Open-source AWS App Runner alternatives

Coolify is an open-source, self-hostable alternative to Heroku, Vercel and Netlify. It manages servers, applications and databases on hardware you control, and the only requirement is SSH access, so a VPS, a bare-metal machine or even a Raspberry Pi can serve as a target. Your configuration stays on your own servers, and if you stop using Coolify the resources it deployed keep running.

Applications can be built from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket or Gitea using Nixpacks, Railpack, a Dockerfile, Docker Compose or a prebuilt image. Hundreds of one-click services and managed-style databases come with persistent storage and generated credentials. Deployments can run on every push, create pull-request previews, call webhooks and roll back to retained images. Custom domains, automatic HTTPS, reverse proxies and health checks cover networking, while logs, container terminals and resource monitoring help with operations.

Backups, scheduled tasks, secrets, environment variables and notifications are built in, and resources can be managed through the dashboard, an API, a CLI or MCP, with team-based access controls. Coolify is Apache-2.0 licensed and built mainly with PHP; a hosted Coolify Cloud option exists for people who prefer not to run the control plane themselves.

Dokploy is an open-source, self-hostable platform as a service that simplifies deploying and managing applications and databases. It is positioned as an alternative to Heroku, Vercel and Netlify, and it runs on a VPS you control, installed with a single command.

It can deploy apps in languages such as Node.js, PHP, Python, Go and Ruby, create and manage MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, libsql and Redis databases, and schedule database backups to external storage. Docker Compose is supported natively, and multiple nodes can be clustered with Docker Swarm or managed as remote servers. One-click templates cover open-source apps such as Plausible, PocketBase and Cal.com, Traefik handles routing and load balancing, and live monitoring shows CPU, memory, storage and network usage per resource.

A CLI and API allow automation, and notifications about deploy success or failure can go to Slack, Discord, Telegram or email. The license is listed as 'Other', so check the repository terms before redistribution. For people who want to skip installation there is a hosted Dokploy Cloud.

Dokku is a Docker-powered platform as a service that you install on your own server. It is billed as the smallest PaaS implementation around and as an open-source alternative to Heroku, helping you build and manage the full lifecycle of applications, from building them to scaling them.

Installation uses a bootstrap script that you run on a fresh server, after which you set a global domain and add your SSH key to the dokku user, then create apps and deploy to them. Topics refer to buildpack-based builds, containers, and scheduler support for Docker, Kubernetes and Nomad. The project has documentation, a blog, community chat on Discord, Slack and IRC, GitHub Discussions, and a Pro offering listed on the site.

Dokku is MIT licensed and written in Go and shell, with sponsors and backers supporting its development. It suits developers who like the Heroku workflow but want to run it on their own VPS for less cost or more control.

CapRover is a deployment platform and web server manager that you install on your own server. It lets you run applications written in NodeJS, Python, PHP, ASP.NET, Ruby and Go, as well as databases like MariaDB, MySQL, MongoDB and Postgres, and apps such as WordPress, without needing deep Docker or nginx knowledge. It is often called a Heroku alternative.

Under the hood it uses Docker Swarm for containerization and clustering, nginx with a customizable template for load balancing, Let's Encrypt for free HTTPS certificates, and NetData for monitoring. You work through a web GUI for convenience or a CLI for automation and scripting. The project emphasizes that there is no lock-in: if you remove CapRover, your apps keep working. It targets developers who do not want to spend days setting up servers, builds, certificates and proxy configuration.

CapRover is written in TypeScript on Node.js, and its license is listed as 'Other' on GitHub, so confirm the terms. It is self-hosted software with no vendor service involved, and it suits small teams and solo developers running several apps on their own VPS.

Kamal is a deployment tool for web applications that can run anywhere, from bare metal servers to cloud virtual machines. It uses a proxy component called kamal-proxy to switch requests between containers without downtime, and it works across multiple servers by running commands over SSH using SSHKit.

Originally built for Rails applications, Kamal works with any web app that can be packaged in a Docker container. Documentation on installation, configuration and commands is on kamal-deploy.org, and the documentation itself lives in a separate repository where improvements are welcome.

Kamal is written in Ruby, developed by Basecamp, and released under the MIT license. Because it deploys to servers you control, it suits teams who want a simple alternative to hosted platforms while still getting rolling, zero-downtime releases.

Kubero, pronounced Kube Hero, is a self-hosted platform as a service that lets developers deploy applications on Kubernetes without specialized knowledge. It follows the twelve-factor app principles and can run applications from existing containers or from source code. It is presented as a free alternative to Heroku, Vercel and Netlify, and the tagline also compares it with Coolify, Dokku and Portainer.

Features listed in the README include Docker deployments on Kubernetes without Helm charts, more than 160 app templates for popular software such as WordPress and Grafana, and CI/CD pipelines with several staging environments. It runs as a Kubernetes operator with a web interface, and topics mention GitOps and internal developer platforms. A demo instance and a video walkthrough are available.

Kubero is written in TypeScript and licensed under GPL-3.0. You run it on your own Kubernetes cluster. It suits small teams and developers who want push-to-deploy convenience on infrastructure they own.

ZaneOps is an open-source, self-hosted platform for deploying and managing applications on your own servers. It can host static sites, web apps, databases, workers and prepackaged services such as Supabase, WordPress or Ghost, and it is positioned as a free alternative to Heroku, Railway and Render.

Under the hood it uses Docker Swarm for scalability and Caddy for routing, and it presents a dashboard with onboarding, project views, HTTP logs and runtime logs. Projects group related services together, and the documentation covers installation steps and further setup. The project says it was inspired by Plane for its contribution guidelines and by Coolify and Dokploy as other self-hosted deployment tools.

ZaneOps is written in Python, and its licence is listed as other, so review the repository terms before relying on it. It is installed on a server you control, with a milestone-based public roadmap. It suits solo developers, startups and teams that want a Heroku-style workflow without paying for a managed PaaS or giving up control of their infrastructure.

SwiftWave is an open-source platform as a service that you run on your own server. It lets you deploy and manage applications on a bare-metal machine, a Raspberry Pi or any VPS, giving a Heroku-like workflow without relying on a managed platform.

The project positions itself as an open-source alternative to Heroku, Netlify and Render. It uses Docker, with Swarm mode among its topics, and is described as lightweight. SwiftWave and its dependencies support AMD64, ARM64 and ARMv7 architectures and run on Debian, Ubuntu, Raspbian, Fedora, CentOS, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux and similar distributions.

It can be installed on providers such as Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS or GCP following the guide on swiftwave.org, and it is released under the Apache-2.0 license. The team runs a community Slack channel and accepts sponsorship through GitHub Sponsors.

Epinio is an opinionated platform that runs on Kubernetes and takes developers from code to a URL in one step. It exists because Kubernetes has a steep learning curve and operating it well can be a full-time job, while developers would rather spend time on their applications; Epinio adds abstractions and tools so Kubernetes can be used like a PaaS.

The goals are that no Kubernetes experience is needed, there is no steep learning curve, local setup is quick with minimal configuration, and deploying to production works the same as deploying in development. It requires a Kubernetes cluster with an Ingress Controller and cert-manager, after which installation is a short step. The Epinio CLI is installed from a release binary or Homebrew, and a quick-start tutorial walks through creating a namespace and pushing an application. Security features include a TLS-secured API server and basic authentication.

Epinio is written in Go, licensed under Apache-2.0, documented at docs.epinio.io and discussed on the Rancher Users Slack. You run it on your own cluster.