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Indie alternatives to Capistrano

4 products made by independent developers and small teams that do what Capistrano does, 2 of them with a free plan. Free and open-source options come first.

At a glance

Product	Price	Open source	Self-host	Platforms
Kamal	Free	Yes	Yes	Linux, Mac, Self-hosted
Dokku	Free plan	Yes	Yes	Self-hosted, Linux
Cleavr	Paid	–	–	Web
Hatchbox	Paid	–	–	Web

The alternatives

1. Kamal

Deploy containerized web apps to your own servers

Kamal, from 37signals, deploys Docker containers to any server with zero-downtime rollouts and a built-in proxy.

Free · Linux, Mac, Self-hosted · Website ↗

2. Dokku

Open-source mini-Heroku powered by Docker

Dokku is a self-hosted platform that lets you git push apps to your own server, using buildpacks or Dockerfiles, with plugins for databases and SSL.

Free plan · Self-hosted, Linux · Website ↗

3. Cleavr

Server provisioning and app deployment for your own VPS

Cleavr provisions servers on cloud providers and deploys Node.js, PHP, Laravel, Nuxt, Next.js and other apps with SSL and zero-downtime deployments.

Paid · Web · Website ↗

4. Hatchbox

Deploy and manage Ruby on Rails apps on your own servers

Hatchbox provisions servers on providers like DigitalOcean or Hetzner and deploys Rails apps with git push, background workers, databases and SSL.

Paid · Web · Website ↗

Questions

Is there a free alternative to Capistrano?

Yes. 2 of the 4 indie alternatives listed here have a free plan or are free: Kamal and Dokku.

Is there an open-source alternative to Capistrano?

Kamal and Dokku are open source.

Can I self-host an alternative to Capistrano?

Yes: Kamal and Dokku can run on your own server.

Which Capistrano alternatives work on Mac, Windows, iPhone or Android?

On Mac: Kamal. On Linux: Kamal and Dokku. On the web: Cleavr and Hatchbox.

What makes these alternatives to Capistrano “indie”?

They are built by independent developers or small teams rather than large companies. Each one is listed because it does the same core job as Capistrano.

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