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Indie alternatives to Heroku

14 products made by independent developers and small teams that do what Heroku does, 11 of them with a free plan. Free and open-source options come first.

At a glance

The alternatives

1. CapRover

Free, open-source PaaS you run on your own server

CapRover turns a server into a Docker-based app platform with one-click apps, automatic HTTPS and a web dashboard.

Free · Self-hosted · Website ↗

2. 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 ↗

3. Coolify

Open-source, self-hostable alternative to Heroku and Vercel

Coolify lets you deploy apps, databases and one-click services to your own servers with git push deploys, SSL and backups. It is open source with an optional cloud plan.

Free plan · Self-hosted, Web · Website ↗

4. 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 ↗

5. Dokploy

Open-source self-hosted PaaS for apps and databases

Dokploy deploys applications and databases to your own servers using Docker, with Traefik routing, monitoring and backups. A hosted control plane is also available.

Free plan · Self-hosted, Web · Website ↗

6. Koyeb

Serverless platform for apps, APIs and GPU workloads

Koyeb deploys containers and Git repos globally with autoscaling, including GPU instances for AI inference.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

7. Northflank

Deploy services, jobs and databases on managed or your own cloud

Northflank is a developer platform for building and running containers, jobs and databases, either on its cloud or in your own Kubernetes accounts.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

8. Qovery

Internal developer platform on top of your AWS, GCP or Azure

Qovery lets teams deploy apps and preview environments on Kubernetes in their own cloud accounts without writing Kubernetes config.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

9. Railway

Deploy apps, databases and services from a repo

Railway is a deployment platform that builds and runs apps, databases and cron jobs from GitHub repos or Docker images with usage-based billing.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

10. Render

Cloud platform for web services, databases and cron jobs

Render hosts web services, static sites, background workers, Postgres and Redis-compatible key-value stores with Git-based deploys.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

11. Zeabur

One-click deploys for apps and databases

Zeabur detects your framework and deploys apps, databases and templates to its cloud or your own servers.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

12. 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 ↗

13. Fly.io

Run apps in lightweight VMs close to users worldwide

Fly.io runs Docker-based apps as Firecracker micro-VMs across many regions, with managed Postgres and private networking.

Paid · Web · Website ↗

14. 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 Heroku?

Yes. 11 of the 14 indie alternatives listed here have a free plan or are free: CapRover, Kamal, Coolify, Dokku and 7 more.

Is there an open-source alternative to Heroku?

CapRover, Kamal, Coolify, Dokku and 1 more are open source.

Can I self-host an alternative to Heroku?

Yes: CapRover, Kamal, Coolify, Dokku and 1 more can run on your own server.

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

On Mac: Kamal. On Linux: Kamal and Dokku. On the web: Coolify, Dokploy, Koyeb and 8 more.

What makes these alternatives to Heroku “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 Heroku.

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