Heroku vs Dokku
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Heroku and Dokku.
Quick Verdict
3.4/5
Heroku
0 reviews
4.2/5
Dokku
0 reviews
Dokku is rated higher (4.2 vs 3.4). Heroku pioneered platform-as-a-service in 2007. Owned by Salesforce. Supports 10+ languages, huge addon marketplace (150+ addons). Removed free tier in 2022 but remains popular for ease of use. Eco plans restart. 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.
Heroku The original PaaS — still the easiest deploy | Dokku Self-hosted mini Heroku on your own VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.4 (0 reviews) | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | paid | free |
| Starting price | From $5/mo | Free✓ |
| Best for | Time-poor developers and small teams who want git-push deploys, a huge add-on ecosystem and zero server operations, and who accept premium per-unit pricing for it | Developers comfortable with Linux who want Heroku-style deployments at VPS pricing on infrastructure they own and control |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | — |
| RAM | 1 GB | — |
| Storage | — | — |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | — | — |
| Data-center count | 12 | — |
| €/GB RAM/mo | €5.00 | — |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ✓ | |
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ✓ | |
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | useuDublinFrankfurtLondonMontreal+6 | — |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | managed optionus datacentereu datacenterapi access | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit Heroku → | Visit Dokku → | |
Heroku
Pros
- + Still the smoothest deploy workflow in the market — git push and done
- + Large add-on marketplace and mature language buildpack support
- + Transparent dyno pricing with clear tiers from $5 to $1,500/month
- + Automated OS patching, free SSL, unified logs and instant scaling
- + Private Spaces and Shield options for network isolation and compliance
Cons
- - Poor price-performance versus raw VPS compute
- - No free tier since 2022; Eco dynos sleep and meter hours
- - 2026 engineering pivot to stability — new features and new Enterprise contracts paused
- - 2022 security breach remains part of the track record
- - Only two Common Runtime regions, and region choice does not guarantee data residency
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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