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# Introduction
I've been coding my Stable Coin Payment platform, running everything locally on my server setup using Docker Compose.
But at some point, I realized something important: there really isn't a simple self-hosting platform that can handle the scaling, deployment, and management of Docker for multiple services without turning into a full-time DevOps job.
This pushed me to start searching for Vercel style alternatives that are easy to use while still giving me the freedom and control I want.
The hosting platforms I'm about to share come directly from my experience with the difficulties of trying to find tools that work for vibe codes.
If you're looking for better pricing, more control, tighter security, and true scalability, these platforms can help you take your side project and turn it into something that feels much closer to a real startup.
The best part is that getting started doesn't require anything complicated. All you really need is a cheap Hetzner server. Install one of these platforms, many of which are designed to simplify deployment so you can focus on building instead of managing infrastructure, and you'll be ready to deploy production-ready applications with confidence.
# 1. Dokploy
Dokploy is a stable, easy-to-use solution designed to simplify application management. It serves as a free, self-service alternative to platforms like Heroku, Vercel, and Netlify, while leveraging the power of Docker and the simplicity of Traefik to make deployments smooth and efficient.
Important features:
- Simplicity: Easy setup and intuitive deployment management.
- Flexibility: It supports multiple applications and databases.
- Open source: It is completely free and open source to use.
# 2. Cool down
Coolify is an open source, self-hosted PaaS that allows you to deploy applications, databases, and services, such as WordPress, Ghost, and Plausible Analytics, to your infrastructure with ease.
It serves as a DIY alternative to platforms like Heroku, Vercel, and Netlify, allowing you to deploy static sites, full-stack applications, and one-click services to any server using simple, automated tools.
Important features:
- Use Anywhere: It supports deployment to any server, including VPS, Raspberry Pi, EC2, Hetzner, and more via SSH, providing full flexibility over infrastructure.
- Extensive Technical Support: It works with almost any language or framework, allowing the use of static sites, APIs, backends, databases, and many popular application stacks such as Next.js, Nuxt.js, and SvelteKit.
- Integrated & Automated Git: It offers push-to-use with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Gitea, as well as automated SSL, automated server setup, and pull deployment requests for a smooth CI/CD workflow.
# 3. Apply
Appwrite is an open-source backend‑as‑a-service platform that now offers full-stack capabilities thanks to its Sites feature, which allows you to run websites directly alongside your backend services.
Since full-stack development means managing both front-end and back-end components and Appwrite now supports website hosting and APIs, auth, database, storage, messaging, and operations, it provides everything needed to build, deploy, and scale complete applications within a single platform.
Important features:
- Full Stack Finishing Platform: With frontend hosting sites and robust backend tools like Auth, Databases, Operations, Storage, Messaging, and Realtime, Appwrite covers the entire web stack.
- Variable integration methods: It supports SDKs, REST, GraphQL, and real-time APIs, allowing seamless integration from any language or framework.
- Data Ownership and Easy Migration: It provides migration tools from Firebase, Supabase, Nhost, and hosted setups so developers can easily migrate projects while maintaining full control of their data.
# 4. Doctor
Dokku is a scalable, open-source platform-as-a-service that runs on a single server of your choice, acting as a self-hosted mini‑Heroku. Build applications automatically from a simple git push using Dockerfiles or language autodetection with Buildpacks, and run them inside isolated containers.
Dokku also integrates technologies like nginx and cron to route web traffic and manage background processes, giving developers a lightweight yet powerful way to deploy and run applications on their infrastructure.
Important features:
- Git-Powered Deployment: Push code through Git to build apps on the fly using Dockerfiles or Buildpacks, similar to Heroku's workflow.
- Lightweight Single-Server PaaS: It runs on any Ubuntu/Debian server and uses Docker to manage application lifecycles, making it easy to self-host a Heroku-like environment with minimal hardware.
- Extensible and plugin-friendly: It supports a wide ecosystem of public and official plugins, allowing developers to add databases, storage, monitoring, and more to their applications.
# 5. Juno
Juno is an open-source serverless platform that allows you to build, deploy, and run applications in secure WASM containers while maintaining full hosting control and zero DevOps. It offers a complete backend stack, including key-value data storage, authentication, file storage, analytics, and serverless operations, so developers can create modern applications without managing infrastructure.
Juno also supports hosting of static sites, building full web applications, and implementing privacy and scalability functions for your hosting, all of which provide a familiar, cloud developer-like experience.
Important features:
- Full Stack Serverless with Self-Hosting Management: It includes a data store, storage, auth, analytics, and serverless operations that run in secure WASM containers, giving you full ownership of your applications and data.
- Zero-Setup Developer Experience: Use local simulation to develop and deploy to isolated containers (“Satellites”) without the required DevOps and workflows similar to modern cloud platforms.
- Designed for Web Developers: Use your favorite front-end frameworks and write serverless functions in Rust or TypeScript, with templates and tools that make it easy to build full-stack applications.
# Comparison table
This comparison table highlights what each platform is good for, how you post to it, and the types of apps it can work with so you can quickly choose the right hosting alternative for your workflow.
| The platform | It's very good | Release the workflow | What is running |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dokploy | Simple “Heroku-style” hosting with strong Docker Compose support | UI-driven installation + Docker composition | Containers, Name applications |
| Cool off | Very close feel to Vercel/Netlify host, and many pre-built services | Git push to deploy (GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket/Gitea) + automation | Static sites, full-stack applications, services |
| Apply (via sites) | One backend platform (Auth/DB/Storage/Transactions) and frontend hosting | Connect a Git repo or use the Sites templates | Frontends + backend services |
| Doctor | A lightweight “mini-Heroku” on a single server | git push uses Buildpacks or Dockerfile | Containerized applications |
| Juno | Serverless-style applications with self-management and minimal ops | CLI or GitHub Actions posts to “Satellites” | Static sites, web applications, WASM-based serverless operations |
Abid Ali Awan (@1abidiawan) is a data science expert with a passion for building machine learning models. Currently, he focuses on creating content and writing technical blogs on machine learning and data science technologies. Abid holds a Master's degree in technology management and a bachelor's degree in telecommunication engineering. His idea is to create an AI product using a graph neural network for students with mental illness.
