Dokku
A self-hosted, Docker-based mini Heroku for deploying apps on your own server.
- Stars
- 32.2k
- Forks
- 2.1k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- Go
- Last update
- 4 days ago
- Type
- App
What it is
Dokku is a platform-as-a-service you install on your own server. It lets you deploy web applications by pushing code to it, much like Heroku, and it runs each app in Docker containers. People use it to host their own apps without paying for a managed hosting service.
- Deploy a web app by pushing its git repository to the server
- Install the platform on a fresh Ubuntu or Debian VM using the official bootstrap script
- Manage app lifecycle and SSH keys for deployments from the command line
Great for
- Developers who want Heroku-style deployment on a server they control
- Small teams hosting a handful of web apps on a single VM
- People comfortable administering a Linux server over SSH
Not ideal for
- People who want no server administration at all, since it needs a fresh Ubuntu or Debian VM set up and maintained
- Teams needing large multi-server scaling, since the README does not describe that scope
How to get it
- 1
See the README
You'll need: Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04, or 26.04, or Debian 11+ on a fresh VM · An SSH keypair for deployment · sudo access
Download the bootstrap script
wget -NP . https://dokku.com/install/v0.38.32/bootstrap.shRun the installer with the release tag
sudo DOKKU_TAG=v0.38.32 bash bootstrap.sh - 2
Run it
- Run the installer on a fresh VM as a user with sudo access
- Set your server domain with dokku domains:set-global
- Add your SSH key with dokku ssh-keys:add if it was not imported automatically
- Deploy an app by pushing its git repository to the server
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Set a global domain with dokku domains:set-global to route apps
- Import deployment SSH keys with dokku ssh-keys:add to control access
- Review the documentation at dokku.com/docs for further configuration
Downloads
Strengths
- Familiar Heroku-style workflow on hardware you control
- Open source under the MIT license with 32k+ GitHub stars
- Runs apps in Docker containers
Trade-offs
- Requires a fresh Ubuntu or Debian VM and some sysadmin knowledge
- The README is truncated here, so details on app configuration and scaling are not confirmed
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dokku (this) | 32.2k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | Developers who want Heroku-style deployment on a server they control |
| dockge | 24.7k | App | beginner | 14 days ago | People who run Docker Compose stacks on a home server or small Linux machine |
| lens | 23.2k | App | beginner | 1.7 years ago | Developers who want a visual view of their Kubernetes workloads |
| uptime-kuma | 93.2k | App | beginner | 4 days ago | People who want to monitor their own websites or services without paying a hosted monitoring service |
| colima | 31.5k | Dev tool | beginner | 23 days ago | Mac developers who want Docker containers without Docker Desktop |
| gogs | 47.9k | App | intermediate | 5 days ago | Small teams that want a private Git server on their own hardware |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.