Comparison

Coolify vs Dokku

No clear leader: Coolify (59.0) and Dokku (58.9) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Coolify full profile →Dokku full profile →

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.

Coolify59

Dokku59

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Coolify	Dokku
vioscaleAI score	59 / 100low · 40%	59 / 100medium · 54%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	freemium	open_source
Price levelpricing.price_level	low	free
Starting pricepricing.starting_price	$5	-
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	10	35
Security
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	-	5.4
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fcoollabsio%2Fcoolify&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fdokku%2Fdokku%2Fplugins%2Fcommon&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	0	20
Github starsadoption.github_stars	62,602	32,157
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	8	2
Historyrelease.history	20 items	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	Apache-2.0	MIT
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	PHP	Go
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · Popular in US	Available worldwide
Content
Faqcontent.faq	7 items	6 items

Score

vioscaleAI score

Coolify59 / 100low · 40%

Dokku59 / 100medium · 54%

Pricing

Free tier

Coolify✓

Dokku✓

Model

Coolifyfreemium

Dokkuopen_source

Price level

Coolifylow

Dokkufree

Starting price

Coolify$5

Dokku–

Transparent

Coolify✓

Dokku✓

Integrations

Count

Coolify10

Dokku35

Security

Scorecard

Coolify–

Dokku5.4

Vulnerabilities

CoolifyCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fcoollabsio%2Fcoolify&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

DokkuCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fdokku%2Fdokku%2Fplugins%2Fcommon&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Adoption

Dependent repos

Coolify0

Dokku20

Github stars

Coolify62,602

Dokku32,157

Activity

Commits last 30d

Coolify100

Dokku100

Release

Cadence days

Coolify8

Dokku2

History

Coolify20 items

Dokku20 items

License

Spdx

CoolifyApache-2.0

DokkuMIT

Language

Primary

CoolifyPHP

DokkuGo

Market

Availability

CoolifyAvailable worldwide · Popular in US

DokkuAvailable worldwide

Content

Faq

Coolify7 items

Dokku6 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for paas & hosting. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for PaaS & Hosting
Capability	Coolify	Dokku
Deploy
Git-push auto-deploy	✓	✓
Deploy arbitrary container image	✓	✓
Per-PR preview environments	✓	✗
Build
Build system	Dockerfile	Buildpacks
Runtime / language breadth	Any language and framework (Docker containers)	Multiple languages via Heroku buildpack auto-detection
Scale
Autoscaling	-	None
Deployment
Geographic reach	Multi-region	Single-region
Hosting	Cloud + self-hosted	Self-hosted only
Data
Bundled managed data services	✓	✓
Delivery
Built-in global CDN / edge	-	✗
Custom domains + automatic TLS	✓	✓
Ops
Env vars & secrets management	✓	✓
Instant rollbacks	✓	✗
Extensibility
CLI + deploy API	✓	✓

Deploy

Git-push auto-deploy

Coolify✓

Dokku✓

Deploy arbitrary container image

Coolify✓

Dokku✓

Per-PR preview environments

Coolify✓

Dokku✗

Build

Build system

CoolifyDockerfile

DokkuBuildpacks

Runtime / language breadth

CoolifyAny language and framework (Docker containers)

DokkuMultiple languages via Heroku buildpack auto-detection

Scale

Autoscaling

Coolify-

DokkuNone

Deployment

Geographic reach

CoolifyMulti-region

DokkuSingle-region

Hosting

CoolifyCloud + self-hosted

DokkuSelf-hosted only

Data

Bundled managed data services

Coolify✓

Dokku✓

Delivery

Built-in global CDN / edge

Coolify-

Dokku✗

Custom domains + automatic TLS

Coolify✓

Dokku✓

Ops

Env vars & secrets management

Coolify✓

Dokku✓

Instant rollbacks

Coolify✓

Dokku✗

Extensibility

CLI + deploy API

Coolify✓

Dokku✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Coolify

Deploy applications, databases, and services to your own servers using an open-source alternative to commercial managed deployment platforms.

Independently observed

Dokku

Dokku is a self-hosted deployment platform that enables you to build, deploy, and scale applications using Docker and Heroku-compatible buildpacks. You can push code via Git to your own Dokku server, and it will automatically build and run your application in isolated containers, providing a Heroku-like experience on hardware you control.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Coolify

from $5/moHybridFree tier

Free self-hosted tier. Cloud from $5/month (includes 2 servers) + $3/month per additional server; 20% discount for annual billing.

Self-hostedFree
- Full access to all features
- No limitations or restrictions
- Community support
- Automated or self-managed updates
- All upcoming features included
Cloud$5/month base (2 servers included) + $3/month per additional server; save 20% with annual billing
- Connect unlimited servers
- Unlimited deployments per server
- Free email alerts for Coolify events
- Community + limited email support
- Founder-tested updates

as of 2026-09-07verify ↗

Dokku

Open sourceFree tier

Free open source. Dokku Pro available (pricing not disclosed).

Open SourceFree
- Git push deployment
- Buildpack/Dockerfile support
- Docker container management
- Environment variables
- Domain/SSL configuration
- +4 more

as of 2026-08-03verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Coolify	Dokku
WebPlatforms	✓	✗
CLIPlatforms	✓	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✗
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓

Platforms

Web

Coolify✓

Dokku✗

CLI

Coolify✓

Dokku✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Coolify✓

Dokku✗

Self-hosted

Coolify✓

Dokku✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (3)

GitHub
Docker
Slack

Coolify

17 total - 14 not shared

GitLab
Bitbucket
Gitea
GitHub Actions
GitLab CI
Bitbucket Pipelines
S3
Discord
Telegram
SMTP
Email
Pushover
Cloudflare
AWS S3

Independently observed

Dokku

20 total - 17 not shared

Heroku Buildpacks
nginx
Heroku
Git
Airbrake
Tailscale
PostgreSQL
MySQL
Redis
RabbitMQ
CouchDB
Elasticsearch
RethinkDB
MongoDB
MariaDB
Clickhouse
Varnish

Independently observed

Still deciding?

Coolify or Dokku: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.