Self-hosted PaaS

A comparison table of platform-as-a-service or “Heroku clone” software that you can run on your own servers. “Self-hosted platform as a service” may seem like a contradiction, but it can make it easier to manage your applications in a uniform way. I focus on the smaller and simpler projects; no Kubernetes here.

Project name and link Type Technologies Management License Notes
CapRover Multi-server (Docker swarm mode) Node.js, TypeScript, Docker Web UI Source-available free to self-host Formerly open-source under Apache-2.0.
Coolify Multi-server (independent Docker Engines) PHP, Docker Web UI Apache-2.0
Dokku Single-server Bash, Docker CLI on the server MIT
Dokploy Multi-server (Docker swarm mode) Node.js, TypeScript, Docker Web UI Apache-2.0 (core), source-available free to self-host (multi-node, Docker Compose support)
Exoframe Multi-server (Docker swarm mode) Node.js, JavaScript, Docker CLI client on the deployment machine MIT
Nua Single-server Python, Docker CLI on the server AGPL-3.0-only Documenation warns you to not yet use it in production.
Piku Single-server Python CLI client on the deployment machine MIT Smaller than Dokku. Does not use Docker. Runs on low-end devices.
Sailor Single-server Python CLI on the server MIT A fork of Piku. Does not use Docker.
Swarmlet (archived) Multi-server (Docker swarm mode) Bash, Docker CLI on the server MIT

  • Wharf—a web UI for Dokku. Written in Python.