The landscape, honestly
Self-hosted PaaS & Heroku alternatives compared
Coolify, Dokploy, CapRover, Dokku, Railway, Render, Heroku — and where Pushify fits. Real licenses, real prices, no fake rankings.
| Platform | License | Self-host | Managed cloud | Paid from | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted platforms | |||||
| Pushify | MIT | Yes | Yes | $0 self-host | Monthly plan + hourly server credits |
| Coolify | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Yes | $0 self-host · cloud from $5/mo | Flat |
| Dokploy | Apache-2.0 (open-core) | Yes | Yes | $0 self-host · cloud ~$4.50/server/mo | Flat per server |
| CapRover | Apache-2.0 | Yes | No | $0 — no paid tier | — |
| Dokku | MIT (core) | Yes | No | $0 · Pro is a paid add-on | One-time (Pro) |
| Managed-only platforms | |||||
| Heroku | Proprietary | No | Yes | $5 Eco (sleeps) · $7 Basic dyno | Per dyno + add-ons |
| Railway | Proprietary | No | Yes | $5/mo Hobby (incl. $5 usage) | Usage-based |
| Render | Proprietary | No | Yes | $7/mo per always-on service | Plan + compute |
Tool by tool
What each one is good at
What each tool is, what it costs and who it fits — Pushify's weak spots included.
CoolifySelf-hosted platformsBest for: Teams that want the biggest community and a mature GUI-first self-hosted platform.
The most popular self-hosted PaaS: Apache-2.0 licensed, free to self-host, with an optional managed cloud from $5/mo. Strong GUI, PR preview deployments, multi-server support and a very large community. v4 reached stable in April 2026 after a long beta.
DokploySelf-hosted platformsBest for: Developers who want a clean GUI on Docker Swarm.
A fast-rising alternative: free to self-host, with a managed option around $4.50/server/mo. Built on Docker Swarm. The core is Apache-2.0; since January 2026 a small set of enterprise features (custom roles, SSO, audit logs, white-label) sits under a separate source-available license.
CapRoverSelf-hosted platformsBest for: Homelabs and stability-first setups that value a zero-cost, proven tool over new features.
Free and Apache-2.0 licensed with no paid tier at all. Docker Swarm based with a one-click app catalog. Very stable and battle-tested, though development pace has slowed compared to Coolify and Dokploy.
DokkuSelf-hosted platformsBest for: Solo developers comfortable in a terminal who want the simplest possible single-server workflow.
The original 'mini-Heroku', a decade old and MIT-licensed at the core. CLI-first — there is no web UI by default (Dokku Pro sells one).
HerokuManaged-only platformsBest for: Teams that want zero ops and enterprise compliance, and accept per-dyno pricing.
The managed platform that invented git-push deploys. Zero server responsibility and a 10+ year add-on ecosystem, but no self-hosting, and the free tier was removed in 2022 — a small always-on app with a database starts around $12/mo (Basic dyno $7 + smallest Postgres $5).
RailwayManaged-only platformsBest for: Side projects and small teams that want a beautiful managed experience and accept usage-based bills.
A polished managed platform with usage-based billing: the Hobby plan is $5/mo including $5 of usage; the free plan starts with a 30-day $5 trial credit, then $1/mo of usage. No self-host option — your workloads run on Railway's infrastructure.
RenderManaged-only platformsBest for: Teams that want Heroku-style simplicity with a modern dashboard and predictable per-service prices.
A managed platform with a limited free tier (services sleep after 15 minutes) and always-on services from $7/mo each. In 2026 it moved to flat plan fees plus compute, dropping per-seat pricing. No self-host option.
Where Pushify fitsPushifyBest for: Developers who want one tool to cover deploys, databases, domains and sites — self-hosted or managed — and accept a younger ecosystem.
Pushify is MIT-licensed and self-hostable free of charge, like Coolify or CapRover — but it also runs as a managed cloud that can provision Hetzner servers for you, billed at a fixed hourly rate from prepaid credits, or deploy to any VPS you bring. Alongside managed databases with backups, a 24-app marketplace, PR previews, cron and volumes, it adds a few things the others lack: scale-to-zero, an AI assistant, a no-code site builder and built-in domain purchasing. It is younger than every tool above — the community is smaller, and some integrations (for example a GitHub App) are still maturing.
Decision guide
How to actually choose
Want zero server responsibility?
Pick a managed platform: Heroku, Railway or Render — or Pushify's managed cloud if you still want the option to leave.
Want maximum community and plugins on your own server?
Coolify today, Dokploy if you prefer lighter and faster.
Want one platform for apps, databases, domains and sites with both self-host and managed modes?
That is the gap Pushify was built for.
This page reflects publicly available information and may go out of date. It intentionally contains no invented benchmarks, star counts or testimonials.
Side by side
Side-by-side comparisons
Try the newcomer
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