Dokploy Review

Dokploy is described as a free, self-hostable PaaS that simplifies the deployment and management of applications and databases. The feature list: Applications in Node.js, PHP, Python, Go, Ruby, and more; Databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, libsql, and Redis); automated database backups to external storage; native Docker Compose; multi-node scaling with Docker Swarm; open-source templates deployable in one click; automatic Traefik integration for routing and load balancing; real-time monitoring of CPU, memory, storage, and network; logs and metrics shipping to Grafana (Loki, Prometheus or Mimir), Datadog, New Relic, InfluxDB, VictoriaMetrics, Better Stack, Elasticsearch or OpenSearch, Splunk, or AWS CloudWatch; Docker management; a CLI and API; notifications through Slack, Discord, Telegram, and email; and deployment to remote servers. The license is Apache-2.0 for most of the code, except any directory named proprietary, which carries a separate proprietary license whose terms we did not see. The cloud offering is a hosted control plane that manages your servers.

On a fresh VPS, run the install script from dokploy.com with curl piped to bash, then open the web UI to create your admin account and connect servers. The README also points to documentation at docs.dokploy.com and a video tutorial. Piping a script to bash on a production server deserves the usual caution. We did not run it.

A web dashboard where you create projects, connect Git repositories or Docker images, add domains, and deploy. Templates make it easy to launch common open-source services. This is based on the README and pricing page.

• Deploy apps from Git or Docker images
• Databases with automated backups to external storage
• Native Docker Compose and Docker Swarm multi-node
• Traefik routing and automatic domains
• One-click templates for open-source apps
• Monitoring, logs, and metrics export to many observability tools
• CLI, API, and notifications

• A Vercel or Heroku-like workflow on cheap VPS servers
• Wide set of integrations for logs and metrics
• Active and popular, about 37,800 stars
• Cloud option for those who do not want to host the control plane

• License has a proprietary directory, so it is not purely open source
• The pricing page did not say whether self-hosting has paid tiers for enterprise features
• Docker and Traefik-based, so very large clusters may need Kubernetes
• Enterprise features such as SSO, SAML, SCIM, and audit logs are on the cloud Enterprise plan

Dokploy Cloud: Hobby is $4.50 per month per server (1 server, 1 user, 2 environments); Startup is from $15 per month plus $4.50 per additional server (up to 3 servers, unlimited users, basic RBAC, 2FA); Enterprise is by quote with SSO or SAML, SCIM, audit logs, and white-labeling. Yearly billing is 20% cheaper and there is a 7-day trial. The page lists a self-hosted option under Enterprise without a price.

Vercel is a hosted platform with a polished front-end workflow, edge network, and per-seat and usage pricing. Dokploy lets you deploy similar apps to your own servers, including databases and full-stack services, at the cost of operating the servers and giving up the edge infrastructure.

• Developers who want a self-hosted PaaS on cheap servers
• Teams hosting many small apps and databases
• Self-hosters who like one-click templates

• Teams that need a global edge network
• Organizations needing guaranteed open-source licensing for all code
• Very large production clusters