RunCloud vs CapRover
A detailed comparison to help you choose between RunCloud and CapRover.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
RunCloud
0 reviews
4.0/5
CapRover
0 reviews
Both RunCloud and CapRover are equally rated at 4.0/5. RunCloud is a server management panel for deploying PHP and WordPress applications on any VPS. Nginx, Apache, and OpenLiteSpeed support. Integrates with DigitalOcean, Vultr, and any cloud. CapRover is a free, open source PaaS that runs on your own server. Deploy apps via CLI, dashboard, or GitHub Actions. One-click app templates for WordPress, Ghost, Mattermost, Nextcloud, and 100+ more.
RunCloud WordPress server management panel | CapRover Self-hosted app deployment — free open source PaaS | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.0 (0 reviews) | 4.0 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | paid | free |
| Starting price | From $9/mo | Free✓ |
| Best for | Developers and agencies running PHP/WordPress fleets on their own VPS accounts who want a capable management panel without per-server pricing. | Developers and small teams wanting a free, self-hosted Heroku-style PaaS with one-click apps on their own VPS |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ✓ | |
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermanaged optionapi access | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit RunCloud → | Visit CapRover → | |
RunCloud
Pros
- + Flat panel pricing: 50 servers on the $19/month Professional plan
- + Works with any VPS provider (DigitalOcean, Vultr, AWS, GCP, Linode, UpCloud, Hetzner, Azure) and keeps root access
- + NGINX or OpenLiteSpeed stacks with tuned configs, caching, HTTP/3 on OLS, and one-click WordPress
- + Backups with included storage plus unlimited external backups to S3/SFTP and other targets
- + Staging, cloning, Git deployment, log viewer, and metrics in one dashboard
Cons
- - No free plan (7-day trial only) and pricing was restructured sharply in 2026
- - Teams, API, atomic deploys, and WAF are gated at the $49/month Business tier
- - MariaDB/MySQL only — no PostgreSQL; no email hosting; stack choice locked per server
- - Concentrates root-level access in a third-party SaaS run by a small company
- - No published uptime SLA for the panel itself
CapRover
Pros
- + Free forever, Apache 2.0, no feature gating or license keys
- + One-click app catalog (WordPress, MySQL, MongoDB, and more) deploys in minutes
- + Automatic Let's Encrypt HTTPS with one-click redirects
- + Deploys from dashboard, CLI, webhook, or Git; runs on any VPS you choose
- + Docker-native: any language or service that runs in a container
Cons
- - Largely solo-maintained — feature development has slowed and the bus factor is low
- - You own server ops: patching, backups, monitoring, and build sizing
- - Rougher edges and docs than commercial PaaS; support is community-only with no SLA
- - No autoscaling, managed backups, or Kubernetes-grade orchestration
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