What this comparison adds
The site's Coolify page says what a server for Coolify needs; this page sets Coolify next to Dokploy and CapRover on six criteria read from each project's own documentation, LICENSE file and pricing page, and says when each one fits. No other page on the site compares them.
The comparison
Each cell links to the page it was read from and shows the day it was read; a cell older than the refresh window is marked stale.
| Provider | Install and requirements | Build methods | Multiple servers | Databases and backups | License | Managed offering |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coolify | Official install script for Linux. Documented minimum: 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, 10 GB free disk space. | Nixpacks, Railpack (beta), Static, Dockerfile and Docker Compose; Docker Image apps deploy a prebuilt registry image. | Deploys one app image to multiple connected servers; traffic needs an external load balancer. Docker Swarm support is deprecated. | Scheduled backups for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, ClickHouse and SQLite, with optional upload to S3-compatible storage. | Apache License 2.0. | Coolify Cloud: from $5/month (USD) base incl. 2 servers, +$3/month per additional server; you bring your own servers. |
| Dokploy | Official install script for Linux. Documented: at least 2 GB RAM and 30 GB disk; CPU not stated. | Build types: Dockerfile, Nixpacks, Heroku and Paketo buildpacks; Docker image as a source; Docker Compose as a separate deploy type. | Remote servers over SSH (deployment and build servers) and a Docker Swarm cluster mode with worker and manager nodes. | Deploys Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB and Redis; automated database backups are stored in a configured S3 destination. | Apache License 2.0, except content under a /proprietary directory, which falls under LICENSE_PROPRIETARY. | Dokploy Cloud: Hobby plan $4.50/month (USD) per server, billed monthly; Startup plan from $15/month. |
| CapRover | Runs as a Docker container (docker run … caprover/caprover) on a server with Docker. Docs: 512 MB RAM may not suffice; CPU/disk not stated. | Via a captain-definition file: Dockerfile (path or inline), node/php/python-django/ruby-rack templates, or a prebuilt imageName. | Uses Docker Swarm; extra nodes join as worker or manager via the Cluster UI or docker swarm join, and app instances spread across nodes. | Scheduled database backups: not published. The experimental instance backup is a manual tar download that excludes images and volumes. | Apache License 2.0. | None published; the official site presents CapRover as free and self-hosted, with no pricing page. |
When to choose each
Reasoned from the cells above. Each fits a different situation; none is better in general.
- Choose Coolify
- Choose Coolify when you want Nixpacks, Railpack or Docker Compose builds, scheduled backups for several database engines with S3 upload, and an optional managed control plane priced from $5/month. Its Docker Swarm support is deprecated, so multi-server use relies on an external load balancer.
- Choose Dokploy
- Choose Dokploy when you need Heroku or Paketo buildpacks alongside Dockerfile and Nixpacks, want both standalone remote servers and a Docker Swarm cluster mode, and prefer per-server cloud pricing ($4.50/month). Note the license carve-out for any /proprietary directory.
- Choose CapRover
- Choose CapRover when you want to run the platform as a single Docker container, scale app instances across a Docker Swarm cluster, and build from a captain-definition file or Dockerfile, and you plan to handle database backups with your own tooling, since no scheduled backup is documented.
How to read the columns
- Install and requirements
- How the platform is installed on a server, and the minimum CPU, memory and disk the project publishes.
- Build methods
- How an app gets from source to a running container: a Dockerfile, Nixpacks or buildpacks, a Compose file, or a prebuilt image.
- Multiple servers
- Whether one installation can deploy to more than one server, and how (remote servers, Docker Swarm).
- Databases and backups
- Whether databases are deployed from the platform, and whether it backs them up on a schedule and where to.
- License
- The license of the project, as its LICENSE file states it.
- Managed offering
- Whether the project itself offers a hosted version, and its starting price as the pricing page lists it.
Method
The tools and the criteria were chosen in a content decision (#2929, 18 Oct 2026): tools that do the same job, each with public documentation, compared on what a choice between them turns on.
Each cell was read by hand from the project's own documentation, repository or pricing page, and keeps that page and the day it was read. Where a project publishes nothing on a criterion, the cell says what it does instead and cites the page that was checked. A cell is stale 90 days after it was read.
The tools keep a fixed order and no column is a score. This page runs no benchmark and names no winner; ANAROQ is never one of the sides, and nobody pays for a place.
Limits
- Features change between releases: the cell's date says when it was true, and the project's page is authoritative.
- A few criteria, not every difference: the columns are what a choice usually turns on, not a full feature list.
- No benchmark: performance, resource use and reliability were not measured.
Use it on the site
Sources
Every page a cell was read from, with the day it was read.
- Coolify coolify.io
- Coolify coolify.io
- Coolify coolify.io
- Coolify coolify.io
- Coolify raw.githubusercontent.com
- Coolify coolify.io
- Dokploy docs.dokploy.com
- Dokploy docs.dokploy.com
- Dokploy docs.dokploy.com
- Dokploy docs.dokploy.com
- Dokploy raw.githubusercontent.com
- Dokploy dokploy.com
- CapRover caprover.com
- CapRover caprover.com
- CapRover caprover.com
- CapRover caprover.com
- CapRover raw.githubusercontent.com
- CapRover caprover.com