head to head · open source
Coolify vs Dokku
Coolify has 61,962 GitHub stars, 5,489 forks, 649 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dokku has 32,148 stars, 2,076 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped today. Coolify leads on adoption by 93% (61,962 vs 32,148 stars). Coolify is written in PHP under Apache-2.0; Dokku is written in Shell under MIT. Coolify has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Dokku 6%. Dokku 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
| Coolify | Dokku | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 62K | ★ 32K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | PHP | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Coolify if
- You weight community size — 62K 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 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 Coolify
Coolify is an open source, self hostable Platform as a Service (PaaS) designed to replace commercial services like Vercel, Heroku, and Netlify. It runs on user provided infrastructure—VPS, bare metal, or Raspberry Pi—and automates deployment, scaling, and management of applications, databases, and services using Docker and Docker Compose. Built with Laravel and PHP, it lives in the infrastructure and operations ecosystem, targeting developers and DevOps teams seeking vendor lock in free control over their deployment stack.
read the full Coolify 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 Coolify or Dokku more popular?
Coolify has 61,962 GitHub stars and Dokku has 32,148. Coolify has the larger community by that measure.
Are Coolify and Dokku free?
Both are open source. Coolify is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Dokku under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Coolify and Dokku?
Coolify 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, Coolify or Dokku?
Choose Coolify if you want the larger community (61,962 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Dokku if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.