shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Dokku?

An open source PaaS alternative to Heroku. - dokku.com

Depends. Use it if you're a developer or small team happy to admin your own VPS and want free Heroku-style git deploys. Avoid it if you want managed hosting, vendor support, or zero-ops.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~15 unique public sources; no named corporate users found.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support evidence in sources
  • Security postureNo security page found; no findings either

Pricing

Free

Self-hosted

ModelSelf-hosted
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Solo developers and indie hackers
  • Small teams wanting git-push deploys
  • Cost-sensitive projects on one VPS
  • Heroku refugees watching costs

Not for

  • Teams wanting managed, zero-ops hosting
  • Companies needing vendor support or SLAs
  • Non-technical teams — you admin the server
  • Anyone unwilling to own patching and backups

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

You inherit all server ops: upgrades, backups, monitoring. Budget engineering time, not just money.

medium

No official security page — vet the platform yourself before hosting anything sensitive.

medium

Guess: typical setups run on one VPS, so that server is a single point of failure.

low

Savings vs managed PaaS ($500–2,000/mo) are paid back in your own time.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free and open source — pay only for your VPS
  • Heroku-style workflow: build, deploy, and scale from git
  • Reviewers find it extremely easy to get started with
  • Praised as an affordable Heroku alternative
  • Extensible via plugins for added capabilities

Cons

  • Self-hosted only — you are the ops team
  • No published security page
  • Managed PaaS alternatives cost $500–2,000/mo — that buys back your ops time

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/21/2026 - 10 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x2review x3security x1news x4

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free; reviewers cite affordability vs Heroku
  • Ease of use: 5/5. G2: 'extremely easy to get started with'
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Minimal by design; extensible via plugins
  • Support quality. No support evidence in sources
  • Security posture. No security page found; no findings either
  • $0 Price Open source; you pay only for your VPS
  • Self-hosted Hosting model Docker-powered; you supply the server
  • 2013 First release Created by Jeff Lindsay as a mini-Heroku
  • v0.38.28 Latest release Actively maintained per dokku.com

Pricing

Self-hosted

Free

  • Full PaaS, open source
  • You supply and pay for the VPS
  • Optional plugins

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Reviewers consistently praise Dokku's ease of use and affordability as a self-hosted Heroku alternative.

“Dokku is extremely easy to get started with.”
G2 review
“Users consistently praise the product for its ease of use and affordability”
G2 reviews summary

Alternatives

Compare Dokku with each alternative.

  • Google App Engine

    Managed autoscaling PaaS; hands-off but costlier

Full analysis

Based on ~15 unique public sources; no named corporate users found.

Free self-hosted mini-Heroku: superb value for devs who run servers; wrong for teams wanting managed hosting or support.

Methodology

Based on ~15 unique public sources; no named corporate users found.

Sources

  1. Dokku official sitedokku.com
    official
  2. Dokku GitHub repositorygithub.com
    official
  3. Dokku security pagedokku.com
    security
  4. Dokku Reviews — G2g2.com
    review
  5. Dokku Reviews page 2 — G2g2.com
    review
  6. Dokku: The smallest PaaS implementation you've ever seen (creator blog)progrium.github.io
    news
  7. Dokku Cheatsheet to Develop Fasterventurit.com
    news
  8. Dokku: Details, Reviews, Pricing — CheckThat.aicheckthat.ai
    review
  9. How to Host Your Own PaaS with Dokkuhowtogeek.com
    news
  10. Coolify alternatives comparedlumadock.com
    news

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