<void> {
-    // Check if the database container is already running
-    const containerCheck = execSync("docker ps --filter 'name=db' --format '{{.Names}}'");
-    wasRunningBefore = !(containerCheck.toString().includes("db"));
-
-    // Spin up the database
-    execSync("docker compose up db --detach");
-
-    // Spin up the backend
-    backendProcess = spawn("npm", ["run", "dev"], {
+    // Precompile needed packages
+    spawnSync("npm", ["run", "predev"], {
         cwd: "../backend",
         stdio: "inherit",
     });
 
+    // Spin up the backend
+    backendProcess = spawn("tsx", ["--env-file=.env.development.example", "tool/startTestApp.ts"], {
+        cwd: "../backend",
+        stdio: "inherit",
+        env: {
+            ...process.env,
+            NODE_ENV: 'test',
+        }
+    });
+
     // Wait until you can curl the backend
-    await waitForEndpoint("http://localhost:3000/api");
+    await waitForEndpoint("http://localhost:9876/api");
 }
 
 export async function teardown(): Promise<void> {
     if (backendProcess) {
         backendProcess.kill();
     }
-
-    if (wasRunningBefore) {
-        spawn("docker", ["compose", "down"], {
-            cwd: "..",
-            stdio: "inherit",
-        });
-    }
 }