{"id":2923,"date":"2026-10-29T09:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hostry.com\/blog\/?p=2923"},"modified":"2026-10-29T09:28:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:28:20","slug":"coolify-vs-dokploy-vs-caprover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hostry.com\/blog\/coolify-vs-dokploy-vs-caprover\/","title":{"rendered":"Coolify vs Dokploy vs CapRover: Which Self-Hosted PaaS to Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Coolify<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Coolify vs Dokploy is a close call on one VPS: Coolify is fully Apache 2.0 and fits solo developers who want automatic panel updates, while Dokploy suits teams that may grow into a Docker Swarm cluster. CapRover is the pick for the smallest server and the simplest setup if you can live with one shared password and paid-only 2FA.<\/strong><\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Each of these panels installs in a few commands, and each dashboard can run any container as root, so the choice is a security decision as much as a feature one. Each needs a Linux KVM VPS with full root access<\/a><\/strong> and ports 80 and 443 to itself. Commands and table cells below were checked against the docs and GitHub repositories on October 29, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What a self-hosted PaaS does (and when Docker Compose is enough)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A self-hosted PaaS<\/strong> is a Heroku alternative<\/strong> that runs on your own server. A Git push triggers a Docker image build, swaps the running container and routes traffic through a reverse proxy that renews Let’s Encrypt certificates on its own. The same dashboard creates database containers and holds environment variables and logs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Self-hosted
Everything except the backup bucket runs on the one VPS, and the dashboard is reached through an SSH tunnel until it has its own HTTPS domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
For one or two services that change a few times a year, a docker-compose.yml<\/span> plus Caddy or Traefik is lighter and has less to patch. A PaaS earns its RAM when you deploy Docker apps on a VPS<\/strong> several times a week, host projects for other people or want pull-request previews, which Coolify and Dokploy have built in. Dokploy’s docs advise against previews on public repositories, since outsiders could then trigger builds on your server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coolify vs Dokploy vs CapRover at a glance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Release tags and rounded template-repository counts as of October 29, 2026:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feature<\/th>Coolify<\/th>Dokploy<\/th>CapRover<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
License<\/td>Apache 2.0<\/td>Apache 2.0, except code in \/proprietary<\/span> folders (source-available DSAL)<\/td>Apache 2.0; paid Pro add-on<\/td><\/tr>
Latest release<\/td>v4.5.3, Oct 28, 2026<\/td>v0.30.10, Oct 22, 2026<\/td>v1.15.5, Oct 23, 2026<\/td><\/tr>
Runs on<\/td>Docker; Swarm deprecated, removal planned for v5<\/td>Docker Swarm (single node by default)<\/td>Docker Swarm<\/td><\/tr>
Proxy and TLS<\/td>Traefik (default) or Caddy, automatic Let’s Encrypt<\/td>Traefik, Let’s Encrypt per domain<\/td>NGINX with Certbot (Let’s Encrypt)<\/td><\/tr>
Git deploys<\/td>GitHub App, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea, webhooks<\/td>GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea<\/td>Webhook per app, or caprover deploy<\/span> from the CLI<\/td><\/tr>
Docker Compose<\/td>Yes (Compose build pack)<\/td>Yes, native<\/td>Supported subset, marked experimental<\/td><\/tr>
After a bad deploy<\/td>Manual rollback to an older image still on the server<\/td>Automatic Swarm rollback if health checks fail (needs a \/health<\/span> endpoint); manual registry-based rollback<\/td>One-click rollback to an earlier image version<\/td><\/tr>
One-click templates<\/td>350+<\/td>580+<\/td>360+<\/td><\/tr>
Database backups to S3<\/td>Scheduled: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, ClickHouse, SQLite<\/td>Scheduled, to S3 destinations; volume backups too<\/td>No; only CapRover’s own config is backed up<\/td><\/tr>
More than one server<\/td>Remote servers over SSH; multi-server deploys need an external load balancer<\/td>Remote deploy and build servers over SSH; Swarm nodes<\/td>Swarm worker nodes<\/td><\/tr>
Users and 2FA<\/td>Teams with roles; TOTP 2FA<\/td>Owner, admin and member roles; TOTP 2FA and passkeys<\/td>One dashboard password; 2FA only in Pro<\/td><\/tr>
Dashboard port before a domain is set<\/td>8000 (plus 6001, 6002)<\/td>3000<\/td>3000<\/td><\/tr>
Official minimum<\/td>2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, 10 GB disk<\/td>2 GB RAM, 30 GB disk<\/td>No fixed figure; docs warn 512 MB may fail during builds<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
All three list Ubuntu 24.04 among tested systems. Two CapRover rows are easy to miss: its Compose support covers only a subset of the specification, and it has no scheduled database backups, so you schedule dumps for its databases yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which one should you pick?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n