head to head · open source
Appwrite vs Dokku
Appwrite has 57,400 GitHub stars, 5,725 forks, 1,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dokku has 32,146 stars, 2,076 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Appwrite leads on adoption by 79% (57,400 vs 32,146 stars). Appwrite is written in PHP under BSD-3-Clause; Dokku is written in Shell under MIT. Appwrite has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Dokku 6%. Appwrite was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (docker), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Appwrite | Dokku | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 57K | ★ 32K |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | PHP | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.7K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Appwrite if
- You weight community size — 57K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Dokku if
- You want the Dokku feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and Dokku fits your workflow better
About Appwrite
Appwrite is an open source backend platform that consolidates infrastructure services—authentication, databases, storage, functions, messaging, hosting, and real time capabilities—into a single, unified system. It runs as a self hosted service or via a managed cloud offering (Appwrite Cloud), targeting developers who want to avoid assembling and maintaining disparate backend tools.
read the full Appwrite overview →
About Dokku
Dokku is a self hosted Platform as a Service (PaaS) that runs on a single server using Docker containers. It enables developers to deploy applications using familiar workflows like git push , mimicking the simplicity of Heroku while running entirely under the user’s control. Dokku lives in the DevOps and infrastructure automation ecosystem, targeting teams that want PaaS convenience without relying on cloud vendor lock in.
read the full Dokku overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Appwrite or Dokku more popular?
Appwrite has 57,400 GitHub stars and Dokku has 32,146. Appwrite has the larger community by that measure.
Are Appwrite and Dokku free?
Both are open source. Appwrite is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Dokku under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Appwrite and Dokku?
Appwrite is written in PHP and Dokku in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Appwrite or Dokku?
Choose Appwrite if you want the larger community (57,400 stars) or its BSD-3-Clause licence terms. Choose Dokku if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.