Alternatives to CapRover
One-click apps on your own VPS
CapRover ranks #2 of 11 in Self-hosted PaaS, with an Alt Score of 86. It is licensed under Apache-2.0, free from Free and available on the web. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Developers and small teams who want to deploy their own apps and databases without paying for Heroku-style hosting or hand-rolling Docker, nginx, and SSL setups on a VPS.
A web dashboard for deploying apps from Git, Docker images, or the CLI, with automatic free SSL via Let's Encrypt. One-click installs for common databases and apps like MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and WordPress. Support for any language or framework that can run in a container, plus a marketplace of one-click apps.
CapRover runs on your own server (any VPS or bare metal) as a Docker Swarm-based orchestrator with an nginx reverse proxy in front. You install a small agent on the server, then push code or trigger deploys from the web UI, CLI, or Git webhooks, and CapRover builds the Docker image, routes traffic, and provisions SSL automatically.
Where CapRover stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave CapRover
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
SwiftWave is an open-source (Apache-2.0), self-hosted PaaS for deploying applications from Git repos, Docker images, or uploaded source to bare metal, Raspberry Pi, or any VPS.
Easypanel is a self-hosted server control panel built on Docker that lets you deploy apps from a Dockerfile, Git repo, or Heroku buildpacks with a web UI.
Kubero is an open-source PaaS that runs natively on Kubernetes, letting developers deploy from Git without writing Helm charts or YAML by hand.
Cloud Foundry is a long-running open-source PaaS (backed by the Linux Foundation's Cloud Foundry Foundation) that gives enterprises a self-hosted 'cf push' deployment workflow with buildpacks, multi-t.
Tsuru is an open-source, extensible PaaS originally built and open-sourced by Globo.com, offering CLI source-code deploys, buildpack-based builds, and a pluggable router/backend architecture on top of.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Self-hosted PaaS checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Self-hosted PaaS checklist | CapRover | SwiftWave | Coolify | Dokploy | Easypanel | Kubero |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| One-click app catalog | ||||||
| Git push deploys | ||||||
| Docker Compose support | ||||||
| Automatic SSL | ||||||
| Backups built in | ||||||
| Multi-server support | ||||||
| Web UI quality | ||||||
| Resource usage | ||||||
| Database provisioning | ||||||
| Zero-downtime deploys |
Every fact and feature listed for CapRover is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License Apache-2.0 verified 2026-07-08
License")"
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/caprover/caprover/master/LICENSE -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-08
License")"
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/caprover/caprover/master/LICENSE -
Starts at Free verified 2026-07-08
License")"
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/caprover/caprover/master/LICENSE -
Platforms Web verified 2026-07-08
Browser-based dashboard accessible at http://[IP]:3000
https://caprover.com/docs/get-started.html -
Status active verified 2026-07-08
Tested on Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04
https://caprover.com/docs/get-started.html -
One-click app catalog Yes verified 2026-07-08
CapRover has built-in support for several popular apps that can be deployed as is.
https://caprover.com/docs/one-click-apps.html -
Git push deploys Yes verified 2026-07-08
This method automatically triggers a build with a `captain-definiton` file when you push your repo to a specific branch
https://caprover.com/docs/deployment-methods.html -
Docker Compose support Partial verified 2026-07-08
The built-in parser does not support all fields that are available in docker compose. It only supports: `image`, `environment`, `ports`, `volumes`, `depends_on`, and `hostname`
https://caprover.com/docs/docker-compose.html -
Automatic SSL Yes verified 2026-07-08
CapRover automates SSL certificate management through Let's Encrypt integration
https://caprover.com/docs/troubleshooting.html -
Backups built in Partial verified 2026-07-08
Backup/Restore feature is still in experimental stage. More changes to come in the future.
https://caprover.com/docs/backup-and-restore.html -
Multi-server support Yes verified 2026-07-08
CapRover uses Docker Swarm under the hood. It provides an option to use CapRover UI to set up a cluster of nodes.
https://caprover.com/docs/app-scaling-and-cluster.html -
Web UI quality Yes verified 2026-07-08
Browser-based dashboard accessible at http://[IP]:3000
https://caprover.com/docs/get-started.html -
Resource usage Yes verified 2026-07-08
You can enable NetData which is a server monitoring tool and monitor your server.
https://caprover.com/docs/resource-monitoring.html -
Database provisioning Yes verified 2026-07-08
MongoDB, MongoExpress, MsSQL, MySQL, Redis, PhpMyAdmin, PostgreSQL, Adminer, Apache CouchDB, Gitea, ElasticSearch
https://caprover.com/docs/one-click-apps.html -
Zero-downtime deploys Partial verified 2026-07-08
CapRover's default behavior, with Docker Swarm, will wait for the new container to pass its health check before routing traffic to it.
https://caprover.com/docs/zero-downtime.html
FAQ
Yes. SwiftWave, Easypanel and Kubero have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
SwiftWave, Coolify and Dokploy — every license claim links its source.