Upsun vs Dokku
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Upsun and Dokku.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
Upsun
0 reviews
4.2/5
Dokku
0 reviews
Dokku is rated higher (4.2 vs 4.0). Upsun is a cloud application platform that runs full-stack apps across multiple clouds and regions, with tools for running agentic development workflows, for developer and platform teams. 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.
Upsun Multicloud managed application platform (formerly Platform.sh) with production-parity environments | Dokku Self-hosted mini Heroku on your own VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.0 (0 reviews) | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | paid | free |
| Starting price | From $9/mo | Free✓ |
| Best for | Mid-market and enterprise teams shipping frequently who need compliant (PCI, SOC 2, ISO, HIPAA), EU-friendly, multicloud PaaS with Git-driven infrastructure and real preview environments | 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 | 16+ regions across AWS, GCP, Azure, IBM Cloud, OVHcloud incl. EU (Zurich, Berlin, Paris x2, London, Dublin, Stockholm), US, Canada, Australia | — |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | managed optioneu datacenterus datacenterteam featuressso | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit Upsun → | Visit Dokku → | |
Upsun
Pros
- + Production-parity preview environments per branch: cloned data, services and routing, not just code review
- + True multicloud (AWS, GCP, Azure, IBM Cloud, OVHcloud) with portable YAML configuration
- + Compliance out of the box: PCI DSS Level 1, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA; Git-auditable infrastructure changes
- + Explicit uptime terms: 99.5% best-efforts baseline, 99.90%/99.99% SLA add-ons with service credits
- + Granular per-service resource sizing billed per second; idle environments pause and stop billing compute
Cons
- - The cost stack adds up: $9/project + $10/user + metered resources and storage, and standard support at +10% of global spend
- - No formal free tier — only a 15-day trial plus a credit covering one project and one user
- - YAML configuration model is powerful but has a real learning curve; SLA guarantees are paid add-ons
- - Proprietary platform layer from a ~290-person independent competing with hyperscaler PaaS pricing
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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