Elestio vs Dokku
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Elestio and Dokku.
Quick Verdict
3.6/5
Elestio
0 reviews
4.2/5
Dokku
0 reviews
Dokku is rated higher (4.2 vs 3.6). 400+ open source tools Dokku is an open source PaaS you deploy on any VPS. Heroku-compatible buildpacks, Git push deployments, Let's Encrypt SSL, and Docker support. Run your own Heroku on a $5 Hetzner server.
Elestio Fully managed open source tools in one click | Dokku Self-hosted mini Heroku on your own VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.6 (0 reviews) | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | paid | free |
| Starting price | From $11/mo | Free✓ |
| Best for | Developers and small teams wanting managed open source tool deployment without DevOps hires, especially on infrastructure they already own | Developers comfortable with Linux who want Heroku-style deployments at VPS pricing on infrastructure they own and control |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | 100+ regions across 9+ providers (Netcup, Hetzner, DigitalOcean, AWS Lightsail, Linode, Vultr, Azure, Scaleway); BYO infrastructure supported | — |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermanaged optionopen sourceapi access | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit Elestio → | Visit Dokku → | |
Elestio
Pros
- + 400+ open source tools fully managed: daily backups, auto SSL, tested updates, patching, 24/7 monitoring
- + Deploy on 9+ cloud providers across 100+ regions — or bring your own infrastructure and keep ownership
- + Transparent management-fee formula ($5/vCPU + $2.50/GB RAM + $0.025/GB disk monthly) and hourly billing
- + Dedicated VMs, not shared containers; everything included with no per-seat charges
- + Revenue sharing with open source authors supports the projects being hosted
Cons
- - Young, small company (founded 2022, ~11-50 employees) — vendor risk for mission-critical platforms
- - No uptime SLA at base level; 99.5%/99.9% SLAs cost $50/$200 per service per month
- - Catalog covers mainstream self-hosted apps; heavily customized or niche software fits poorly
- - Underlying infrastructure costs are on top in the bring-your-own model, so totals vary by provider
Dokku
Pros
- + Free MIT-licensed software — you only pay for the underlying server
- + Heroku-compatible buildpacks and git push workflow make migration from Heroku straightforward
- + Mature project (since 2013) with 353 releases and a large plugin ecosystem
- + Full control over data, costs and where your apps physically run
- + Optional Dokku Pro is a one-time $849 lifetime license, not a subscription
Cons
- - Self-managed: OS updates, security, backups and monitoring are your responsibility
- - Single-host design — no built-in failover, autoscaling or multi-host scheduling
- - Support is community-only (GitHub issues, Slack) unless you buy Dokku Pro
- - Plugin quality and upgrade compatibility vary across the community ecosystem
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