What's the difference between Dokku and Heroku?

Dokku is bootstrapped / open source; Heroku is venture-backed. Dokku is open source; Heroku is closed source. Dokku has 0 curated indie alternatives in our directory; Heroku has 6.

Is Dokku or Heroku open source?

Dokku is open source; Heroku is closed source.

Side-by-side

Dokku vs Heroku

Pricing, founders, indie status and curated alternatives compared from our directory — all data points sourced from each tool's public site or press materials.

Dokku

Self-hosted Heroku clone.

Open sourceOpen source

Visit Dokku ↗

Heroku

The original PaaS for apps.

Hosting & DeploymentPaid · $5/mo

Visit Heroku ↗

At a glanceDokkuHeroku

Pricing: Open source; $5/mo
Pricing model: Open source; Paid
Founded: —; 2007
Location: —; —
Bootstrapped: —; —
Open source: Yes; —
Category: —; Hosting & Deployment
Indie alternatives: 0; 6
Founders: —; —

Key differences

Funding
Dokku is bootstrapped / open source; Heroku is venture-backed.
Open source
Dokku is open source; Heroku is closed source.
Indie alternatives
Dokku has 0 curated indie alternatives in our directory; Heroku has 6.

Differences are derived directly from the data on each tool's page. Empty fields mean we haven't verified a value yet — never that one tool lacks the capability.

More comparisons

Dokku vs Railway Coolify vs Heroku Fly.io vs Heroku Heroku vs Northflank Heroku vs Railway Heroku vs Render

Discussion

0 comments from people who picked one over the other.

No comments yet. Be the first to share your experience.