# Kamal

> Deploy Docker containers to your own VMs with one CLI

**Category:** DevOps  
**Pricing:** open-source  
**URL:** https://kamal-deploy.org  
**GitHub:** https://github.com/basecamp/kamal  
**Added:** 2026-09-03

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## The Hook

Kamal is Capistrano for Docker, from the people who still run their own hardware.

## What's Good

MIT (MIT-LICENSE). kamal setup / kamal deploy from a laptop to a VM. Traefik or Kamal Proxy, accessories, secrets, rolling deploys. You keep the servers; you skip Kubernetes. Built at 37signals for HEY and Basecamp.

## The Catch

You still run Docker hosts. This is not a PaaS. Networking, disks, and what-if-the-VM-dies remain your problem. Kamal 2 changed proxy defaults — read the current docs, not a 2024 blog post.

## Verdict

The honest alternative to a PaaS when you already have VMs.