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Hosting

Free Heroku alternatives

Heroku (Platform as a service to deploy and run apps) is a commercial product. These 3 tools do the same job and are free to use or to self-host.
Short answer: the best free alternatives to Heroku are Coolify, Dokploy and CapRover. Heroku starts at $5/mo per dyno (Eco). Self-hosting is free; you pay only for the server (a small VPS is about $4–6/mo). Licenses and prices checked 2026-10-01.
  1. 1
    Coolify

    Open-source, self-hostable alternative to Heroku and Vercel

    Self-hosted Heroku/Netlify alternative on your own server.

    Open source (Apache-2.0) ·details

  2. 2
    Dokploy

    Open-source alternative to Heroku, Vercel, and Netlify.

    Self-hosted PaaS with Docker and Traefik.

    Source-available (Apache-2.0 with extra terms) ·▲ 19 upvotes on DevHunt · details

  3. 3
    CapRover

    Self-hosted PaaS to deploy apps on your own server

    Self-hosted PaaS; one-click apps on your own VPS.

    Open source (Apache-2.0 (core)) ·details

Want paid options too? See all Heroku alternatives or the full free alternatives list.

FAQ

Is there a free alternative to Heroku?+

Yes. Coolify, Dokploy and CapRover do the same job for free; Coolify and CapRover are open source.

What is the best open-source alternative to Heroku?+

Coolify and CapRover are open source. Coolify: Self-hosted Heroku/Netlify alternative on your own server.

Are these Heroku alternatives open source?+

Coolify and CapRover are under OSI-approved licenses. Dokploy (Apache-2.0 with extra terms) is source-available: free to self-host, with limits in the license.

Open source: OSI-approved license. Free to self-host: the code is public and free to run yourself, with limits in the license.