Compare / Coolify vs Dokploy
Coolify vs Dokploy
Pick Coolify if you want the published Heroku/Render/Fly.io stack. Pick Dokploy if you want the other Vercel/Netlify-shaped panel. Both want a Docker socket and a public IP — a VPS, not a nested Railway service.
Facts checked 17 Oct 2026. License, language, and GitHub activity come from the catalog or the project's own repo. "Not in the catalog row" means the public catalog dump does not store that number.
Coolify in the catalog Dokploy in the catalogStart on Railway
How they compare
| Coolify | Dokploy | |
|---|---|---|
| License | Apache-2.0 (catalog) source | Apache-2.0 community; /proprietary is separate source |
| Language | PHP (catalog) | TypeScript (catalog) |
| GitHub activity | 63,083 stars in the catalog source | 37,840 stars in the catalog source |
| Self-host | Published as /stacks/coolify-paas. VPS + Docker socket. | Same job: git-push hosting on your servers. |
| Best for | Git deploy, SSL, and databases on servers you already have. | A second Coolify-shaped panel. |
Self-hosting and resource needs
Coolify is /stacks/coolify-paas. Do not nest Coolify inside Railway; it wants the socket. Dokploy community code is Apache-2.0; content under /proprietary is a separate license. CapRover and Cloudron are the other /best/self-hosted-paas picks. Railway remains how c17 itself deploys.
FAQ
- Why not Railway?
- Railway is how c17.io ships. Coolify is the open-source control plane you run when you do not want a Heroku-shaped vendor at all. That is the stack FAQ.
- CapRover or Cloudron?
- CapRover is the older Docker+nginx git-push box. Cloudron is the app-store-on-a-VPS path already named on the Coolify stack. See /best/self-hosted-paas.
- Are these free?
- Coolify is Apache-2.0. Dokploy community is Apache-2.0. You still pay a VPS.
- How do I deploy it?
- Open /stacks/coolify-paas. Document the VPS path. Migrate one app: Dockerfile, env, Postgres.
Related pages
Stack of the Week
Get one stack a week that replaces a SaaS bill.