Alternatives to Piku
Minimal git-push PaaS for deploying apps to your own server over SSH
Piku ranks #11 of 11 in Self-hosted PaaS, with an Alt Score of 32. It is licensed under MIT, free from Free and available on Linux. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Piku is a tiny (~1000 line) open-source PaaS inspired by Dokku that lets you `git push` to deploy apps directly to your own server via SSH, using nginx/uWSGI instead of full containerization. It targets hobbyists, schools, and anyone who wants Heroku-style deploys on very low-resource hardware, including a Raspberry Pi.
Piku is for developers and hobbyists who want a Heroku-like deploy workflow on their own hardware, including low-resource devices like a Raspberry Pi, without running a full container platform such as Docker or Dokku.
You get git-push deployment of your own application code, automatic runtime detection and dependency installation for Python, Node, Ruby, Java, Clojure and Go, Procfile-based process management (web, worker, cron, static and release worker types), virtual-host support for multiple apps on one server, and automatic SSL via Let's Encrypt or a private certificate.
You set up a dedicated piku user on a Linux server over SSH, then add a git remote pointing at that server and run git push; piku inspects the pushed code for runtime-specific files (requirements.txt, package.json, Gemfile, pom.xml/build.gradle, etc.), installs dependencies, reads the app's Procfile to start uWSGI-managed worker processes, and applies settings from an ENV file to configure the app and nginx. All ongoing management (logs, config, scaling, restarts) happens through a CLI over SSH rather than a web dashboard.
Why people leave Piku
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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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 | Piku | SwiftWave | CapRover | Coolify | Dokploy | Easypanel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Piku is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License MIT verified 2026-07-30
The MIT License (MIT)
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/piku/piku/master/LICENSE -
Status active verified 2026-07-30
GitHub shows real commit activity as recently as 2026-07-09 (repo pushed_at 2026-07-09 per the API). Docs (features.html) self-describe the project as 'STABLE' with the feature set 'pretty much done',
Commits on Jul 9, 2026
https://github.com/piku/piku/commits/master/ -
Starts at Free verified 2026-07-30
No paid tier exists; the software itself is the only 'product' and it is MIT-licensed and free to download and self-host.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/piku/piku/master/LICENSE -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-30
Piku has no commercial offering, pricing page, or paid tier anywhere on piku.github.io or the GitHub org; it is MIT-licensed self-hosted software you run on your own server.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/piku/piku/master/LICENSE -
Platforms Linux verified 2026-07-30
Piku is a self-hosted server daemon; primary target is Linux (Debian/Ubuntu/Raspbian/CentOS per the install docs). The page also mentions FreeBSD, Cygwin and WSL, which aren't in the fixed platform vo
it has been deployed on Linux, FreeBSD, Cygwin and the Windows Subsystem for Linux
https://piku.github.io/features.html#supported-platforms -
One-click app catalog No verified 2026-07-30
The full features page enumerates the workflow (git push), virtual hosts/SSL, caching/static paths, supported platforms and supported runtimes -- there is no app catalog, marketplace, or one-click ins
piku supports a Heroku-like workflow
https://piku.github.io/features.html#workflow -
Git push deploys Yes verified 2026-07-30
Push your code: git push piku master
https://piku.github.io/features.html#workflow -
Docker Compose support No verified 2026-07-30
Piku deploys via git push using a Procfile plus auto-detected runtime files (requirements.txt/pyproject.toml, Gemfile, package.json, pom.xml/build.gradle, deps.edn/project.clj, Godeps -- see configura
even `docker` can be overkill sometimes, a simpler solution was needed
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/piku/piku/master/README.md -
Automatic SSL Yes verified 2026-07-30
piku will also set up either a private certificate or obtain one via Let's Encrypt to enable SSL
https://piku.github.io/features.html#virtual-hosts-and-ssl -
Backups built in No verified 2026-07-30
The features page enumerates every built-in capability (workflow, virtual hosts/SSL, caching/static paths, supported platforms, supported runtimes) and none of it is a backup or snapshot feature; 'bac
Besides static sites, piku also supports directly mapping specific URL prefixes to filesystem paths
https://piku.github.io/features.html#caching-and-static-paths -
Multi-server support No verified 2026-07-30
Each piku install manages a single host ('per host'). The CLI helper (manage.html) can target multiple independent piku servers by switching git remotes, but there is no built-in clustering, multi-nod
piku is currently able to deploy, manage and independently scale multiple applications per host
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/piku/piku/master/README.md -
Web UI quality No verified 2026-07-30
Piku is managed entirely over SSH/git via a CLI whose full command surface (apps, config, config:set, deploy, destroy, disable, enable, logs, ps, ps:scale, restart, setup) is listed on this install pa
The smallest PaaS you've ever seen
https://piku.github.io/install/index.html -
Resource usage Partial verified 2026-07-30
Built-in tooling only exposes worker counts (the `ps` command, 'Show application worker count' per install/index.html); actual CPU/memory resource-usage monitoring requires deploying the separate opti
Besides using the logs command, there is a sample monitoring application to keep tabs on resource usage.
https://piku.github.io/manage.html#monitoring -
Database provisioning No verified 2026-07-30
The only Postgres-related material on the site is a hypothetical example plugin whose command bodies are literally `pass` (non-functional stub) to illustrate the experimental plugin API; there is no b
At this moment there are no official plugins, but here is an example file that should be placed at ~/.piku/plugins/postgres/__init__.py that could contain the commands to manage a Postgres database
https://piku.github.io/design/plugins.html -
Zero-downtime deploys No verified 2026-07-30
Documented default deploy behavior (PIKU_AUTO_RESTART) restarts all workers for an app together on every deploy, rather than a staged/rolling or blue-green swap. No 'zero-downtime', 'rolling', 'blue-g
Piku will restart all workers every time the app is deployed.
https://piku.github.io/configuration/env.html#runtime-settings
FAQ
Yes. SwiftWave, CapRover and Easypanel have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
SwiftWave, CapRover and Coolify — every license claim links its source.