Dokploy vs Tsuru
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosting platforms (paas) options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Dokploy
Open-source deployment platform for apps and databases
VS
Tsuru
Extensible open-source application platform
| Feature | Dokploy | Tsuru |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | Self-Hosting Platforms (PaaS) | Self-Hosting Platforms (PaaS) |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, one-click | kubernetes, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 37,466 | ★ 5,311 |
| First released | 2024 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Vercel, Heroku, Render | Heroku |
What are Dokploy and Tsuru?
Dokploy
Dokploy is a self-hostable platform-as-a-service that deploys applications and databases using Docker and Traefik. It offers a clean UI with previews, monitoring, and multi-server support.
- Docker-based app deploys
- Traefik routing built in
- Multi-server management
- Database backups
Tsuru
Tsuru is an open-source platform-as-a-service that manages the full application lifecycle across Docker and Kubernetes backends. It supports buildpacks, autoscaling, and a pluggable architecture.
- Full app lifecycle management
- Buildpack support
- Pluggable provisioners
- Autoscaling
Dokploy vs Tsuru: key differences
Dokploy is written in TypeScript, while Tsuru is built with Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Dokploy versus BSD-3-Clause for Tsuru. Tsuru is the more established project (first released 2012), while Dokploy arrived in 2024. Dokploy has the considerably larger community, at 37,466 GitHub stars versus 5,311.
Why pick each one
Choose Dokploy if…
- Clean intuitive UI
- Docker Compose support
- Multi-server management
Watch out for
- Relatively young project
- Wants a dedicated server
Choose Tsuru if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 5.3k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Dokploy or Tsuru better?
Dokploy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Tsuru if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Dokploy and Tsuru free and open-source?
Yes. Dokploy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Tsuru under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dokploy and Tsuru with Docker?
Dokploy: yes. Tsuru: yes.