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Coolify vs Dokploy
Short answer: Coolify and Dokploy are both self-hostable alternatives to Vercel. Pick Coolify if community size is your main criterion – it has 1.7× the stars. Pick Dokploy if its feature set fits your use case better – stars, license and activity don't measure features, so try both on a test server. If you will customize the code, choose the stack your team knows (Coolify: PHP, Dokploy: TypeScript).
Coolify has 1.7× the GitHub stars of Dokploy (63.2k vs 37.9k). Stars measure popularity and community size, not quality. Both are actively developed: Coolify's last push was on 2026-10-19 (on the day of our check); Dokploy's last push was on 2026-10-16 (3 days before our check).
Coolify vs Dokploy at a glance
| Coolify | Dokploy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 63.2k | ★ 37.9k |
| Forks | 5.7k | 3.1k |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 (+ proprietary license for /proprietary dirs) (file) |
| License type | permissive | permissive |
| Last push | 2026-10-19 on the day of our check | 2026-10-16 3 days before our check |
| Latest GitHub release | v4.4.6 2026-10-09 | v0.30.8 2026-09-29 |
| Main language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Archived | no | no |
| Repository | coollabsio/coolify | Dokploy/dokploy |
Data: GitHub REST API, checked 2026-10-19. Licenses verified manually against each project's license file. Self-hosting difficulty (Vercel: medium) is our rating per use case and applies to both.
In their own words
Coolify (GitHub description): An open-source, self-hostable PaaS alternative to Vercel, Heroku & Netlify that lets you easily deploy static sites, databases, full-stack applications and 360+ one-click services on your own servers.
Dokploy (GitHub description): Open Source Alternative to Vercel, Netlify and Heroku.
Which should you pick?
- Pick Coolify if community size is your main criterion – it has 1.7× the stars.
- Pick Dokploy if its feature set fits your use case better – stars, license and activity don't measure features, so try both on a test server.
- If you will customize the code, choose the stack your team knows (Coolify: PHP, Dokploy: TypeScript).
Both use a permissive license (Apache-2.0 / Apache-2.0 (+ proprietary license for /proprietary dirs)). Coolify is written mainly in PHP, Dokploy in TypeScript – relevant if you plan to patch or extend it. License note for Dokploy: Apache-2.0 for everything outside /proprietary directories; content under /proprietary uses LICENSE_PROPRIETARY.
FAQ
Which is more popular, Coolify or Dokploy?
Coolify has 1.7× the GitHub stars of Dokploy (63.2k vs 37.9k). Stars measure popularity and community size, not quality.
Are Coolify and Dokploy actively maintained?
Both are actively developed: Coolify's last push was on 2026-10-19 (on the day of our check); Dokploy's last push was on 2026-10-16 (3 days before our check). Latest GitHub releases: Coolify v4.4.6 (2026-10-09), Dokploy v0.30.8 (2026-09-29).
What licenses do Coolify and Dokploy use?
Coolify: Apache-2.0 – permissive (MIT/Apache/BSD-style: few obligations). Dokploy: Apache-2.0 (+ proprietary license for /proprietary dirs) – permissive (MIT/Apache/BSD-style: few obligations). Dokploy keeps some code under a separate license (open-core).
Is Coolify or Dokploy easier to self-host?
We rate self-hosting difficulty per use case, not per project: medium for Vercel alternatives. Both need a server you maintain; check each project's install docs for the exact services (database, workers) it needs.
Should I pick Coolify or Dokploy?
Pick Coolify if community size is your main criterion – it has 1.7× the stars. Pick Dokploy if its feature set fits your use case better – stars, license and activity don't measure features, so try both on a test server. If you will customize the code, choose the stack your team knows (Coolify: PHP, Dokploy: TypeScript).
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