head to head · open source
Dokku vs NHost
Dokku has 32,147 GitHub stars, 2,075 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped today. NHost has 9,296 stars, 623 forks, 164 open issues and last shipped today. Dokku leads on adoption by 246% (32,147 vs 9,296 stars). Dokku is written in Go under MIT; NHost is written in Go under MIT. Dokku has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, NHost 7%. NHost 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Dokku | NHost | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 9.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 623 |
| 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 Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick NHost if
- You want the NHost feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and NHost 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 NHost
Nhost is an open source backend as a service platform for modern application development, and the project describes itself as a Firebase alternative with GraphQL. It is built around PostgreSQL for data, Hasura for an instant GraphQL API, authentication, storage, and serverless functions written in Node.js with JavaScript or TypeScript. The project is distributed under the MIT license and is positioned in the developer tools category for build and deployment.
read the full NHost overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More Build & Deployment projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Build & Deployment field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dokku or NHost more popular?
Dokku has 32,147 GitHub stars and NHost has 9,296. Dokku has the larger community by that measure.
Are Dokku and NHost free?
Both are open source. Dokku is licensed under MIT and NHost under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Dokku and NHost?
Dokku is written in Go and NHost 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, Dokku or NHost?
Choose Dokku if you want the larger community (32,147 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose NHost if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.