diff --git a/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/index.ts b/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/index.ts
index fc91d2fb7..43f48011c 100644
--- a/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/index.ts
@@ -2,12 +2,14 @@ import { spawn } from 'child_process';
 import { task, subtask, types } from 'hardhat/config';
 import {
     TASK_COMPILE,
+    TASK_NODE,
     TASK_TEST,
     TASK_TEST_GET_TEST_FILES,
     TASK_TEST_RUN_MOCHA_TESTS,
 } from 'hardhat/builtin-tasks/task-names';
 
 import { HARDHAT_NETWORK_NAME } from 'hardhat/plugins';
+import { TaskArguments } from 'hardhat/types';
 import {
     MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS,
     START_PORT,
@@ -16,7 +18,7 @@ import {
     TASK_NODE_ZKSYNC_DOWNLOAD_BINARY,
     TASK_RUN_NODE_ZKSYNC_IN_SEPARATE_PROCESS,
 } from './constants';
-import { JsonRpcServer } from './server';
+import { JsonRpcServer, RpcServer } from './server';
 import {
     adjustTaskArgsForPort,
     configureNetwork,
@@ -75,9 +77,68 @@ subtask(TASK_NODE_ZKSYNC_CREATE_SERVER, 'Creates a JSON-RPC server for ZKsync no
         },
     );
 
+task(TASK_NODE, 'Start a ZKSync Node')
+    .addOptionalParam('log', 'Log filter level (error, warn, info, debug) - default: info', undefined, types.string)
+    .addOptionalParam(
+        'logFilePath',
+        'Path to the file where logs should be written - default: `era_test_node.log`',
+        undefined,
+        types.string,
+    )
+    .addOptionalParam('cache', 'Cache type (none, disk, memory) - default: disk', undefined, types.string)
+    .addOptionalParam(
+        'cacheDir',
+        'Cache directory location for `disk` cache - default: `.cache`',
+        undefined,
+        types.string,
+    )
+    .addFlag('resetCache', 'Reset the local `disk` cache')
+    .addOptionalParam(
+        'showCalls',
+        'Show call debug information (none, user, system, all) - default: none',
+        undefined,
+        types.string,
+    )
+    .addOptionalParam(
+        'showStorageLogs',
+        'Show storage log information (none, read, write, all) - default: none',
+        undefined,
+        types.string,
+    )
+    .addOptionalParam(
+        'showVmDetails',
+        'Show VM details information (none, all) - default: none',
+        undefined,
+        types.string,
+    )
+    .addOptionalParam(
+        'showGasDetails',
+        'Show Gas details information (none, all) - default: none',
+        undefined,
+        types.string,
+    )
+    .addFlag(
+        'resolveHashes',
+        'Try to contact openchain to resolve the ABI & topic names. It enabled, it makes debug log more readable, but will decrease the performance',
+    )
+    .addFlag(
+        'devUseLocalContracts',
+        'Loads the locally compiled system contracts (useful when doing changes to system contracts or bootloader)',
+    )
+    .addOptionalParam('replayTx', 'Transaction hash to replay', undefined, types.string)
+    .addOptionalParam('tag', 'Specified node release for use', undefined)
+    // .addOptionalParam('force', 'Force download', undefined, types.boolean)
+    .setAction(async (args: TaskArguments, { network, run }, runSuper) => {
+        if (network.zksync !== true || network.name !== HARDHAT_NETWORK_NAME) {
+            return await runSuper();
+        }
+
+        await run(TASK_NODE_ZKSYNC, args);
+    });
+
 // Main task of the plugin. It starts the server and listens for requests.
 task(TASK_NODE_ZKSYNC, 'Starts a JSON-RPC server for ZKsync node')
-    .addOptionalParam('port', 'Port to listen on - default: 8011', undefined, types.int)
+    .addOptionalParam('port', 'Port to listen on - default: 8545', 8545, types.int)
     .addOptionalParam('log', 'Log filter level (error, warn, info, debug) - default: info', undefined, types.string)
     .addOptionalParam(
         'logFilePath',
@@ -196,7 +257,7 @@ task(TASK_NODE_ZKSYNC, 'Starts a JSON-RPC server for ZKsync node')
             const binaryPath: string = await run(TASK_NODE_ZKSYNC_DOWNLOAD_BINARY, { force: false, tag });
 
             // Create the server
-            const server: JsonRpcServer = await run(TASK_NODE_ZKSYNC_CREATE_SERVER, { binaryPath });
+            const server: RpcServer = await run(TASK_NODE_ZKSYNC_CREATE_SERVER, { binaryPath });
 
             try {
                 await server.listen(commandArgs);
diff --git a/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/server.ts b/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/server.ts
index 620a853fe..c9bf7e76f 100644
--- a/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/server.ts
+++ b/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/server.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,12 @@ import chalk from 'chalk';
 
 import { PROCESS_TERMINATION_SIGNALS } from './constants';
 
-export class JsonRpcServer {
+export interface RpcServer {
+    listen(args?: string[], blockProcess?: boolean): Promise<void>;
+    stop(): Promise<void>;
+}
+
+export class JsonRpcServer implements RpcServer {
     private serverProcess: ChildProcess | null = null;
 
     // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/naming-convention
diff --git a/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/utils.ts b/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/utils.ts
index e2aa8b59d..43a6aba63 100644
--- a/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/hardhat-zksync-node/src/utils.ts
@@ -19,16 +19,20 @@ import {
     ALLOWED_SHOW_STORAGE_LOGS_VALUES,
     ALLOWED_SHOW_VM_DETAILS_VALUES,
     BASE_URL,
+    MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS,
     NETWORK_ACCOUNTS,
     NETWORK_ETH,
     NETWORK_GAS,
     NETWORK_GAS_PRICE,
     PLATFORM_MAP,
+    START_PORT,
     TEMP_FILE_PREFIX,
     ZKSYNC_ERA_TEST_NODE_NETWORK_NAME,
 } from './constants';
 import { ZkSyncNodePluginError } from './errors';
 import { CommandArguments } from './types';
+import { RPCServerDownloader } from './downloader';
+import { JsonRpcServer } from './server';
 
 // Generates command arguments for running the era-test-node binary
 export function constructCommandArgs(args: CommandArguments): string[] {
@@ -406,3 +410,25 @@ export async function configureNetwork(config: HardhatConfig, network: any, port
     config.networks[network.name] = network.config;
     network.provider = await createProvider(config, network.name);
 }
+
+export const startServer = async (tag?: string, force: boolean = false) => {
+    const platform = getPlatform();
+    if (platform === 'windows' || platform === '') {
+        throw new ZkSyncNodePluginError(`Unsupported platform: ${platform}`);
+    }
+    const rpcServerBinaryDir = await getRPCServerBinariesDir();
+
+    const downloader: RPCServerDownloader = new RPCServerDownloader(rpcServerBinaryDir, tag || 'latest');
+
+    await downloader.downloadIfNeeded(force);
+    const binaryPath = await downloader.getBinaryPath();
+
+    const currentPort = await getAvailablePort(START_PORT, MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS);
+    const commandArgs = constructCommandArgs({ port: currentPort });
+
+    return {
+        commandArgs,
+        server: new JsonRpcServer(binaryPath),
+        port: currentPort,
+    };
+};