head to head · open source
Dokku vs gradle
Dokku has 32,222 GitHub stars, 2,098 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gradle has 18,913 stars, 5,265 forks, 3,494 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dokku leads on adoption by 70% (32,222 vs 18,913 stars). Dokku is written in Go under MIT; gradle is written in Groovy under Apache-2.0. Dokku has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, gradle 28%. gradle 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 | gradle | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 19K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Groovy |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 5.3K |
| 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 gradle if
- You want the gradle feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Groovy
- You evaluated both and gradle fits your workflow better
About Dokku
Dokku Docker powered mini Heroku. The smallest PaaS implementation you've ever seen. Sponsors Become a sponsor and get your logo on our README on GitHub with a link to your site. [Become a sponsor] Backers Support us with a monthly donation and help us continue our activities. [Become a backer] [ ](
read the full Dokku overview →
About gradle
🐘 Gradle Build Tool Gradle is a highly scalable build automation tool designed to handle everything from large, multi project enterprise builds to quick development tasks across various languages. Gradle’s modular, performance oriented architecture seamlessly integrates with development environments, making it a go to solution for building, testing, and deploying applications on Java , Kotlin , Scala , Android , Groovy , C++ , and Swift . For a comprehensive overview, please visit the official Gradle project homepage. 🚀 Getting Started Starting with Gradle is easy with these essential resources. Follow these…
read the full gradle overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dokku or gradle more popular?
Dokku has 32,222 GitHub stars and gradle has 18,913. Dokku has the larger community by that measure.
Are Dokku and gradle free?
Both are open source. Dokku is licensed under MIT and gradle under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Dokku and gradle?
Dokku is written in Go and gradle in Groovy. 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 gradle?
Choose Dokku if you want the larger community (32,222 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose gradle if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.