CapRover vs Dokku
| Tagline | Scalable PaaS with automated Docker and nginx for one-click app deploys | Docker-powered mini-Heroku you run on a single server |
| Category | Self-Hosting Platforms & PaaS | Self-Hosting Platforms & PaaS |
| Replaces | Heroku, Netlify, Render | Heroku, Render |
| GitHub stars | 15k | 32k |
| Language | TypeScript | Shell |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 2/5 Easy | 4/5 Involved |
| Deploy options | Docker Manual | Docker Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 3 days ago | 6 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
CapRover
- No official managed cloud offering; you operate everything yourself.
- Relies on Docker Swarm, whose ecosystem momentum has slowed versus Kubernetes.
- Logging/metrics and preview-deploy workflows are more limited than Heroku/Vercel.
- UI and one-click catalog feel dated compared to newer PaaS tools.
Dokku
- Primarily single-server; no built-in horizontal scaling or clustering like cloud PaaS.
- CLI-first with no official web UI (community UIs exist but are unofficial).
- No managed CDN/edge, autoscaling, or integrated team management.
- Initial setup and plugin configuration require comfort with the Linux command line.
Bottom line
Choose CapRover if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Dokku for the larger community and ecosystem. CapRover has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.