Coolify vs. Dokploy: Self-Hosted PaaS Platforms Compared
Compare Coolify and Dokploy as self-hosted alternatives to Heroku and Vercel — deployment workflows, resource management, UI, and which fits your needs.
Self-hosted PaaS platforms let you deploy applications with git-push simplicity on your own servers. Coolify and Dokploy are the two leading open-source options, both available as services in better-openclaw. Here's how they stack up.
Coolify: Feature-Rich and Mature
Coolify is the more established platform with support for Docker, Docker Compose, and Nixpacks-based builds. It handles databases, custom domains, SSL certificates, and automatic deployments from GitHub/GitLab. The UI is polished and covers most deployment scenarios. It also supports multi-server management, making it suitable for teams with multiple VPS instances.
Dokploy: Lightweight and Modern
Dokploy is a newer, lighter alternative focused on simplicity. It supports Docker Compose deployments, automatic SSL, and a clean web UI. Its resource footprint is smaller than Coolify, making it better suited for single-server homelabs. The project is growing fast but has fewer features than Coolify in areas like multi-server orchestration and database management.
How They Complement better-openclaw
Use better-openclaw to generate your AI stack, then deploy and manage it through Coolify or Dokploy. Generate your Docker Compose with better-openclaw, import it into your PaaS, and get automatic deployments, monitoring, and SSL management. Coolify is better for teams managing multiple servers; Dokploy is ideal for single-server homelabs where simplicity is key.