{"data":{"slug":"dokku","name":"Dokku","tagline":"MIT Docker-powered mini-Heroku on one server","category":"devops","categoryName":"DevOps","url":"https://dokku.com","github":"https://github.com/dokku/dokku","pricing":"open-source","hook":"Dokku turns a single Ubuntu or Debian VM into a git-push PaaS: push your app over SSH and it builds it with buildpacks or a Dockerfile, runs it in containers and routes a domain to it.","whatsGood":"MIT (dokku/dokku), release v0.38.31 (2026-09-27), maintained since 2013. Runs on Ubuntu 22.04/24.04/26.04 and Debian 11+ (amd64 and arm64). Apps deploy with `git push`, and a long-lived plugin ecosystem adds Postgres, Redis, Let's Encrypt and more. Everything is driven from the `dokku` CLI over SSH, so it scripts well. ★~32.2k.","theCatch":"It is a single-host PaaS by design: no built-in multi-node scheduling or high availability, so one VM is one failure domain. There is no web dashboard in the core project; you work in the CLI. Database plugins are convenient, but you still own backups and upgrades on that box.","verdict":"The simplest self-hosted Heroku for one server — boring in the good way.","addedAt":"2026-10-18","featured":false,"domain":"DevOps","subSpecialty":"Infrastructure","subcategory":"Containers","tags":["self-host","permissive","containers","git","active"],"capabilities":[],"surfaces":["Self-host"],"ecosystem":["Multi-platform"],"licenseModel":"OSS/MIT","githubStars":32194,"starsPerWeek":46,"access":"free","archived":false,"repo":{"createdAt":"2013-06-08","pushedAt":"2026-10-16","license":"MIT","archived":false,"checkedAt":"2026-10-19"}},"related":[{"slug":"github-actions","name":"GitHub Actions","tagline":"CI/CD that lives where your code does"},{"slug":"docker","name":"Docker","tagline":"Container runtime that changed deployment"},{"slug":"kubernetes","name":"Kubernetes","tagline":"Container orchestration at scale"},{"slug":"pulumi","name":"Pulumi","tagline":"Infrastructure as code in real languages"},{"slug":"fly-io","name":"Fly.io","tagline":"Deploy apps to VMs close to your users"}],"links":{"self":"/api/gems/dokku","html":"/gems/dokku","markdown":"/gems/dokku.md","category":"/api/gems?category=devops","categoryPage":"/stacks/devops"}}