Coolify vs Dokploy, CapRover, Dokku and Kamal

Summary: Coolify, Dokploy and CapRover are self-hosted PaaS dashboards; Dokku is a CLI-first, Heroku-style PaaS, and Kamal deploys from your own machine with no control plane on the server. Coolify has the broadest built-in feature set, Dokploy is stronger for Docker Swarm clustering and per-member permissions, and CapRover and Dokku run on less RAM.

Head-to-head pages

Coolify vs Dokploy covers the two dashboard tools on their own: Swarm, permissions, Compose and cloud pricing.
Coolify as a Vercel alternative: a server you administer, compared with Vercel's hosted platform.
Coolify as a Heroku alternative: a dashboard on your VPS, compared with Heroku dynos and managed data.
Coolify as a Netlify alternative: Docker apps on your server, compared with Netlify's CDN, functions and managed Postgres.

Which should you pick?

You want one dashboard for apps, databases and ready-made services on one or a few servers → Coolify. It also fits if you want backups, previews and team access built in, or would rather not host the dashboard yourself (Coolify Cloud). New to this? See how to deploy apps on your own VPS.
You want Docker Swarm clustering from a UI, or fine-grained permissions per member → Dokploy. Its free edition lets you grant Members specific permissions. Custom roles are in Dokploy Enterprise.
You have a 1 GB server and want a simple UI with a single Swarm-based model → CapRover. It documents a 1 GB minimum, deploys straight from your machine with caprover deploy, and lets you edit the full NGINX config per app.
You like Heroku's git push workflow and are happy in a terminal → Dokku. It runs on a single host by default and needs 1 GB. An optional k3s scheduler handles multiple nodes.
You want to deploy a containerized app from your laptop or CI to one or many servers, with nothing extra running on them → Kamal. It uses zero-downtime deploys behind kamal-proxy, and was built for Rails but works with any containerized web app.

Feature comparison

✅ built in · ◐ partial or paid add-on · ❌ not available. Details and sources are in the notes below the table.

Feature	Coolify	Dokploy	CapRover	Dokku	Kamal
Deploying
Web UI	✅	✅	✅	◐	❌
Docker Compose deployments	✅	✅	◐	Not documented	❌
Git providers GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea	✅	✅	◐	◐	❌
Preview deployments per PR	✅	✅	Not documented	◐	Not documented
Rollbacks	✅	✅	✅	◐	✅
One-click services / templates	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Infrastructure
Multi-node clustering one app across nodes	◐	✅	✅	◐	✅
Reverse proxy	Traefik or Caddy	Traefik	NGINX	NGINX (switchable)	kamal-proxy
Automatic Let's Encrypt HTTPS	✅	✅	✅	◐	◐
Documented minimum server	2 GB RAM	2 GB RAM	1 GB RAM	1 GB RAM	None stated
Managed cloud option	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
Data
Databases	✅	✅	◐	◐	◐
Scheduled database backups to S3	✅	✅	❌	◐	Not documented
Volume backups	✅	✅	❌	Not documented	Not documented
Team & license
Role-based permissions	◐	✅	Not documented	Not documented	❌
License	Apache-2.0	Apache-2.0 + source-available	Apache-2.0	MIT	MIT

Notes and sources Show per-row details

Deploying

Web UI

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io
Dokploy: ✅ Built in. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/features
CapRover: ✅ Built in. caprover.com
Dokku: ◐ paid Dokku Pro. Dokku Pro is a paid add-on ($849 lifetime license at time of writing; 1 production + 2 pre-production servers). It adds a web UI, a JSON:API REST API, HTTP(S) git push and team management, and runs on your own server. It is not hosted. pro.dokku.com, dokku.com/docs/enterprise/pro
Kamal: ❌ CLI only. Kamal is installed on your machine (Ruby gem or Docker) and drives servers over SSH. kamal-deploy.org/docs/installation

Docker Compose deployments

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io/docs/applications/builds/docker-compose
Dokploy: ✅ Built in. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/features
CapRover: ◐ experimental subset. CapRover deploys "a supported subset of Docker Compose" from the dashboard. The docs call it "still experimental". Fields like build, networks, secrets and deploy are ignored. caprover.com/docs/docker-compose
Dokku: Not documented. Dokku's deployment methods are git push, git:sync, archives and images. We found no Compose deployment method in its docs. dokku.com/docs/deployment/methods/git, dokku.com/docs/deployment/methods/image
Kamal: ❌ Not available. Kamal deploys one app image per service. Supporting containers (databases, caches) are "accessories" defined in deploy.yml. kamal-deploy.org/docs/configuration/accessories

Git providers (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea)

Coolify: ✅ GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Gitea integrations. coolify.io/docs/applications/sources/github/overview, coolify.io/docs/applications/sources/gitlab, coolify.io/docs/applications/sources/bitbucket, coolify.io/docs/applications/sources/gitea
Dokploy: ✅ GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Gitea integrations. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/providers
CapRover: ◐ webhook + repo credentials (GitHub); webhook (GitLab, Bitbucket); generic webhook (Gitea). CapRover auto-deploys by storing repo credentials or an SSH key and giving you a webhook URL. Its docs show GitHub and Bitbucket, and say "GitLab and Others" work the same way if they send a POST webhook. There is no OAuth/app-style integration. caprover.com/docs/deployment-methods
Dokku: ◐ generic Git (all four). Dokku accepts git push from anywhere and can pull from any repo with git:sync (plus git:auth for private servers). There is no provider-specific integration. dokku.com/docs/deployment/methods/git
Kamal: ❌ deploys from your checkout (all four). Kamal builds the version you have checked out and pushes it through a registry. It doesn't connect to Git hosts. Use your CI to run it on push. kamal-deploy.org/docs/installation

Preview deployments (per PR)

Coolify: ✅ GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea. coolify.io/docs/applications/deployments/preview-deployments
Dokploy: ✅ GitHub. Dokploy's docs describe previews as "specifically designed for applications with GitHub integration". docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/applications/preview-deployments
CapRover: Not documented.
Dokku: ◐ via official GitHub Action. Dokku's official GitHub Action has review-apps:create / review-apps:destroy. GitHub only. github.com/dokku/github-action
Kamal: Not documented.

Rollbacks

Coolify: ✅ to retained images. A Coolify rollback redeploys an older image still retained on the server. It doesn't undo database migrations. coolify.io/docs/applications/deployments/rollbacks
Dokploy: ✅ Swarm auto-rollback + registry-based. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/applications/rollbacks
CapRover: ✅ one click from history. CapRover's rollback rebuilds and deploys the selected version's image. It doesn't revert environment variables or other app config. caprover.com/docs/deployment-methods
Dokku: ◐ no rollback command; keep old images. We found no rollback command in Dokku's docs. They mention keeping prior images "for manual rollback" by disabling image cleanup. The k3s scheduler has a rollback-on-failure setting. dokku.com/docs/deployment/builders/builder-management, dokku.com/docs/deployment/schedulers/k3s
Kamal: ✅ kamal rollback. kamal-deploy.org/docs/commands/rollback

One-click services / templates

Coolify: ✅ 360+. 363 templates in Coolify's one-click service catalog (templates/service-templates.json) on 2026-10-19. Browse them on coolify.io/services. coolify.io/services, github.com/coollabsio/coolify/blob/main/templates/service-templates.json
Dokploy: ✅ count not published. Dokploy offers "open-source templates (Plausible, Pocketbase, Calcom, etc.) with a single click". We couldn't find a published total. github.com/dokploy/dokploy
CapRover: ✅ "dozens". CapRover's homepage says "dozens of popular services". A community-maintained directory is also available. caprover.com, caprover.com/docs/one-click-apps
Dokku: ❌ no catalog (plugins instead). dokku.com/docs/community/plugins
Kamal: ❌ Not available.

Infrastructure

Multi-node clustering (one app across nodes)

Coolify: ◐ same image to several servers, your own load balancer. Coolify deploys the same image to several standalone servers. You put your own load balancer in front. Compose apps and apps with persistent storage can't use this yet. Docker Swarm support was experimental, is deprecated, and will be removed in Coolify v5 in favor of Compose replicas and Coolify's own scaling. coolify.io/docs/core/infrastructure/scaling/overview, coolify.io/docs/core/infrastructure/scaling/docker-swarm, coolify.io/docs/core/infrastructure/scaling/multi-server-deployments
Dokploy: ✅ Docker Swarm. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/cluster
CapRover: ✅ Docker Swarm. caprover.com/docs/app-scaling-and-cluster
Dokku: ◐ optional k3s scheduler. Dokku's default scheduler runs on one host. The k3s scheduler adds worker and server nodes and needs 2 GB RAM on every node. dokku.com/docs/getting-started/installation, dokku.com/docs/deployment/schedulers/k3s
Kamal: ✅ multiple hosts, you add the load balancer. Kamal deploys to every host listed. With more than one server, "you need to put a load balancer in front of them". kamal-deploy.org/docs/installation

Reverse proxy

Coolify: Traefik or Caddy. coolify.io/docs/core/networking/proxy/overview
Dokploy: Traefik. github.com/dokploy/dokploy
CapRover: NGINX. caprover.com, caprover.com/docs/nginx-customization
Dokku: NGINX by default; Caddy, HAProxy, OpenResty or Traefik. "The default proxy shipped with Dokku is nginx". It can be switched with proxy:set. dokku.com/docs/networking/proxy-management
Kamal: kamal-proxy. kamal-deploy.org/docs/configuration/proxy

Automatic Let's Encrypt HTTPS

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io, coolify.io/docs/core/networking/proxy/overview
Dokploy: ✅ Built in. github.com/dokploy/dokploy
CapRover: ✅ Built in. caprover.com
Dokku: ◐ official plugin. Certificates can be imported with the built-in ssl plugin. Automatic Let's Encrypt uses the optional dokku-letsencrypt plugin. dokku.com/docs/deployment/application-deployment
Kamal: ◐ single-server deploys. kamal-proxy's automatic HTTPS "requires that we are deploying to one server" with the host option set. kamal-deploy.org/docs/configuration/proxy

Documented minimum server

Coolify: 2 cores, 2 GB RAM, 10 GB disk. coolify.io/docs/start-with-self-hosted
Dokploy: 2 GB RAM, 30 GB disk. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/installation
CapRover: 1 GB RAM. CapRover: "512MB RAM might not be enough" because builds can use a lot of memory. Most providers offer 1 GB at the low end. CapRover's own comparison page states a 1 GB minimum. caprover.com/docs/get-started, caprover.com/compare
Dokku: 1 GB RAM (Docker scheduler); 2 GB per node (k3s). dokku.com/docs/getting-started/installation
Kamal: none stated (runs from your machine). kamal-deploy.org/docs/installation

Managed cloud option

Coolify: ✅ Coolify Cloud. $5/month for 2 servers, +$3/month per extra server. Same features as self-hosted. Apps run on your servers. coolify.io/pricing
Dokploy: ✅ Dokploy Cloud. Hobby plan: $4.50/month per server (1 user, 1 organization, 2 environments, some limits). Startup plan from $15/month. Enterprise on request. dokploy.com/pricing, docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/cloud
CapRover: ❌ paid Pro plan, self-hosted. CapRover Pro (paid plans) adds "build status notifications", login alerts and two-factor auth. We found no managed hosting offering. caprover.com/docs/troubleshooting-pro
Dokku: ❌ Pro is a self-hosted lifetime license. "Dokku Pro isn't a hosted service." pro.dokku.com
Kamal: ❌ none found.

Data

Databases

Coolify: ✅ 8 engines, one click. PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Redis, KeyDB, Dragonfly, ClickHouse. coolify.io
Dokploy: ✅ 6 engines. MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, libsql, Redis. github.com/dokploy/dokploy
CapRover: ◐ via one-click apps. caprover.com/docs/one-click-apps
Dokku: ◐ official datastore plugins. Official Dokku datastore plugins include Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, Mongo, Redis and others. dokku.com/docs/community/plugins
Kamal: ◐ "accessories" you configure. Kamal accessories are containers you define (image, host, volumes). They aren't updated on deploy and get no zero-downtime deploys. kamal-deploy.org/docs/configuration/accessories

Scheduled database backups to S3

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io/docs/databases/backups
Dokploy: ✅ Built in. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/features
CapRover: ❌ Not available. CapRover's backup covers the CapRover instance "except images and volumes". For volumes "you have to use a custom solution". The docs call the feature experimental. caprover.com/docs/backup-and-restore
Dokku: ◐ plugin commands. Done with plugin commands. For example, postgres:backup-auth sets up S3 credentials, postgres:backup <service> <bucket> uploads a backup, and postgres:backup-schedule schedules one. github.com/dokku/dokku-postgres
Kamal: Not documented.

Volume backups

Coolify: ✅ since v4.3.0. Scheduled backups of volume and directory mounts, stored locally or on S3-compatible storage, with retention controls. Added in v4.3.0. coolify.io/docs/core/persistent-storage/storage-mounts/backups, github.com/coollabsio/coolify/releases/tag/v4.3.0
Dokploy: ✅ named volumes. Docker named volumes only, not bind mounts. Stored on S3 destinations. The Hobby Cloud plan allows 1 volume backup per application. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/volume-backups, dokploy.com/pricing
CapRover: ❌ Not available. CapRover's backup covers the CapRover instance "except images and volumes". For volumes "you have to use a custom solution". The docs call the feature experimental. caprover.com/docs/backup-and-restore
Dokku: Not documented.
Kamal: Not documented.

Team & license

Role-based permissions

Coolify: ◐ Owner/Admin/Member, team-wide. Owner, Admin and Member (Member is read-only), applied per team. There are no project-level permissions. coolify.io/docs/core/team/roles-and-permissions
Dokploy: ✅ per-member permissions; custom roles in Enterprise. Free edition: Owner, Admin and Member, where Members get specific permissions (create/delete projects, services, environments, Docker/Traefik/API access and more). Enterprise adds custom roles. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/permissions, docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/enterprise, docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/enterprise/custom-roles
CapRover: Not documented.
Dokku: Not documented.
Kamal: ❌ Not available.

License

Coolify: Apache-2.0. github.com/coollabsio/coolify/blob/main/LICENSE
Dokploy: Apache-2.0, except /proprietary (source-available). Code outside /proprietary is Apache-2.0. Code under /proprietary is under the Dokploy Source Available License, which requires a commercial agreement for production use. github.com/Dokploy/dokploy/blob/canary/LICENSE.MD
CapRover: Apache-2.0. github.com/caprover/caprover/blob/master/LICENSE
Dokku: MIT. github.com/dokku/dokku
Kamal: MIT. github.com/basecamp/kamal

Not in the table

API / CLI

Coolify: ✅ API + CLI. coolify.io/docs/cli/what-is-the-coolify-cli, coolify.io/docs/cli/deploy-applications, coolify.io/docs/api/authorization
Dokploy: ✅ API + CLI. github.com/dokploy/dokploy
CapRover: ✅ CLI. caprover deploy from your project directory, plus dashboard upload and webhooks. CapRover's docs also show its HTTP API being scripted for backups. caprover.com/docs/deployment-methods, caprover.com/docs/backup-and-restore
Dokku: ✅ CLI over SSH; HTTP API in Pro. Dokku Pro is a paid add-on ($849 lifetime license at time of writing; 1 production + 2 pre-production servers). It adds a web UI, a JSON:API REST API, HTTP(S) git push and team management, and runs on your own server. It is not hosted. dokku.com, pro.dokku.com, dokku.com/docs/enterprise/pro
Kamal: ✅ CLI. kamal-deploy.org/docs/installation

Manage multiple separate servers from one place

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io/docs/core/infrastructure/servers/add-server
Dokploy: ✅ remote servers. github.com/dokploy/dokploy
CapRover: ◐ Swarm nodes only. CapRover scales by adding nodes to its Docker Swarm cluster, managed from the main CapRover instance. caprover.com/docs/app-scaling-and-cluster
Dokku: ◐ via k3s cluster. Dokku's default scheduler runs on one host. The k3s scheduler adds worker and server nodes and needs 2 GB RAM on every node. dokku.com/docs/getting-started/installation, dokku.com/docs/deployment/schedulers/k3s
Kamal: ✅ hosts listed in deploy.yml. kamal-deploy.org/docs/installation

Built-in monitoring

Coolify: ✅ server + container metrics. Sentinel reports server and container health. Metrics add CPU and memory history. Threshold alerts and long-term retention need an external tool. coolify.io/docs/core/observability/monitoring/overview
Dokploy: ✅ Built in. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/monitoring
CapRover: ✅ via NetData. "You can enable NetData which is a server monitoring tool". caprover.com/docs/resource-monitoring
Dokku: Not documented (community plugins). dokku.com/docs/community/plugins
Kamal: Not documented.

Notifications

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io/docs/core/notifications/overview
Dokploy: ✅ Built in. github.com/dokploy/dokploy
CapRover: ◐ paid Pro plan. CapRover Pro (paid plans) adds "build status notifications", login alerts and two-factor auth. We found no managed hosting offering. caprover.com/docs/troubleshooting-pro
Dokku: ◐ community plugins. The community plugin list includes Slack and Telegram notification plugins. dokku.com/docs/community/plugins
Kamal: ◐ via hooks. Kamal hooks (pre-deploy, post-deploy and others) run your own scripts, which you can use to send notifications. kamal-deploy.org/docs/hooks/overview

Terminal access

Coolify: ✅ browser terminal. coolify.io/docs/core/infrastructure/servers/web-terminal
Dokploy: ✅ browser terminal. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/features
CapRover: Not documented.
Dokku: ◐ CLI dokku enter. dokku.com/docs/processes/entering-containers
Kamal: ◐ CLI kamal app exec. kamal-deploy.org/docs/commands/app

Scheduled jobs (cron)

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io/docs/core/automation/scheduled-tasks/overview
Dokploy: ✅ Built in. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/schedule-jobs
CapRover: Not documented.
Dokku: ✅ Built in. dokku.com/docs/processes/scheduled-cron-tasks
Kamal: ◐ cron in a dedicated container. Kamal's docs show cron running in a dedicated server role whose container runs cron -f. kamal-deploy.org/docs/configuration/cron

Shared environment variables

Coolify: ✅ team/project/environment/server. coolify.io/docs/core/team/shared-variables
Dokploy: ✅ project/environment. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/variables
CapRover: Not documented.
Dokku: ◐ global config. dokku config:set --global sets variables for all apps. dokku.com/docs/configuration/environment-variables
Kamal: ◐ in config files. Kamal sets env in deploy.yml. .kamal/secrets-common is shared across destinations. kamal-deploy.org/docs/configuration/overview, kamal-deploy.org/docs/configuration/environment-variables

Environments (staging/production)

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io
Dokploy: ✅ Built in. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/multi-tenancy
CapRover: Not documented.
Dokku: Not documented.
Kamal: ◐ "destinations". kamal deploy -d staging merges config/deploy.staging.yml with the base config. kamal-deploy.org/docs/configuration/overview

Separate build server

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io/docs/core/infrastructure/servers/build-servers
Dokploy: ◐ apps only, not Compose. "Build servers are currently only available for Applications. This feature is not supported for Docker Compose deployments." docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/remote-servers/build-server
CapRover: ◐ build in CI, deploy the image. CapRover's docs recommend building images in CI (GitHub/GitLab) and deploying the built image to the server. caprover.com/docs/ci-cd-integration
Dokku: Not documented.
Kamal: ✅ remote builder. kamal-deploy.org/docs/configuration/builders

Cloudflare Tunnels guide

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io/docs/integrations/networking/cloudflare/tunnels
Dokploy: ✅ Built in. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/guides/cloudflare-tunnels
CapRover: Not documented.
Dokku: Not documented.
Kamal: Not documented.

Teams / multiple users

Coolify: ✅ Built in. coolify.io/docs/core/team/roles-and-permissions
Dokploy: ✅ organizations + users. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/multi-tenancy
CapRover: Not documented.
Dokku: ◐ paid Dokku Pro. pro.dokku.com
Kamal: ❌ CLI tool. kamal-deploy.org/docs/installation

Audit log

Coolify: ✅ 90 days. Team audit log covering UI, API, MCP and webhooks. Events are pruned after 90 days. coolify.io/docs/core/team/audit-log
Dokploy: ◐ Enterprise. Audit logs are listed as an Enterprise feature. docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/enterprise, docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/enterprise/custom-roles, dokploy.com/pricing
CapRover: Not documented.
Dokku: Not documented.
Kamal: ◐ kamal audit shows recent commands per server. kamal audit shows "the latest commands that have been run on each server". kamal-deploy.org/docs/commands/audit

Official MCP server (AI agents)

Coolify: ✅ built in. Built-in MCP endpoint at https://<your-coolify>/mcp. It uses team-scoped API tokens. coolify.io/docs/mcp/overview, coolify.io
Dokploy: ✅ official package. Dokploy/mcp, "The Official MCP package for Dokploy". github.com/Dokploy/mcp
CapRover: ❌ community only. github.com/ivan-saorin/caprover-mcp
Dokku: ❌ community only. github.com/dokku-mcp/dokku-mcp
Kamal: ❌ none found.

Community projects exist and are labeled unofficial or early-stage: ivan-saorin/caprover-mcp ("Unofficial CapRover MCP Integration") and dokku-mcp/dokku-mcp ("not recommended for production use"). We found no official MCP server on caprover.com, dokku.com or kamal-deploy.org.

Where the others are stronger

Clustering: Dokploy and CapRover have Docker Swarm built in. Coolify's multi-server deploys need your own load balancer and don't yet cover Compose apps or apps with persistent storage.
Permissions: Dokploy lets you grant Members specific permissions in its free edition. Coolify's roles are team-wide.
Footprint: CapRover and Dokku document 1 GB minimums, and Kamal adds no control plane to your servers. Coolify documents 2 GB.
Workflow fit: Dokku is the closest to Heroku's git push. Kamal is the most direct path from a repo to servers if you don't want a dashboard. CapRover lets you edit the full NGINX template per app.

Coolify

An open-source (Apache-2.0), self-hostable alternative to Vercel, Heroku, Netlify and Railway. You get a web dashboard for apps, databases and 360+ one-click services on any server you can reach over SSH. It has built-in database and volume backups to S3, preview deployments for GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Gitea, team roles, an audit log, an API, a CLI and an MCP server. You self-host it for free with every feature, or use Coolify Cloud ($5/month for 2 servers + $3 per extra). Trade-offs: it needs 2 GB RAM, Swarm support is deprecated, and roles are team-wide only.

Dokploy

See also the shorter Coolify vs Dokploy page. Dokploy is a self-hostable PaaS with a web UI, Docker Compose support, Docker Swarm clustering, Traefik, database and volume backups, previews (GitHub), scheduled jobs, monitoring and notifications. Its free edition has per-member permissions, and Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, custom roles and audit logs. There's a managed Dokploy Cloud from $4.50/month per server. Most of the code is Apache-2.0, and a /proprietary folder is source-available. It needs 2 GB RAM and 30 GB disk. (Dokploy docs)

CapRover

A free, Apache-2.0 PaaS built on Docker, NGINX, Let's Encrypt and Docker Swarm, with a dashboard, a CLI (caprover deploy), one-click apps, one-click rollbacks and NetData monitoring. Compose support is an experimental subset, and backups don't cover volumes. A paid Pro plan adds build notifications, login alerts and 2FA. It documents the lowest RAM minimum of the dashboard tools here (1 GB). (CapRover docs)

Dokku

An MIT-licensed, Heroku-style PaaS: git push to your server, builds with buildpacks or Dockerfiles, and features added through plugins (databases, Let's Encrypt). It's CLI-first. The web UI, REST API and team management are in Dokku Pro, a paid self-hosted add-on. It runs on one host by default (1 GB RAM), and an optional k3s scheduler spans several nodes. (Dokku docs)

Kamal

An MIT-licensed deploy tool from 37signals. You run it from your machine or CI. It connects to servers over SSH, installs Docker if missing, and does zero-downtime deploys behind kamal-proxy. There's no dashboard and no server-side control plane. Databases are "accessories" you configure, and multi-server setups need your own load balancer. It was built for Rails but works with any containerized web app. (Kamal docs)

FAQ

Is Coolify or Dokploy better?

It depends on what you need. Both are open-source dashboards with Compose support, backups, previews, an API, a CLI and a managed cloud. Coolify offers more one-click services, previews on four Git providers and a built-in MCP server. Dokploy has Docker Swarm clustering built in and per-member permissions in its free edition.

Which of these runs on the smallest server?

Kamal adds no control plane, because it runs from your machine. Of the server-side tools, CapRover and Dokku document 1 GB RAM. Coolify and Dokploy document 2 GB.

Does Coolify support GitLab, Bitbucket and Gitea, and volume backups?

Yes. Coolify integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Gitea for deploys and preview deployments. Scheduled volume and directory-mount backups (local or S3) were added in v4.3.0.

Which tools have a managed cloud version?

Coolify Cloud and Dokploy Cloud both host the dashboard while your apps run on your own servers. CapRover Pro and Dokku Pro are paid add-ons, not hosting, and Kamal has no paid offering.

Which ones support Docker Compose?

Coolify and Dokploy deploy Compose files natively. CapRover supports an experimental subset. Dokku and Kamal don't deploy Compose files.

Corrections

Tools change quickly. If a cell here is wrong or out of date, especially for Dokploy, CapRover, Dokku or Kamal, please tell us at github.com/coollabsio/coolify.io/issues with a link to the official docs, and we'll update the page and the "last verified" date.

Coolify vs Dokploy, CapRover, Dokku and Kamal.