What is Sidekick used for?

Sidekick is a command-line tool that sets up a VPS with Docker and Traefik and deploys apps with zero-downtime releases, like a self-hosted Fly.io. It is a good fit for hosting side projects on a cheap VPS, replacing Heroku or Fly.io for small apps and deploying Docker apps with zero downtime.

Is Sidekick open source?

Yes. Sidekick is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at MightyMoud/sidekick and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. Sidekick is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

What is Sidekick an alternative to?

Sidekick is an open-source alternative to Heroku and Fly.io. Other open-source alternatives to Heroku include Dokku, Coolify and Dokploy.

Is Sidekick actively maintained?

The most recent commit to Sidekick was on 3 February 2026, and the latest release is v0.6.6, published on 24 October 2024. The project has 7.6k stars on GitHub.

Sidekick: open-source alternative to Heroku, Fly.io

About Sidekick

Sidekick is a CLI that turns a plain Ubuntu VPS into a simple platform for deploying applications. The author describes it as having Fly.io on your own server, aimed at developers who are tired of the complexity and cost of hosting side projects and prefer a cheap virtual machine they control.

A single command prepares the VPS, installing Docker, Traefik, SOPS and age, and further commands deploy any application that has a Dockerfile. Features include zero-downtime deployment, high availability and load balancing, automatic SSL certificates, support for connecting domains or using sslip.io out of the box, and built-in integration with SOPS for encrypted secrets. All you need is an Ubuntu server with a public IP address and an SSH key.

Sidekick is written in Go and licensed under GPL-3.0, and it is installed through Homebrew, which it also uses to install SOPS locally. Setup takes a couple of minutes according to the README. It is positioned as a Heroku-style alternative without vendor lock-in, so it suits solo developers and small teams hosting several web apps on one server.

Key features

One-command VPS setup
Deploy any app from a Dockerfile
Zero-downtime deployments
Automatic SSL certificates via Traefik
Domain connection or sslip.io addresses
SOPS integration for encrypted secrets

Good fit for

→Hosting side projects on a cheap VPS
→Replacing Heroku or Fly.io for small apps
→Deploying Docker apps with zero downtime

Built with: Go
Tags: deployment; vps; self-hosted; docker; traefik; paas; zero-downtime; go; heroku-alternative

Sidekick: questions and answers

What is Sidekick used for?: Sidekick is a command-line tool that sets up a VPS with Docker and Traefik and deploys apps with zero-downtime releases, like a self-hosted Fly.io. It is a good fit for hosting side projects on a cheap VPS, replacing Heroku or Fly.io for small apps and deploying Docker apps with zero downtime.
Is Sidekick open source?: Yes. Sidekick is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at MightyMoud/sidekick and is written mainly in Go.
Is Sidekick free?: Yes. Sidekick is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
What is Sidekick an alternative to?: Sidekick is an open-source alternative to Heroku and Fly.io. Other open-source alternatives to Heroku include Dokku, Coolify and Dokploy.
Is Sidekick actively maintained?: The most recent commit to Sidekick was on 3 February 2026, and the latest release is v0.6.6, published on 24 October 2024. The project has 7.6k stars on GitHub.