Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Dokku VS OpenShift

Compare Dokku VS OpenShift and see what are their differences

Dokku logo Dokku

Docker powered mini-Heroku in around 100 lines of Bash

OpenShift logo OpenShift

OpenShift gives you all the tools you need to develop, host and scale your apps in the public or private cloud. Get started today.
  • Dokku Homepage
    Homepage //
    2024-08-26
  • Dokku Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-24
  • OpenShift Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-15

Dokku features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Dokku provides simple commands and clear documentation, making it straightforward to deploy, manage, and scale applications using a process similar to Heroku.
  • Heroku Compatibility
    Dokku uses a Heroku-like buildpack system, which allows users to deploy applications with ease if they are already familiar with Heroku.
  • Cost-Effective
    Being an open-source project, Dokku itself is free to use, which can significantly reduce the cost of deploying applications compared to using premium services.
  • Customizability
    As an open-source tool, Dokku allows for extensive customization according to user needs, offering flexibility in deployment settings and configurations.
  • Plugin System
    Dokku supports a wide range of plugins, enabling users to extend its functionality easily, such as adding database support, monitoring capabilities, and more.

Possible disadvantages of Dokku

  • Initial Setup Complexity
    Setting up Dokku for the first time might be challenging, especially for users with limited experience in server management and Linux administration.
  • Limited Built-In Features
    Compared to fully-managed PaaS solutions, Dokku has fewer built-in features, potentially requiring more effort to implement certain functionalities such as load balancing and extensive monitoring.
  • Scalability Challenges
    While Dokku supports basic scaling, it might not handle extensive scaling needs as efficiently as more robust enterprise-level solutions.
  • Resource Management
    Dokku's resource management capabilities are limited compared to dedicated orchestration tools like Kubernetes, making it less suitable for complex and large-scale application deployments.
  • Community Support
    Even though Dokku has a growing community, it is not as large or as active as some of the more popular platforms, which can limit the availability of community-driven support and resources.

OpenShift features and specs

  • Comprehensive Platform
    OpenShift provides a complete Kubernetes-based container platform, including a strong set of integrated tools such as CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, and logging, which simplifies the development and deployment of applications.
  • Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Support
    OpenShift supports hybrid and multi-cloud deployments, enabling organizations to build, deploy, and manage applications across on-premises infrastructure and multiple cloud providers.
  • Enterprise-grade Security
    It offers robust security features, including role-based access control (RBAC), built-in authentication and authorization, and integrated vulnerability scanning, ensuring secure application development and deployment.
  • Developer Productivity
    OpenShift boosts developer productivity with features like source-to-image (S2I) builds, self-service environments, and a rich catalog of pre-configured application templates and runtimes.
  • Scalability and High Availability
    It is designed to scale applications seamlessly and ensure high availability with automated horizontal pod scaling, load balancing, and failover capabilities.

Possible disadvantages of OpenShift

  • Complexity
    The comprehensive nature of OpenShift can lead to increased complexity, particularly for small teams or organizations without prior Kubernetes or container orchestration experience.
  • Cost
    Enterprise-grade features come with significant licensing costs, which might be a barrier for startups and small to medium-sized enterprises.
  • Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive range of features and integrations, there can be a steep learning curve for administrators and developers new to the platform.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    While OpenShift supports hybrid and multi-cloud environments, there can be concerns about vendor lock-in due to the level of customization and proprietary features specific to Red Hat's implementation.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running OpenShift efficiently requires substantial computational resources and infrastructure, which might be challenging for organizations with limited IT resources.

Analysis of Dokku

Overall verdict

  • Dokku is a solid option for teams or developers looking for a cost-effective way to deploy and manage applications with the flexibility of a self-hosted solution. While it might not be as polished or feature-rich as commercial PaaS providers like Heroku or AWS Elastic Beanstalk, its open-source nature and community support make it a reliable choice for those who are comfortable with a bit more hands-on management.

Why this product is good

  • Dokku is often hailed as a self-hosted Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution, which is based on Docker. It simplifies the deployment process by allowing developers to manage applications similar to how they would on Heroku, but with more control and flexibility. Dokku is lightweight, can be scaled easily, and integrates well with various databases and programming languages. It is also open-source and can be installed on any server that supports Docker, making it a cost-effective solution for many projects.

Recommended for

  • Small to medium-sized projects
  • Developers who prefer open-source solutions
  • Teams looking for a Heroku-like experience on their own infrastructure
  • Cost-conscious developers or startups
  • Technical users who are comfortable managing their server environment

Analysis of OpenShift

Overall verdict

  • OpenShift is considered a good choice, especially for enterprises looking for a robust, scalable, and secure platform for deploying applications at scale. Its integration of Kubernetes with additional developer tools makes it an excellent option for facilitating DevOps practices.

Why this product is good

  • OpenShift is a solid platform as it combines containers and Kubernetes with developer-centric tools to accelerate application development and deployment. It offers built-in CI/CD, security features, and extensive scalability options. The platform ensures consistency across hybrid environments, which simplifies the management of containerized applications.

Recommended for

  • Organizations seeking a comprehensive platform for container orchestration.
  • Development teams focused on improving their CI/CD pipelines.
  • Enterprises adopting hybrid or multi-cloud strategies.
  • Teams that require robust security and compliance features.
  • Businesses aiming for rapid application development and deployment.

Dokku videos

00028 Creating Your Own PaaS with Dokku

More videos:

  • Review - Dokku - An open source PAAS alternative to Heroku. You could save $$$ money!
  • Review - Rise Up and Deploy Your Own Heroku-like Service with Dokku in Minutes! #webdevelopment #tutorial

OpenShift videos

OpenShift Container Platform by RedHat | Kubernetes Made Easy | Tech Primers

More videos:

  • Review - Open Source PaaS - OpenShift Review Part 1
  • Review - Red Hat OpenShift overview

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Dokku and OpenShift)
Cloud Computing
54 54%
46% 46
Cloud Hosting
57 57%
43% 43
Backend As A Service
100 100%
0% 0
DevOps Tools
47 47%
53% 53

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Dokku and OpenShift

Dokku Reviews

35+ Of The Best CI/CD Tools: Organized By Category
Dokku is a great alternative if you’re working with a stringent budget. It’s a miniaturized self-hosted platform as a service. You can deploy applications to it using Git. Because it’s a Heroku derivative, it’s compatible with Heroku apps.
Heroku vs self-hosted PaaS
CapRover is in many ways similar to Dokku. It uses Docker for deployment just like Dokku but CapRover does not support buildpack deployments as it uses Dockerfiles only. This is not necessarily a bad thing since Dockerfile deployments are great in Dokku as well. You don’t have to write your own dockerfiles however for simple deployments as there are multiple defaults for...
Source: www.mskog.com

OpenShift Reviews

Kubernetes Alternatives 2023: Top 8 Container Orchestration Tools
OpenShift is another container orchestration alternative for Kubernetes. It is a PaaS developed by Red Hat as a hybrid, enterprise-scale platform with extended Kubernetes capabilities for container orchestration. With a Linux OS, OpenShift helps you securely automate and scale the entire lifecycle of containerized applications. That means you can virtualize every host and...
OpenShift alternatives
The OpenShift platform was released by Red Hat – the maker of the professional Linux distribution “Red Hat Enterprise Linux” (RHEL). The OpenShift alternative “Rancher” has now been taken over by the traditional Linux provider SUSE. “Canonical Kubernetes”, is another OpenShift alternative from an established Linux provider. Read on to find out more about these and other...
Source: www.ionos.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Dokku seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 21 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Dokku mentions (21)

  • Show HN: Wiederhol – GitHub for Checklists
    Android users can install https://wiederhol.com/ as a PWA (Progressive Web Application). Tech stack: Ruby on Rails, React, PostgreSQL, https://dokku.com/ for hosting on Hetzner, https://pwabuilder.com for the iOS app. PS: Wiederhol means 'repeat' (imperative verb form) in German. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Self-Hosting like it's 2025
    I am going to continue to stan for dokku for hosting web apps, docker images included https://dokku.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Deploy a NestJS Application with Dokku
    In this article, we will deploy a NestJS application using Dokku (https://dokku.com). - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Hosting your own PaaS: Open-Source Tools to Help You Exit the Cloud!
    # download the installation script Wget -NP . https://dokku.com/bootstrap.sh # run the installer Sudo DOKKU_TAG=v0.35.10 bash bootstrap.sh # configure your server domain Dokku domains:set-global your-domain.com # add your ssh key to the dokku user PUBLIC_KEY="your-public-key-contents-here" Echo "$PUBLIC_KEY" | dokku ssh-keys:add admin # create your first app Dokku apps:create test-app. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Stop Paying Vercel: Self-Host Unlimited NextJS Apps for $19/month
    Use GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Dokku or any CI/CD tool you prefer. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
View more

OpenShift mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of OpenShift yet. Tracking of OpenShift recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Dokku and OpenShift, you can also consider the following products

Google App Engine - A powerful platform to build web and mobile apps that scale automatically.

Salesforce Platform - Salesforce Platform is a comprehensive PaaS solution that paves the way for the developers to test, build, and mitigate the issues in the cloud application before the final deployment.

Google Cloud Functions - A serverless platform for building event-based microservices.

Heroku - Agile deployment platform for Ruby, Node.js, Clojure, Java, Python, and Scala. Setup takes only minutes and deploys are instant through git. Leave tedious server maintenance to Heroku and focus on your code.

AWS Lambda - Automatic, event-driven compute service

Microsoft Azure - Windows Azure and SQL Azure enable you to build, host and scale applications in Microsoft datacenters.