Coolify vs Dokku vs Portainer
Coolify, Dokku, Portainer compared on license, free-edition limits, deployment and project health. Change a project below to compare something else.
| Coolify | Dokku | Portainer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | DevOps & Hosting | DevOps & Hosting | DevOps & Hosting |
| License | Apache License 2.0Open source (OSI) | MIT LicenseOpen source (OSI) | zlib LicenseOpen source (OSI) |
| Free edition | Fully featured free edition | Some features paywalled | Some features paywalled |
| Deployment | Self-hosted · Cloud | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| Self-hosting setup | Single container | Single container | Single container |
| SSO / SAML | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Paid |
| Role-based access control | Free | Not confirmed | Paid |
| Audit logs | Free | Not confirmed | Paid |
| Multi-user / teams | Free | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Backups and restore | Free | Free | Not confirmed |
| API access | Free | Paid | Not confirmed |
| Support SLA | Not confirmed | Paid | Paid |
| GitHub stars | 63k | 32k | 39k |
| Last release | Oct 9, 2026 | Sep 27, 2026 | Oct 8, 2026 |
| Alternative to | Heroku, Vercel, Netlify | Heroku | Rancher |
In short
- Coolify is licensed Apache License 2.0 (open source (osi)). Free edition: fully featured free edition.
- Dokku is licensed MIT License (open source (osi)). Free edition: some features paywalled.
- Portainer is licensed zlib License (open source (osi)). Free edition: some features paywalled.
Each project page lists the official sources behind these answers. Where the official pages do not say, the table shows “Not confirmed”.