Dokku vs Northflank
Dokku
dokku.comNorthflank
northflank.comSide by side
| Figure | Dokku | Northflank |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $2.70/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 6 |
| Spec score · Platform As A Service Paas Software | 8.3 (#5) | 8.9 (#2) |
| Spec score · Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) Software | 8.3 (#6) | 8.9 (#2) |
| Spec score · PaaS tools | 8.3 (#6) | 8.8 (#2) |
| Spec score · Deployment Automation Software | 8.3 (#12) | 8.8 (#2) |
| Integrations | Official plugins include PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, and Let's Encrypt. | Supported integrations include GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, self-hosted Git services, Docker Hub, GHCR, ECR, GAR and ACR. |
| Support | Dokku Pro includes email support from the maintainers. | Basic email support is included in all plans, while premium support offers dedicated Slack channels, video calls, faster response times, and service-level agreements with uptime guarantees. |
| System requirements | Dokku lists Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04, or 26.04 and Debian 11 or later on x64, with AMD64 or ARM64 architectures supported. | BYOC cloud harness environments require a supported microVM runtime installed on the cluster and nodes capable of running it. |
| What it does | Dokku is an extensible, open-source Platform as a Service that runs on a single server and builds and runs applications from a Git push. | Northflank is a developer platform for building, deploying and operating services, databases, jobs and GPU workloads on managed or customer-owned infrastructure. |
Plans
Northflank
- Pay-as-you-goFree
- SandboxFree
- nf-compute-10$2.70 a month
- nf-compute-50$12 a month
- nf-compute-100-2$24 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Dokku
Dokku is a self-hosted Platform as a Service for building and running applications from Git pushes on a server you choose. It can deploy applications with Heroku buildpacks, Dockerfiles, or Docker images, targeting a single server, Docker containers, or a K3s cluster. Dokku routes web processes, manages background processes and automated cron tasks, and supports deployment rollback and audit logs. Its plugin architecture allows users to add functionality, with official plugins for PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, and Let’s Encrypt. Per-application SSL/TLS certificate management is supported, and HTTPS responses have HSTS enabled by default. Dokku recommends SSH key authorization for pushes. The free open-source plan costs nothing. Dokku Pro costs $849, paid once and adds a web interface, JSON API, HTTP(S) app push, management tools, scaling, logs, team management, and email support.
Northflank
Northflank is a developer platform for building and running applications made up of microservices, databases, background jobs, and scheduled tasks. It handles container builds, networking, and orchestration, and offers managed Kubernetes across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Deployments can use Northflank infrastructure, cloud accounts from AWS, GCP, Azure, Oracle, or CoreWeave, or imported Kubernetes clusters, including bare-metal and on-premises environments. Git integrations include hosted and self-hosted services; the platform also supports container registries and observability tools. Teams can use its UI, CLI, REST API, GitOps, reusable templates, pipelines, and preview environments. Northflank says secrets and files are encrypted at rest with AES-256, secrets are injected at runtime, and managed-cloud workloads use isolation controls. It states that it is SOC 2 Type 2 and HIPAA compliant; ISO 27001/27018 is listed as unavailable. The free Sandbox includes two services, one database, and two cron jobs with always-on compute. A payment method is required before creating resources, including on the free plan. Basic email support is included in all plans.