What is Sealos used for?

Sealos is an open-source, Kubernetes-based cloud operating system for developing, deploying and running apps, databases and cloud IDEs. It is a good fit for running a private cloud platform on Kubernetes, and deploying SaaS and AI apps without hand-written YAML.

Is Sealos open source?

Yes. Sealos is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at labring/sealos and is written mainly in TypeScript.

Yes. Sealos is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. A managed cloud version is also available, with paid plans from $34 per month.

Can I self-host Sealos?

Yes. Sealos can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Sealos an alternative to?

Sealos is an open-source alternative to Heroku, Vercel, Railway and Northflank. Other open-source alternatives to Heroku include Dokploy, Coolify and ZaneOps.

Is Sealos actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Sealos was on 30 September 2026, and the latest release is v5.1.1, published on 17 November 2025. The project has 18k stars on GitHub.

Sealos: open-source alternative to Heroku, Vercel, Railway

About Sealos

Sealos describes itself as an AI-native cloud operating system built on Kubernetes. It aims to cover the whole application lifecycle in one platform, from development in cloud IDEs to production deployment and day-to-day management, and it targets teams building AI applications, SaaS platforms, managed databases and microservice architectures.

Core pieces include Devbox cloud development environments that can be opened from editors such as VS Code and Cursor, managed MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB and Redis databases, S3-compatible object storage, and an App Launchpad for deploying Docker images. An app store offers one-click deployment of larger applications, and workspace-based multi-tenancy supports enterprise use. Full Kubernetes remains accessible underneath.

Sealos is written mainly in TypeScript and Go and runs on Kubernetes. Repository topics point to cluster installation features such as high-availability Kubernetes through kubeadm, and the project offers a hosted cloud at sealos.io. The repository lists the license as 'Other', so check the license file for the exact terms.

Key features

Cloud IDE environments through Devbox
Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis
S3-compatible object storage
App store with one-click deployment
Docker image deployment via App Launchpad
Workspace-based multi-tenancy

Good fit for

→Running a private cloud platform on Kubernetes
→Deploying SaaS and AI apps without hand-written YAML

Built with: TypeScript; Kubernetes; Go; Docker
Tags: kubernetes; cloud-os; paas; devbox; databases; containers; deployment; golang

Sealos: questions and answers

What is Sealos used for?: Sealos is an open-source, Kubernetes-based cloud operating system for developing, deploying and running apps, databases and cloud IDEs. It is a good fit for running a private cloud platform on Kubernetes, and deploying SaaS and AI apps without hand-written YAML.
Is Sealos open source?: Yes. Sealos is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at labring/sealos and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is Sealos free?: Yes. Sealos is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. A managed cloud version is also available, with paid plans from $34 per month.
Can I self-host Sealos?: Yes. Sealos can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Sealos an alternative to?: Sealos is an open-source alternative to Heroku, Vercel, Railway and Northflank. Other open-source alternatives to Heroku include Dokploy, Coolify and ZaneOps.
Is Sealos actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Sealos was on 30 September 2026, and the latest release is v5.1.1, published on 17 November 2025. The project has 18k stars on GitHub.