head to head · open source
Harness vs Dokku
Harness has 38,378 GitHub stars, 3,397 forks, 106 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Dokku has 32,146 stars, 2,076 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Harness leads on adoption by 19% (38,378 vs 32,146 stars). Harness is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Dokku is written in Shell under MIT. Harness 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
| Harness | Dokku | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 32K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Harness if
- You weight community size — 38K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- 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 Harness
Harness Open Source is an Apache 2.0, Go based developer platform that combines Git source control management, CI/CD pipelines, Gitspaces hosted development environments and artifact registries into one self hostable system for engineering teams that want end to end software delivery without stitching four separate products together.
read the full Harness 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 Harness or Dokku more popular?
Harness has 38,378 GitHub stars and Dokku has 32,146. Harness has the larger community by that measure.
Are Harness and Dokku free?
Both are open source. Harness is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Dokku under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Harness and Dokku?
Harness is written in Go 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, Harness or Dokku?
Choose Harness if you want the larger community (38,378 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Dokku if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.