Coolify
Open-source, self-hosted alternative to Heroku and Vercel with a web dashboard
Our verdict
Tied #1 of 4 in Self-hosted app deployment platforms · For teams that want every feature free
Pros
- Every feature is free in the self-hosted edition, single sign-on included
- Previews for GitHub, GitLab, Gitea and Bitbucket pull requests, deleted on merge or close
- Restores a database backup from S3 inside the dashboard
- Deployment alerts to six channels, including email, Discord, Slack and a webhook
Cons
- The documented minimum is 2 GB of RAM; smaller servers work but aren't recommended
- Copies of one app on several servers need a load balancer you set up yourself
- The build guides don't mention Heroku buildpacks
Who should skip:Teams that want one app spread over a cluster that routes traffic between servers by itself.
Rankings and alternatives
Self-hosted app deployment platforms scores
Evaluated Nov 7, 2026 Evidence ↓- Free web dashboard 5
5/5 means: A free dashboard that does all five.
The free dashboard deploys apps, changes their settings, shows runtime logs, opens a terminal in a running container and shows CPU and memory charts.
- Ways to build an app 4
4/5 means: Four of the five.
Builds from a Dockerfile, Docker Compose, or automatic detection with Nixpacks or Railpack, and runs prebuilt registry images. The build guides don't list Heroku buildpacks.
Rests partly on what the sources don't mention, which is a weaker signal than what they say.
- One-click app catalog 4
4/5 means: 300 to 499 apps.
The project lists more than 360 one-click services.
- Database backups 5
5/5 means: As 4, plus restoring a stored backup by picking it in the dashboard or naming it in one command, with no manual download.
Scheduled backups for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, ClickHouse and SQLite, uploaded to S3-compatible storage, and restored from S3 with Import backup on the database's Backups page.
- Running on several servers 4
4/5 means: One app deployed as copies on several servers from one installation, with traffic split by a load balancer you set up yourself.
One app can be deployed to several attached servers, but you add your own load balancer in front of them; the Docker Swarm option is deprecated and its guide tells you to move away from it.
- Pull request previews 5
5/5 means: Built in for pull requests on two or more Git hosts, and deleted automatically when the pull request is closed or merged.
Built-in preview deployments for pull and merge requests, deleted when the request is closed or merged, with GitHub, GitLab, Gitea and Bitbucket pull requests covered.
- Accounts and sign-in 5
5/5 means: As 4, plus single sign-on through an identity provider.
Team roles (Owner, Admin, Member), two-factor sign-in, and single sign-on through Authentik, Clerk, Zitadel or any OpenID Connect provider, all in the free self-hosted edition.
- Deployment alerts 4
4/5 means: Five to nine channels.
Deployment events can go to six channels (email, Discord, Telegram, Slack or Mattermost, Pushover and a webhook).
- Hardware needs 3
3/5 means: The documented minimum is 2 GB of memory (RAM) or more, even if the documentation says smaller servers can work.
The documented minimum is 2 CPU cores and 2 GB of RAM; 512 MB servers can work but are not recommended.
- License and paid features 5
5/5 means: A standard open source license, with every feature free.
Apache 2.0, and the free self-hosted edition has full access to all features.
Evidence and sources
Self-hosted app deployment platforms scores
Free web dashboard 5 quotes
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“The Coolify Web Terminal lets you open a shell for a connected server or running container from the dashboard.”
coolify.io/docs/core/infrastructure/servers/web-terminal · checked -
“Coolify displays resource history collected by Sentinel. The global Metrics page summarizes usage across your team's servers, each server has detailed charts, and supported applications and standalone databases have their own CPU and memory charts.”
coolify.io/docs/core/observability/monitoring/metrics · checked -
“Use the application sidebar to change the source, build, runtime, storage, health, resource limits, and other application settings.”
coolify.io/docs/applications/operations/overview · checked -
“Read stdout and stderr from the application's current containers.”
coolify.io/docs/applications/operations/overview · checked -
“Follow current and previous deployment operations, including source checkout, image build or pull, and container replacement.”
coolify.io/docs/applications/operations/overview · checked
Ways to build an app 2 quotes
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“Choose Nixpacks or Railpack when automatic detection is sufficient. Choose Dockerfile or Docker Compose when the repository must define the image or service topology explicitly.”
coolify.io/docs/applications/builds/overview · checked -
“Use Docker Image when a registry already contains the application image you want to deploy.”
coolify.io/docs/applications/deployments/docker-image · checked
One-click app catalog 1 quote
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“Deploy websites, databases, web applications and 360+ one-click services to your own server.”
coolify.io · checked
Database backups 2 quotes
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“Coolify can create scheduled, engine-aware database backups for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, ClickHouse, and SQLite. Each backup schedule creates a backup on the database's server, and can upload a copy to an S3-compatible storage provider.”
coolify.io/docs/databases/backups · checked -
“Open the Backups page of a running database and select Import backup to restore a backup from your computer, the database server, or S3 storage.”
coolify.io/docs/databases/restore · checked
Running on several servers 3 quotes
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“Attaching servers gives you multiple application instances, but it does not create a complete highly available system.”
coolify.io/docs/core/infrastructure/scaling/multi-server-deployments · checked -
“a load balancer with health checks”
coolify.io/docs/core/infrastructure/scaling/multi-server-deployments · checked -
“Plan the replacement before upgrading to Coolify v5. Record the application's image, environment variables, domains, health check, storage, networks, and placement requirements. Then deploy the application to standalone servers and place a load balancer in front of them.”
coolify.io/docs/core/infrastructure/scaling/docker-swarm · checked
Pull request previews 3 quotes
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“A preview deployment runs the code from a pull request or merge request separately from the production application.”
coolify.io/docs/applications/deployments/preview-deployments · checked -
“Coolify deletes an automatically created preview after its pull request or merge request is closed or merged.”
coolify.io/docs/applications/deployments/preview-deployments · checked -
“GitLab, Gitea, and Bitbucket pull requests from other repositories require public preview deployments to be enabled.”
coolify.io/docs/applications/deployments/preview-deployments · checked
Accounts and sign-in 5 quotes
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“Coolify assigns each person a role for each team they join. A person can be an Owner in one team and a Member or Admin in another.”
coolify.io/docs/core/team/roles-and-permissions · checked -
“Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds an authenticator-code challenge after a successful password, OAuth, or SSO sign-in.”
coolify.io/docs/core/security/authentication/2fa · checked -
“Single sign-on (SSO) lets an organization use its identity provider as the sign-in authority for a self-hosted Coolify instance. Coolify provides named integrations for Authentik, Clerk, and Zitadel under Settings > Authentication.”
coolify.io/docs/core/security/authentication/sso/overview · checked -
“Full access to all features”
coolify.io/pricing · checked -
“Use OpenID Connect for other OIDC providers.”
coolify.io/docs/core/security/authentication/sso/overview · checked
Deployment alerts 7 quotes
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“Coolify sends team notifications when selected deployment, backup, scheduled task, container, and server events occur.”
coolify.io/docs/core/notifications/overview · checked -
“Hosted email, system-wide transactional email, SMTP, or a Resend API key”
coolify.io/docs/core/notifications/overview · checked -
“A Discord webhook URL”
coolify.io/docs/core/notifications/overview · checked -
“A bot API token and chat ID”
coolify.io/docs/core/notifications/overview · checked -
“A Slack-compatible incoming webhook URL”
coolify.io/docs/core/notifications/overview · checked -
“A Pushover user key and application API token”
coolify.io/docs/core/notifications/overview · checked -
“An HTTP or HTTPS endpoint that accepts JSON POST requests”
coolify.io/docs/core/notifications/overview · checked
Show all 7
Hardware needs 2 quotes
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“Coolify needs 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, and 10 GB disk space to run.”
coolify.io/docs/get-started/installation · checked -
“Coolify can run on smaller servers (for example: 1 CPU core, 512 MB RAM, 4 GB disk), but this is not recommended.”
coolify.io/docs/get-started/installation · checked
License and paid features 2 quotes
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“Full access to all features”
coolify.io/pricing · checked -
“Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004”
github.com/coollabsio/coolify/blob/v4.x/LICENSE · checked
Facts
License 1 quote
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“Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004”
github.com/coollabsio/coolify/blob/v4.x/LICENSE · checked
Runs on 2 quotes
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“Coolify only runs on Linux-based operating systems. You may be able to run it on a non-Linux OS by using tools like Linux virtual machines.”
coolify.io/docs/get-started/installation · checked -
“ARM64 is required for Raspberry Pi OS installations.”
coolify.io/docs/get-started/installation · checked
Needs 1 quote
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“Coolify needs 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, and 10 GB disk space to run.”
coolify.io/docs/get-started/installation · checked
Notability
Users 3 quotes
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“4,050+ customers on Cloud”
coolify.io · checked -
“"pull_count":4445489”
hub.docker.com/v2/repositories/coollabsio/coolify · checked -
“529,214+ self-hosted instances”
coolify.io · checked
Other quotes
Not cited by a score or fact 2 quotes
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“tag_name: v4.6.0, published_at: 2026-11-02T16:01:18Z”
api.github.com/repos/coollabsio/coolify/releases/latest · checked -
“Requires 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS”
coolify.io/docs/get-started/installation · checked