Overview
Coolify is an open-source application platform you install on a server with one script. From its web dashboard you connect servers over SSH (a VPS, bare metal, a Raspberry Pi, EC2 and so on) and deploy applications from Git, Docker images or Docker Compose files, plus databases and 280+ one-click services. It handles reverse proxying, Let's Encrypt certificates, pull request deployments, webhooks for CI, notifications and a browser terminal.
The self-hosted edition has no paid tier and no feature limits. Coolify Cloud costs $5 a month for a managed, highly available control panel with two connected servers and $3 for each additional server, and adds email alerts and limited email support; your apps still run on servers you rent.
Because configuration lives on your servers, you can stop using Coolify and keep the running containers. The trade-off is operations: patching the OS, watching disks, testing backups and planning for a single server failing are your job. The project is very active, with over 61,000 GitHub stars.
Pricing and plans
checked 28 Sept 2026Free tier · no card
Self-hosted Coolify is free forever with all features and no limits; you pay only for the servers it runs on.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | $0 | All features, unlimited servers, community support |
| Cloud | $5/mo | Managed control plane, 2 servers included; +$3/mo per extra server; 20% off yearly |
What it does
- Push to deploy
- Integrations with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Gitea, with separate deployments for pull requests.
- One-click services
- 280+ ready-made services and databases that run as Docker containers.
- Automatic SSL
- Let's Encrypt certificates are issued and renewed for custom domains.
- Database backups
- Scheduled backups to any S3-compatible storage with restore from the dashboard.
- Multi-server
- Manage many servers from one dashboard and deploy to one or several.
- API and webhooks
- Automate deployments from GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or other pipelines.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Free and open source (Apache 2.0) with no paywalled features.
- Runs on cheap VPS providers, so hosting costs stay low.
- No lock-in: configuration stays on your servers.
- Modern UI that non-specialists can use.
Limitations
- You are responsible for server uptime, OS updates, security and backups.
- A single-server setup has no failover.
- Coolify Cloud still requires you to bring and pay for your own servers.
- Support is community-based on self-hosted; Cloud adds only limited email support.
Who it suits
Good for
- Developers hosting many small apps on one or two VPSs
- Side projects that need databases without managed-DB prices
- Teams that want data on their own hardware
Look elsewhere if
- Teams without anyone to maintain servers
- Workloads that need managed high availability and SLAs
Alternatives to Coolify
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| alwaysdata European managed hosting | €5/mo | Free tier | |
| CapRover Self-hosted PaaS | — | Free tier | |
| Cloudflare Workers (incl. Pages) Edge serverless platform | $5/mo | Free tier | |
| Deno Deploy Serverless JavaScript platform | $20/mo | Free tier | |
| DigitalOcean App Platform Managed PaaS | $5/mo | Free tier | |
| Dokku Self-hosted PaaS | — | Free tier |
Questions
Is Coolify free?
Yes. Self-hosted Coolify is free forever with all features. Coolify Cloud, a managed control panel, costs $5/month for 2 servers plus $3 per extra server.
Does Coolify Cloud include servers?
No. You connect your own servers; Coolify Cloud only hosts the dashboard and automation.
What can Coolify deploy?
Static sites, applications in any language, Docker images and Compose files, databases such as Postgres, MySQL and Redis, and 280+ one-click services.
Sources read for this page