Coolify vs Dokploy: self-hosted Vercel alternatives

Updated 2026-10-25

Both cost $0 to self-host, so what you actually pay is the server, and that price stays the same whether you get 10,000 visits or 1,000,000. On Hetzner in the EU, the smallest server with the 2 GB of RAM both projects ask for is €11.99/month excl. VAT, against $20.00 for Vercel Pro at 100k visits. Pick Dokploy if you want Docker Swarm across servers. Pick Coolify if you want every feature free when self-hosted, or a $5 managed dashboard that covers two servers.

What you pay each month

Assumptions: one small web app plus a database on one server in Hetzner's EU locations (Germany or Finland), about 1.5 MB transferred per visit. At 100k visits that's about 150 GB, and at 1M visits about 1.5 TB, both well under the 20 TB of traffic Hetzner includes with EU servers.

Hetzner prices are monthly caps in EUR excluding VAT, from the Regular Performance page. Hetzner bills hourly and never charges more than the monthly cap. With the Cloud plans, the Coolify or Dokploy dashboard runs on their infrastructure, so your server only has to run your apps. Whether 1 GB is enough depends on your app, and builds are the usual problem (see below). The Vercel figure comes from our standard model and leaves out function CPU and memory beyond the included credit.

Where they actually differ

Server size. Coolify's install docs list 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM and 10 GB disk as the minimum, but also say budget users can start on 1 core and 1 GB and upgrade later. Dokploy asks for at least 2 GB RAM and 30 GB disk, because Docker builds eat resources and can freeze a smaller box. On Hetzner EU, that's the difference between CPX12 at €11.99 and CPX22 at €19.99 if you follow Coolify's minimum to the letter.

Managed dashboard pricing. Coolify Cloud is $5/month for 2 connected servers, plus $3 for each extra server, so 3 servers cost $8. Dokploy Cloud Hobby is $4.50 per server, so 3 servers cost $13.50, and the Hobby plan is 1 user with 1 backup per database. Dokploy's Startup plan starts at $15 for up to 3 servers, unlimited users and backups, and 2FA. Both offer yearly billing, and Dokploy's page lists 20% off for it.

Self-hosted features. Coolify says its self-hosted version has every feature with no restrictions: unlimited teams, members and servers. Dokploy's pricing page puts SSO, audit logs and fine-grained roles under Enterprise. It doesn't say which of the Startup extras (2FA, basic roles) the free self-hosted install includes, so check before you rely on them.

Multi-server. Dokploy is built on Docker Swarm and lists Swarm clusters and zero-downtime deployments. Coolify connects any number of servers and can use a separate build server.

Gotchas for both

• Create the admin account right after installing. Coolify warns that whoever reaches the registration page first becomes the admin, with root access to your server. Dokploy's setup page on port 3000 is open the same way until you claim it.
• Builds on the same small server can make it unresponsive. Coolify suggests watching resource use or building elsewhere, and Dokploy's 2 GB minimum exists for this reason.
• Traffic is cheap, but location matters: Hetzner includes at least 20 TB with EU servers, but only 1 TB with US servers and 0.5 TB in Singapore. Hetzner's US servers are also a different line with higher prices (CPX11, 2 vCPU / 2 GB, is €17.99).
• You patch the OS and back up your data yourself. On self-hosted Coolify, back up /data/coolify/source/.env, or you can't restore the encrypted settings.

Verdict

For one side project, the cheapest setup that follows each project's own minimum is Dokploy self-hosted on a €11.99 Hetzner CPX12. Coolify runs on the same server if you accept its "1 core to start" advice. Pick Coolify if you'll grow to 2 or 3 servers and want a managed dashboard ($5 covers two), or if you want every feature without a paid tier. Pick Dokploy if you want Swarm and a Docker Compose-first workflow. Both beat Vercel Pro on price once traffic is real, because the server price doesn't rise with bandwidth or requests. See also Vercel alternatives for Next.js and Render vs Railway if you'd rather not run a server.

Estimates only, checked 2026-10-25 against the official pricing pages and docs listed below. Prices exclude VAT and backups (a paid Hetzner add-on). The Hetzner page shows extra traffic at €1.00 per TB in the EU and US but also labels it "per hour", so the billing unit for overage is unclear.

Sources

• https://coolify.io/pricing/ (checked 2026-10-25)
• https://coolify.io/docs/get-started/installation (checked 2026-10-25)
• https://dokploy.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-25)
• https://docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/installation (checked 2026-10-25)
• https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/ (checked 2026-10-25)
• https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance (checked 2026-10-25)
• https://vercel.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-25)