the catalog · ☁️ Hosting
Dokku
★ 30kMinimal Heroku-like PaaS powered by Docker: git push to deploy on a single VPS with buildpacks
Dokku does the job of Heroku, self-hosted. It is MIT-licensed, so you can do essentially what you like with it, and setting it up is an afternoon, not a weekend. Heroku bills $25-250+ for it. 30k stars on GitHub.
Open-source replacement for Heroku.
- Licence
- MIT
- Self-hosting
- Medium
- The paid one costs
- $25-250+
- GitHub stars
- 30k
Is it actually a replacement?
We have written a verdict on what it replaces — what you lose, and why people still pay:
How Dokku runs
Where it runs
Dokku runs on your server.
What setup takes
not verified by us yet — check the repo README.
Dokku questions
Is Dokku open source?
Yes — it is released under MIT.
Can Dokku replace Heroku?
Our verdict on Heroku is YES. Coolify (57k stars), Dokploy (36k stars), Dokku (32k stars) are mature open-source replacements for Heroku — self-host with real ops work and stop paying $7/mo.
Can I self-host Dokku?
Yes — we rate it medium to self-host, and it runs on your server.