Why this choice deserves a dedicated comparison
General self-hosted PaaS overviews cover Coolify and Dokploy in two lines each. In practice, a developer with a VPS ready who is hesitating between the two asks very precise questions: how much RAM does the deployer consume before the first application even runs? Does the license allow commercial use without restriction? How many services can be launched in one click without writing Compose files by hand? Does the PaaS scale to multiple nodes if load increases?
A three-way comparison (Coolify vs Dokploy vs CapRover) cannot answer these questions in depth without becoming unreadable. This binary comparison answers them so the decision is final.
Criteria used for this comparison
- Idle RAM — memory consumed by the platform when no deployment is in progress, measured without applications
- License — effective rights for commercial self-hosted use, restrictions on cloud or pro editions
- One-click templates — number of services deployable without manual Compose files, catalog freshness
- Multi-node — ability to manage multiple servers from a single dashboard, maturity of this feature
- Interface and learning curve — realistic delay between installation and the first successful deployment
- Community and maintenance — release cadence, issue activity, sign of longevity
Coolify: broad functional coverage, significant memory footprint
Coolify v4.0.0 reached stable on April 27, 2026 after two years of public beta. The project shows around 61,000 GitHub stars in August 2026 and is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license — including for commercial self-hosted use, without restriction. The cloud edition (Coolify Cloud) starts at $5/month for two connected servers, but it has nothing to do with the version you install yourself.
The trade-off for the functional richness is a measured memory footprint of 600 MB to 1 GB at rest, before deploying anything. On a 2 GB RAM VPS, the platform alone leaves little headroom for applications. The recommended starting point is 4 GB of RAM for any real deployment.
Coolify by the numbers
- Idle RAM: 600 MB – 1 GB (platform only, excluding deployed applications)
- License: Apache 2.0 for self-hosting, commercial use allowed without restriction
- One-click templates: 280+ preconfigured services (databases, CMS, analytics, devops tools)
- Multi-server: remote server management via SSH, Docker Swarm in experimental mode
- Current stable version: v4.0.0, stable since April 2026
- GitHub stars: ~61,000 (August 2026,
coollabsio/coolifyrepository)
Dokploy: light footprint, native Docker Swarm and larger catalog
Dokploy positions itself as the lighter alternative. The platform consumes between 150 and 300 MB at rest — two to four times less than Coolify — making it viable on entry-level VPS with 1 or 2 GB of RAM. The project counts around 37,000 GitHub stars in September 2026.
The license is Apache 2.0 for all currently open-source features, with a public commitment never to move these features behind a paywall. Future premium features will be distributed under a separate source-available license, which is a common model in the ecosystem. On the templates side, Dokploy offers 517+ one-click deployable apps — a larger catalog than Coolify. Docker Swarm is natively integrated for multi-node deployments, without any experimental mode.
Dokploy by the numbers
- Idle RAM: 150 – 300 MB (platform only, excluding deployed applications)
- License: Apache 2.0 (current features); future premium options under a source-available license
- One-click templates: 517+ services (GitHub catalog
Dokploy/dokploy) - Multi-node: native Docker Swarm, manager + workers, no experimental mode
- Official requirements: 2 GB RAM minimum, 4 GB recommended for real use with applications
- GitHub stars: ~37,000 (September 2026,
Dokploy/dokployrepository)
Coolify vs Dokploy comparison table
| Criterion | Coolify | Dokploy |
|---|---|---|
| Idle RAM | 600 MB – 1 GB | 150 – 300 MB |
| OSS License | Apache 2.0 (everything) | Apache 2.0 (current features) |
| One-click templates | 280+ | 517+ |
| Multi-node / Swarm | Multi-server SSH + experimental Swarm | Native Docker Swarm |
| Stable version | v4.0.0 (April 2026) | Stable, regular releases |
| GitHub stars | ~61,000 (Aug 2026) | ~37,000 (Sep 2026) |
| Interface | Rich, polished | Clean, fast |
| Recommended VPS (prod) | 4 GB RAM minimum | 2 GB RAM enough to start |
Prerequisites depending on the chosen tool
Both tools install on any Linux distribution with Docker installed. The VPS configuration differs depending on your choice.
For Coolify: plan at minimum 4 GB of RAM and 2 vCPU for a real deployment. On a 2 GB VPS, the platform leaves less than 1 GB for your applications — a single lightweight service can exhaust available memory.
For Dokploy: 2 GB of RAM and 1 vCPU are sufficient for the platform and a few lightweight services. For a production environment with several applications, 4 GB remains the recommendation.
Deploy Dokploy on a VPS in 6 steps
Prepare the VPS
Connect as root to your Linux VPS. Make sure Docker is installed and that port 3000 (Dokploy interface) and ports 80/443 (Traefik reverse proxy) are open in your firewall.
Run the Dokploy installer
Execute the official script:
curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | shThe installation deploys Dokploy and its Traefik reverse proxy via Docker Compose. The duration is two to five minutes depending on the server's connection.
Access the interface
Open http://<your-vps-ip>:3000 in your browser. Dokploy displays the first admin account creation form. Set a strong password — this is the only access barrier before enabling two-factor authentication.
Create a project and connect a Git repository
In the dashboard, create a project, then an application. Select the source: Git repository (GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket), Docker image or one-click template from the catalog. For a private repository, Dokploy generates an SSH key to add to your Git account.
Configure the domain and TLS
In the application settings, enter your domain (e.g. myapp.com). Dokploy automatically configures Traefik as a reverse proxy and requests a Let's Encrypt certificate. Point your DNS to the VPS IP before enabling TLS.
Launch the deployment
Click Deploy. Dokploy clones the repository, builds the image if necessary, and starts the container. The build log is visible in real time. Set up a Git webhook to trigger deployments automatically on each push.
Recommendation by project profile
The choice between the two tools depends on three variables: the available VPS size, the need to manage multiple servers from one place, and how important a ready-to-use template catalog is.
Which tool for which profile
- Entry-level VPS (1 to 2 GB RAM) — Dokploy: its 150–300 MB footprint leaves room for applications where Coolify saturates the VPS before the first service
- Solo project or small team, wide catalog — Dokploy: 517+ templates cover most stacks without writing Compose files by hand
- Multi-server with a single interface — Coolify if experimental Swarm is not an issue, Dokploy if you want stable native Swarm to link multiple nodes
- Polished interface and project maturity — Coolify v4 stable since April 2026 with an interface recognized as the most refined in its category
- Strict license constraint — both are Apache 2.0 for current OSS features; Dokploy announces a source-available license for future premium options
The trap common to both PaaS platforms
Both the Coolify and Dokploy installation scripts run as root and immediately expose the interface on a port. Before installing anything, close all unnecessary ports via your firewall (ufw), then open only 22, 80, 443 and the interface port for your PaaS. Enable two-factor authentication on first login. A PaaS without 2FA on a public server accessible from any IP is a direct target.
Your VPS, the foundation of your PaaS
Coolify and Dokploy are just the software layer. Production stability depends first on the underlying VPS: sufficient RAM for the tool and the applications, bandwidth for builds and image pulls, and regular snapshots to quickly restore a clean state after a mishap. A root VPS with SSH access, Docker preinstalled and a daily snapshot covers 90% of the incidents developers encounter in their first year of self-hosting.
