Render vs Dokku
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Render and Dokku.
Quick Verdict
3.7/5
Render
0 reviews
4.2/5
Dokku
0 reviews
Dokku is rated higher (4.2 vs 3.7). Modern cloud platform for deploying web apps, APIs, static sites, cron jobs, and PostgreSQL — zero DevOps required. Auto-deploys from Git with preview URLs per branch. 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.
Render Deploy web apps, APIs, and databases without managing infrastructure | Dokku Self-hosted mini Heroku on your own VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.7 (0 reviews) | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | free |
| Starting price | From $7/mo | Free✓ |
| Best for | Small teams shipping conventional Postgres-backed web apps who want Git deploys and managed operations without owning infrastructure. | Developers comfortable with Linux who want Heroku-style deployments at VPS pricing on infrastructure they own and control |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | 1 vCPU | — |
| RAM | 1 GB | — |
| Storage | 1 GB | — |
| Bandwidth | 0 TB/mo | — |
| SLA uptime | — | — |
| Data-center count | 5 | — |
| €/vCPU/mo | €7.00 | — |
| €/GB RAM/mo | €7.00 | — |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ✓ | |
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | United StatesGermanySingapore | — |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermanaged optioneu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit Render → | Visit Dokku → | |
Render
Pros
- + Git-based deploys with per-pull-request preview environments included
- + Coherent pricing: one instance-type table for web services, workers, and cron jobs
- + Free DDoS protection on every service and managed TLS out of the box
- + Managed PostgreSQL with point-in-time recovery on paid plans
- + render.yaml blueprints and a Terraform provider for reproducible environments
Cons
- - No public availability SLA outside negotiated Enterprise contracts
- - Included bandwidth is small (5 GB / 25 GB) with $0.15 per GB overage
- - No IPv6, no GPUs, no bare metal, and only five regions
- - Free tier sleeps on inactivity and free Postgres expires after 30 days
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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