Coolify and Dokploy do the same job: turn one cheap VPS into your own Heroku, with git-push deploys, automatic SSL, and databases — for the price of the server alone. Both are free and open source, both have a paid hosted dashboard, and both have huge GitHub followings.
The real difference is weight and completeness. Coolify is the fuller dashboard with every feature free; Dokploy is the lighter one that runs happily on a 2 GB box. Pick by the size of your server, not by the feature list.
| Coolify | Dokploy | |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted price | Free forever, every feature (Apache 2.0) | Free forever (Apache 2.0); SSO and audit logs are Enterprise-only |
| Managed cloud | Coolify Cloud: $5/mo for 2 servers, +$3/mo per extra server | Dokploy Cloud: Hobby $4.50/mo per server; Startup $15/mo for 3 servers |
| Minimum server | Comfortably needs 4 GB RAM for a full stack | 2 GB RAM and 30 GB disk — the lightest of the two |
| Deployment model | Docker Compose, multi-server from one dashboard | Docker Swarm services, with a separate build server option |
| One-click services | 280+ one-click services (Postgres, Redis, n8n, …) | 500+ one-click templates (Plausible, PocketBase, Cal.com, …) |
| Databases & backups | Per-branch databases, automatic SSL, preview environments | Databases, Docker Compose stacks, automatic SSL, preview deployments |
| Git providers | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea |
| Teams & SSO | Unlimited team members included free | Unlimited users on Startup ($15/mo); SSO/SCIM need Enterprise |
| Release cadence | Fast releases in 2026 — test before updating production | Ships every few days — same warning applies |
| Best for | Multi-server setups and teams that want every feature free | A single small VPS and developers who want the lightest PaaS |
The open-source, self-hostable Heroku: git-push deploys on your own servers.
Self-hosted: free forever (you bring your own servers); Coolify Cloud:
Try Coolify →The lightweight open-source PaaS: Docker apps, databases, and SSL on your own VPS, with a dashboard that stays out of the way.
Self-hosted: free forever (Apache 2.0, unlimited apps/servers); Dokplo
Try Dokploy →Default pick: Dokploy if your VPS is 2–4 GB — it was built to sip resources and its per-server Cloud price ($4.50) is the cheapest hosted dashboard of the two. Coolify wins if you run several servers or a team, because every feature including unlimited team members is free, and its Compose-based model is easier to debug than Dokploy's Swarm. Either way the software costs $0 — the $4–6/mo VPS underneath is the whole bill.
Yes — the self-hosted edition is free forever under Apache 2.0, with every feature and unlimited servers, deployments, and team members. You only pay for the VPS underneath, or $5/mo for Coolify Cloud if you don't want to run the dashboard yourself.
Yes — the self-hosted edition is free and open source (Apache 2.0), with unlimited apps, databases, and servers. SSO, audit logs, and custom roles need a paid Enterprise licence, and the hosted Dokploy Cloud dashboard starts at $4.50/mo per server.
Dokploy — its 2 GB RAM minimum fits a cheap VPS comfortably, while Coolify wants closer to 4 GB once you run a real stack. On a bigger box the difference disappears and Coolify's fuller dashboard pulls ahead.