Dokku
Docker-powered mini-PaaS: push Heroku-style apps to a server of your own over git.
Hosting Panels
Dokku is a self-hosted platform as a service that runs on a single server you choose and deploys Heroku-compatible applications with a git push. Install it on Ubuntu or Debian and you get the whole core: builds from a Dockerfile, Heroku buildpacks or Cloud Native Buildpacks, request routing through nginx, process scaling, persistent storage and a plugin system. The core is free and MIT-licensed with no seat limits; the vendor's only paid product is Dokku Pro, a one-time 999 USD licence that adds a web UI, a JSON API and HTTP(S) git deployments for one production server plus two pre-production servers, and it refuses to start without outbound internet access to validate that licence. The trade-off is architectural, not commercial: everything lives on one host, so there is no built-in clustering or failover, the docs note that after a reboot requests can briefly route to the wrong application while apps are restored, and healthcheck features depend on which scheduler plugin you run.
Key features
- Deploy with a git push; Dokku builds on the host and starts containers
- Build from a Dockerfile, Heroku buildpacks or Cloud Native Buildpacks
- Zero-downtime deploys with configurable healthchecks
- Scale web and worker processes independently
- Persistent storage entries mounted into app containers
- nginx routes requests; Caddy, Traefik and HAProxy are alternatives
- Extend the core with plugins written in any language
Self-hosted editions
- Dokku (community)Free self-hosted
- LicenceOpen source · MITDeploymentSelf-hosted
- Dokku Pro999 USD · per instance · one-time
- LicenceProprietaryDeploymentSelf-hosted
Limits, notes & source
Dokku (community)
- Limits
- The whole core platform: git deployments, the three build methods, nginx routing, process scaling, persistent storage and the plugin system, with no seat limit and no paid tier.
- Notes
- GitHub's licence API reads the repository LICENSE as spdx_id "MIT". Installed with the vendor's bootstrap script or a Debian package; the docs list Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 or Debian 11+ as supported, with 1 GB of memory for the default Docker scheduler.
Dokku Pro
- Limits
- A perpetual licence for one production server and up to two pre-production servers: a single-page web UI, a JSON API with JWT authentication and authenticated HTTP(S) endpoints for git pushes, shipped as Debian and RPM packages next to Dokku. The server must reach the public internet for licence validation or Dokku Pro will not start.
- Notes
- The vendor's shop page states "$999.00" as the single price; the docs page for Dokku Pro describes what it adds and warns that the server "must be able to contact the public internet to validate the license, or it will fail to start".
Pros & cons
Strengths
Trade-offs
Show 1 more
- The paid Dokku Pro add-on will not start without outbound internet access to validate its licence. Source
Similar apps
Other entries from this catalogue in the same category, with a free self-hosted edition first and then the higher star count. Only software we publish appears here — each card opens the entry, where its price, licence and check date are recorded.
