head to head · open source
Dokku vs nx
Dokku has 32,146 GitHub stars, 2,076 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. nx has 29,349 stars, 3,002 forks, 490 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dokku leads on adoption by 10% (32,146 vs 29,349 stars). Dokku is written in Shell under MIT; nx is written in TypeScript under MIT. Dokku has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, nx 10%. nx 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 | nx | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 29K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Shell | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| 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 nx if
- You want the nx feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and nx 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 nx
Nx is an MIT licensed monorepo platform for TypeScript and polyglot codebases that caches unchanged work, runs only affected tasks, and ships an integrated CI solution aimed at both developers and autonomous AI agents.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dokku or nx more popular?
Dokku has 32,146 GitHub stars and nx has 29,349. Dokku has the larger community by that measure.
Are Dokku and nx free?
Both are open source. Dokku is licensed under MIT and nx under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Dokku and nx?
Dokku is written in Shell and nx in TypeScript. 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 nx?
Choose Dokku if you want the larger community (32,146 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose nx if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.