Coolify vs Dokku
Is it time to switch? We break down the differences so you can stop bleeding money.
Choose Coolify.
If you want to own your data, save money, and avoid vendor lock-in, Coolify is more popular among developers.
What Actually Matters
No fluff — just the differences that affect your decision
Both open source, different licenses: Coolify uses Apache-2.0, Dokku uses MIT. Check the fine print if you're building commercial.
Both can run on your own metal with Docker. Full data ownership, no cloud dependency. We have deploy guides for each.
Coolify leads at 63.0k stars vs 32.2k, but both have solid communities. You won't be alone with either choice.
Coolify is built in PHP, Dokku in Go. Matters if you want to contribute, extend, or debug internals.
Try both — most offer free tiers. The right pick depends on your stack size, team, and tolerance for DevOps.
Coolify
An open-source, self-hostable PaaS alternative to Vercel, Heroku & Netlify that lets you easily deploy static sites, databases, full-stack applications and 280+ one-click services on your own servers.
Why Choose Coolify
- ✓Polished, beautiful dashboard that rivals Vercel and Netlify
- ✓Deploy anything — Docker, static sites, databases, services
- ✓Automatic SSL, backups, and monitoring included
Drawbacks
- ×One-man project (mostly)
Dokku
A docker-powered PaaS that helps you build and manage the lifecycle of applications
Why Choose Dokku
- ✓Rock-solid stability — battle-tested since 2013
- ✓Heroku-compatible buildpacks and Procfile workflow
- ✓Zero-downtime deploys with simple git push
Drawbacks
- ×CLI driven
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