# Dokku vs Heroku

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Heroku

| Attribute | Dokku | Heroku |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 58.9 (54% (medium)) | 67.1 (73% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 20 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 32,157 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"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. It is indexed under PaaS & Hosting.","source":"https://dokku.com","question":"What is Dokku?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Dokku is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://dokku.com","question":"Is Dokku free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Dokku supports Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://dokku.com","question":"What platforms does Dokku support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Dokku can be deployed on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://dokku.com","question":"Can Dokku be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 7 integrations for Dokku, including Docker, Heroku Buildpacks, nginx, Git, Slack, Airbrake and Tailscale. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://dokku.com","question":"What does Dokku integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Dokku is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku","question":"Is Dokku open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"A cloud-based application platform that enables developers to build, run, and scale web applications using managed infrastructure and integrated deployment tools. Supports multiple programming languages and frameworks with Git-based deployment. It is indexed under PaaS & Hosting.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","question":"What is Heroku?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Heroku supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","question":"What platforms does Heroku support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Heroku, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","question":"Can Heroku be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 3 integrations for Heroku, including GitHub, Twilio and Salesforce. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","question":"What does Heroku integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for Heroku. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Heroku not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/security","question":"What security certifications does Heroku have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Heroku is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","question":"Where is Heroku available?","confidence":0.75}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | A cloud-based application platform that enables developers to build, run, and scale web applications using managed infrastructure and integrated deployment tools. Supports multiple programming languages and frameworks with Git-based deployment. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","regions":"single","edge_cdn":false,"runtimes":"Multiple languages via Heroku buildpack auto-detection","rollbacks":false,"autoscaling":"none","cli_and_api":true,"env_secrets":true,"build_system":"buildpacks","git_push_deploy":true,"preview_deploys":false,"container_deploy":true,"managed_databases":true,"custom_domains_tls":true}` | `{"hosting":"cloud","regions":"multi","runtimes":"Node.js, Python, Ruby, Java, Go, Scala, PHP","rollbacks":true,"autoscaling":"horizontal","cli_and_api":true,"env_secrets":true,"build_system":"buildpacks","git_push_deploy":true,"preview_deploys":true,"container_deploy":true,"managed_databases":true,"custom_domains_tls":true}` |
| integrations.count | 35 | 6 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"Heroku Buildpacks"},{"name":"nginx"},{"name":"Heroku","native":true},{"name":"Git","native":true},{"name":"GitHub","native":false,"category":"version_control"},{"name":"Slack","native":false,"category":"communications"},{"name":"Airbrake","native":false,"category":"monitoring"},{"name":"Tailscale","native":false,"category":"networking"},{"name":"PostgreSQL"},{"name":"MySQL"},{"name":"Redis"},{"name":"RabbitMQ"},{"name":"CouchDB"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"RethinkDB"},{"name":"MongoDB"},{"name":"MariaDB"},{"name":"Clickhouse"},{"name":"Varnish"}]` | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Twilio"},{"name":"Salesforce"},{"name":"Travis CI","native":false,"category":"ci"},{"name":"RabbitMQ","native":false,"category":"messaging"},{"name":"Apigee","native":false,"category":"api"},{"name":"Heroku Postgres","native":true,"category":"database"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | - |
| license.spdx | MIT | - |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Open Source","features":["Git push deployment","Buildpack/Dockerfile support","Docker container management","Environment variables","Domain/SSL configuration","Process management","Cron tasks","Persistent storage","Plugin extensibility"],"description":"Full Dokku platform"}],"summary":"Free open source. Dokku Pro available (pricing not disclosed).","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://dokku.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T22:43:50.078Z"}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"free","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Sleeping dynos with up to 18 hours of monthly activity, automatic sleep and recharge cycles"},{"free":false,"name":"hobby","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"dyno","amount":7,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"512MB RAM dyno with 24/7 uptime, single dyno per process type"},{"free":false,"name":"standard-1x","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"dyno","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"512MB RAM professional dyno with auto-scaling, metrics, preboot, and fast builds"},{"free":false,"name":"standard-2x","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"dyno","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"1GB RAM professional dyno with auto-scaling and all standard features"},{"free":false,"name":"performance","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":500,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Isolated dyno for high-traffic applications requiring dedicated resources and consistent performance"}],"summary":"From $7/month for hobby tier, with free tier available","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T10:37:07.139Z","startingPrice":{"amount":500,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | high |
| pricing.starting_price | - | `{"amount":500,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 2 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.31","date":"2026-09-27T01:46:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.31"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.30","date":"2026-09-23T22:37:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.30"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.29","date":"2026-09-23T01:55:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.29"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.28","date":"2026-09-17T23:26:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.28"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.27","date":"2026-08-12T09:28:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.27"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.26","date":"2026-08-09T06:27:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.26"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.25","date":"2026-07-22T07:42:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.25"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.24","date":"2026-07-18T04:28:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.24"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.23","date":"2026-07-18T01:37:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.23"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.22","date":"2026-07-08T22:53:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.22"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.21","date":"2026-07-07T00:21:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.21"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.20","date":"2026-06-28T07:17:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.20"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.19","date":"2026-07-07T00:23:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.19"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.18","date":"2026-07-07T00:22:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.18"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.17","date":"2026-06-03T08:34:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.17"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.16","date":"2026-06-01T02:22:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.16"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.15","date":"2026-05-31T09:19:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.14","date":"2026-05-31T02:18:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.13","date":"2026-05-30T11:43:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku/releases/tag/v0.38.12","date":"2026-05-30T04:15:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.38.12"}]` | - |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | - | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 5.4 | - |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | - | https://www.heroku.com/blog/security-rails-active-storage/ |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"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,"max_severity":null}` | - |

## Capabilities (PaaS & Hosting)

| Capability | Dokku | Heroku |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deploy** |  |  |
| Git-push auto-deploy | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deploy arbitrary container image | ✓ | ✓ |
| Per-PR preview environments | ✗ | ✓ |
| **Build** |  |  |
| Build system | Buildpacks | Buildpacks |
| Runtime / language breadth | Multiple languages via Heroku buildpack auto-detection | Node.js, Python, Ruby, Java, Go, Scala, PHP |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Autoscaling | None | Horizontal |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Geographic reach | Single-region | Multi-region |
| Hosting | Self-hosted only | Cloud 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 | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:54:14.900Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*