head to head · open source
Coolify vs Cosmos Server
Coolify has 65,515 GitHub stars, 5,907 forks, 649 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Cosmos Server has 6,190 stars, 252 forks, 201 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. Coolify leads on adoption by 958% (65,515 vs 6,190 stars). Coolify is written in PHP under Apache-2.0; Cosmos Server is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. Coolify has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Cosmos Server 4%. Coolify was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Coolify | Cosmos Server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 6.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | PHP | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 252 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Coolify if
- You weight community size — 66K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Cosmos Server if
- You want the Cosmos Server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Cosmos Server fits your workflow better
About Coolify
Coolify An open source & self hostable Heroku / Netlify / Vercel alternative. About the Project Coolify is an open source & self hostable alternative to Heroku / Netlify / Vercel / etc. It helps you manage your servers, applications, and databases on your own hardware; you only need an SSH connection. You can manage VPS, Bare Metal, Raspberry PIs, and anything else. Imagine having the ease of a cloud but with your own servers. That is Coolify . No vendor lock in, which means that all the configurations for your applications/databases/etc are saved to your server. So, if you decide to stop using Coolify (oh…
read the full Coolify overview →
About Cosmos Server
Thanks to the sponsors: ☁️ Cosmos is the most secure and easy way to self host a Home Server. It acts as a secure gateway to your application, as well as a server manager. It aims to solve the increasingly worrying problem of vulnerable self hosted applications and personal servers. Whether you have a server , a NAS , or a Raspberry Pi with applications such as Plex , HomeAssistant or even a blog, Cosmos is the perfect solution to run and secure them all. Simply install Cosmos on your server and connect to your applications through it to enjoy built in security and robustness for all your services, right out of…
read the full Cosmos Server overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Coolify or Cosmos Server more popular?
Coolify has 65,515 GitHub stars and Cosmos Server has 6,190. Coolify has the larger community by that measure.
Are Coolify and Cosmos Server free?
Both are open source. Coolify is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Cosmos Server has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Coolify and Cosmos Server?
Coolify is written in PHP and Cosmos Server in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Coolify or Cosmos Server?
Choose Coolify if you want the larger community (65,515 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Cosmos Server if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.