Self-Hosted PaaS Hosting: Dokploy, Coolify, CapRover and Dokku on HA Servers
A self-hosted platform as a service gives you the Heroku or Vercel workflow, push to Git and a container with a domain and certificate appears, on a server you own. Four open-source platforms do it well in 2026: Dokploy, Coolify, CapRover and Dokku. This page compares them with figures from their own repositories and docs on 31 October 2026, sizes the server each needs, and gives you a preset MassiveGRID VPS for any of them from $9.58 a month.
What a self-hosted PaaS is, and what it is not
Self-hosted PaaS: open-source software you install on a Linux server that builds your application from a Git repository, Dockerfile or Compose file, runs it as a Docker container, routes a domain to it through a reverse proxy and obtains the TLS certificate, usually with managed databases, backups and a web dashboard alongside. The software is free; the cost is the server.
It is not a managed platform: you, or your hosting provider, keep the server healthy, and the platform's own dashboard runs on that server. It is also not Kubernetes: these tools are built for one server or a handful, with Docker Swarm or SSH-managed remote servers when you grow, and that simplicity is the point. Our Swarm vs Kubernetes post is candid about where the line is.
The four platforms compared
| Dokploy | Coolify | CapRover | Dokku | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars (31 Oct 2026) | 38,200 | 65,300 | 15,200 | 32,200 |
| Interface | Web dashboard, API, CLI | Web dashboard, API | Web dashboard, CLI | CLI (web UI in the paid Dokku Pro) |
| Build from Git | Nixpacks, Railpack, Dockerfile, Heroku and Paketo buildpacks, Static | Nixpacks, Railpack, Dockerfile, Compose, images | Dockerfile, captain-definition, one-click apps | Buildpacks (Herokuish), Dockerfile |
| Docker Compose | Yes, Compose and Swarm Stack | Yes | Limited | Limited (plugin) |
| Reverse proxy and TLS | Traefik, Let’s Encrypt | Traefik or Caddy, Let’s Encrypt | Nginx, Let’s Encrypt | Nginx (Caddy, Traefik via plugins), Let’s Encrypt plugin |
| Databases | Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Redis, libsql as services with S3 backups | Managed databases with backups | One-click apps | Plugins per engine |
| Multi-server | Remote servers over SSH, build servers, Swarm cluster | Remote servers over SSH | Swarm cluster | Single host (scheduler plugins for k3s and Nomad) |
| Templates | 500+ | 360+ one-click services | Large one-click library | None built in |
| Documented minimum | 2 GB RAM, 30 GB disk | 2 cores, 2 GB RAM, 10 GB disk | 1 GB RAM recommended more | 1 GB RAM minimum in its docs |
| Hosted or paid tier | Dokploy Cloud $4.50 per server; Enterprise licences | Coolify Cloud $5 for 2 servers, $3 each extra | None | Dokku Pro (paid UI) |
| Licence | Open-source core with a proprietary licence for Enterprise parts | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
Figures from each project's GitHub repository and documentation on 31 October 2026; the CapRover and Dokku minimums are from their own getting-started guides and should be re-checked when editing. Our Dokploy vs Coolify comparison goes deeper on the two front-runners.
Which platform for which team
- Developers who think in containers and want the smallest server: Dokploy. Lightest footprint (about 350 to 450 MB idle), Compose native, Swarm clustering and a build server when you grow. Dokploy hosting has the preset configurator.
- Teams self-hosting a lot of third-party software: Coolify, for the 360+ one-click services, built-in monitoring and the largest community. Coolify hosting is preset the same way.
- Single-container apps with a long-standing, stable tool: CapRover. Mature, Nginx-based, Swarm under the hood, limited Compose support, slower development.
- Heroku refugees who live in the terminal: Dokku.
git push dokku main, buildpacks, plugins for databases, no dashboard unless you pay for Dokku Pro, one server by design. - Nobody wants to operate a platform: none of the four. MassiveGRID PaaS is the managed route, billed by usage from $2.46 per cloudlet-month with a 100% uptime SLA.
A preset server for each platform
Dokploy and Coolify have their own pages with the configurator preset and installation on request. CapRover and Dokku run on the plain Cloud VPS; the configurator below is preset to the same sizes.
Dokploy hosting
Preset configurator, sizing table, Dokploy vs Dokploy Cloud vs PaaS, guides and install on request.
From $9.58/mo CoolifyCoolify hosting
The same structure for Coolify: presets, Coolify Cloud comparison, guides and install on request.
From $9.58/mo CapRover or DokkuCloud VPS, preset below
Ubuntu 24.04, root access, one-command install from each project’s docs. Starter covers either platform plus a few apps.
From $9.58/mo ManagedMassiveGRID PaaS
No server to run: Git or image deployments, auto-scaling, marketplace packages, 100% uptime SLA.
From $2.46 per cloudlet-monthThe server underneath any of them
Platform footprints differ (Dokploy about 350 to 450 MB at idle, Coolify 500 to 700 MB, CapRover and Dokku in between or below), but the server is sized by what you deploy: each app 100 to 300 MB, a production database 512 MB to 1 GB, and a Docker build a temporary 500 MB to 2 GB on top of everything. Builds also pin every core, which is the argument for dedicated cores on a production server. The four presets:
| Workload | Server | Shared cores | Dedicated cores |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 apps and a database | 2 vCPU, 4 GB, 64 GB NVMe | $9.58 | $19.80 |
| 4 to 8 apps, 2 to 3 databases | 4 vCPU, 8 GB, 128 GB NVMe | $19.16 | $39.60 |
| 10 to 20 apps, agency work | 8 vCPU, 16 GB, 256 GB NVMe | $38.32 | $79.20 |
| Build server or Swarm worker | 16 vCPU, 32 GB, 512 GB NVMe, 2 TB traffic | $77.64 | $159.40 |
Monthly, in New York, London or Frankfurt, 1 TB of traffic and one IPv4 included, before billing-cycle discounts. Whatever you install, the server runs on a Proxmox HA cluster that migrates it to healthy hardware on failure, stores disks on Ceph with three replicas, and sits behind 12 Tbps of DDoS protection; the requirements guide explains the sizing.
One Configurator, Any Self-Hosted PaaS
The four presets fit Dokploy, Coolify, CapRover or Dokku. Ubuntu 24.04 is preselected, root access is included, and the install for any of the four is one command from its docs; for Dokploy and Coolify, MassiveGRID installs on request.
4 Tier-4 Data Centers Worldwide
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Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about self-hosted PaaS platforms and the servers they need.
Pick a platform, order the preset, deploy
Any of the four self-hosted PaaS platforms on a server from $9.58 a month, on a Proxmox HA cluster with Ceph storage, a 100% uptime SLA and a 15-day money-back guarantee.