head to head · open source
Dokku vs chalice
Dokku has 32,146 GitHub stars, 2,076 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. chalice has 11,059 stars, 1,011 forks, 495 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Dokku leads on adoption by 191% (32,146 vs 11,059 stars). Dokku is written in Shell under MIT; chalice is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Dokku has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, chalice 9%. Dokku 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
| Dokku | chalice | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 11K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Shell | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Dokku if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick chalice if
- You want the chalice feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and chalice fits your workflow better
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 →
About chalice
Chalice is an Apache 2.0 Python microframework from AWS for writing serverless applications that run on AWS Lambda, aimed at Python developers who want to declare API Gateway routes, scheduled tasks, and event handlers with decorators and ship them with a single command line tool.
read the full chalice overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dokku or chalice more popular?
Dokku has 32,146 GitHub stars and chalice has 11,059. Dokku has the larger community by that measure.
Are Dokku and chalice free?
Both are open source. Dokku is licensed under MIT and chalice under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Dokku and chalice?
Dokku is written in Shell and chalice in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Dokku or chalice?
Choose Dokku if you want the larger community (32,146 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose chalice if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.