Dokku vs Zeabur

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.

Zeabur describes itself as an AI DevOps engineer that handles deployments. It can deploy projects from GitHub, templates, Dockerfiles, Docker images, and local uploads; pushes to GitHub can trigger automatic deployment of updated code. Users can purchase VPS servers from listed cloud providers or manage servers they already own. Zeabur also offers domain registration and automatic DNS configuration, plus custom-domain email with API sending and receiving and delivery monitoring.

Developer tools include a GraphQL API, CLI, and REST endpoints for certain operations, including email. An MCP server lets compatible AI applications such as Claude Desktop or Cursor manage and deploy projects. The listed InsForge integration provides PostgreSQL, JWT authentication, S3-compatible storage, serverless edge functions, and MCP support, with separate pay-as-you-go billing. The Free plan includes one manageable own server, 2C4G build CI, 48-hour log retention, and 50 MB single-file uploads. Dev costs $5 a month after its first 14 days free; Pro costs $19 a month after the same period. Zeabur says it is pursuing SOC 2 Type II certification and encrypts customer connections with TLS 1.2 or higher.