Coolify v5 Review: The Self-Hosted PaaS That Replaces Heroku and Vercel
Coolify v4 reached stable and v5 is coming with multi-server scalability. A complete review of features, setup, pricing, and whether it's worth migrating from Heroku or Vercel.
Heroku’s pricing keeps going up and Vercel’s bandwidth bills catch people off guard. Coolify is the open-source answer — a self-hostable PaaS where you deploy apps, databases, and 280+ one-click services on your own servers.
Coolify v4.0.0 reached stable in April 2026 after two years in beta. v4.1.0 followed in May with Railpack builds, audit logging, and MCP support. v5 with multi-server scalability is actively being built.
I’ve been running Coolify since the early v4 betas. Here’s what works, what doesn’t, and whether you should switch.
What is Coolify?
Coolify is an open-source, self-hostable platform-as-a-service. Think Heroku or Vercel, but running on your own VPS. You get:
- Git-push deployments from GitHub, GitLab, or Forgejo
- One-click service templates (280+ apps, databases, and tools)
- Automatic SSL certificates via Let’s Encrypt
- Reverse proxy management (Caddy-based)
- Database backups with S3/R2 support
- Real-time deployment logs
- Team management with role-based access
- Preview deployments for pull requests
The difference from Heroku: you own the server. No vendor lock-in, no surprise pricing changes, no data on someone else’s infrastructure.
What changed in v4 stable
v4.0.0 left beta after two years and 474 beta releases. Here’s what stabilized:
- SPA navigation: Replaced Livewire full-page reloads with a proper single-page app. Navigation is faster and state persists between page changes.
- Security hardening: Webhook secrets are encrypted with HMAC verification. Volume paths and health check commands are validated against injection. Team scoping was tightened across resource creation flows.
- Proxy reliability: Database-backed proxy config storage with automatic recovery and versioned backups. Caddy configs no longer silently break after crashes.
- GitLab integration: Full GitLab source support with SSH deploy keys and HTTP basic auth. Not just GitHub anymore.
- Service templates updated: Beszel 0.18.7, Cap captcha service added, Plane re-enabled, Cal.com removed (went closed-source).
What’s new in v4.1.0
The v4.1.0 release (May 2026) added substantial features:
- Railpack build pack: A new beta build pack option alongside Nixpacks and Docker. Railpack supports build-time environment variables, config merging, and multi-stage builds. See our Nixpacks vs Railpack comparison.
- Structured audit logging: API mutations, webhook events, authentication, and authorization outcomes are now logged in a structured format. Useful for compliance and debugging.
- MCP support: Instance-level MCP server with read-only tools for Coolify resources. Enable it through the API or UI for AI agent integration.
- Collapsible sidebar: UI improvement with persisted state, tooltips, and a compact team menu.
- Configurable stop grace periods: Per-application grace periods for manual stops, previews, and deployments.
- Skip CI/CD markers:
[skip ci]and[skip cd]in commit messages or PR titles skip deployment webhooks. - Deployment config diff tracking: Pending changes and build-impacting modifications are surfaced before redeploying.
What v5 will bring
v5 is the next major milestone. The core feature is full multi-server scalability. Currently, Coolify manages one server. v5 adds the ability to connect multiple servers to a single Coolify instance — giving you cloud-like infrastructure with your own hardware.
From the v4.0.0 release notes: “The biggest feature will be full scalability in the core, so you will have cloud infrastructure, but with your own servers.”
This means:
- Deploy to multiple VPS from one Coolify dashboard
- Load-balance applications across servers
- Scale horizontally without managing each server individually
- Cloud-like orchestration on Hetzner, DigitalOcean, or bare metal
The creator (Andras Bacsai) has a working core implementation already. v5 won’t mean v4 support stops — both will be maintained in parallel.
Coolify vs Heroku vs Vercel vs Dokploy
| Feature | Coolify | Heroku | Vercel | Dokploy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Git deployments | GitHub, GitLab, Forgejo | GitHub | GitHub, GitLab | GitHub, GitLab |
| Build packs | Nixpacks, Docker, Railpack | Heroku buildpacks | Next.js, Vite | Nixpacks, Docker |
| Databases | PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, etc. | PostgreSQL, Redis (add-ons) | Via external services | PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis |
| One-click services | 280+ | Via add-ons | No | 50+ |
| SSL certificates | Automatic (Let’s Encrypt) | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Multi-server (v5) | Coming | Yes (dynos) | Yes (edge) | No |
| Free tier | Self-hosted (VPS cost only) | Eco dynos (limited) | Hobby (limited) | Self-hosted |
| Cost at scale | $5/month VPS | $7+/dyno/month | $20+/seat + bandwidth | $5/month VPS |
| Preview deployments | Yes | Yes (review apps) | Yes | Limited |
| MCP/AI agent support | Yes (v4.1) | No | No | No |
| Vendor lock-in | None | High | Medium | None |
Cost advantage
A $5/month Hetzner CX22 runs Coolify with enough resources for 5-10 small apps, a PostgreSQL database, and Redis. The same setup on Heroku costs $25+/month minimum. On Vercel, bandwidth alone can exceed $20/month for non-trivial traffic. Coolify saves 70-85% compared to managed platforms for typical deployments.
How to install Coolify
The official install script handles Docker, Coolify, and Caddy setup:
wget -q https://get.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh \
-O install.sh; sudo bash ./install.shThis takes 5-10 minutes. When it finishes, open http://your-server-ip:3000 and create your admin account.
For detailed setup instructions (including domain configuration and GitHub integration), see our original Coolify install guide.
If you’re running a beta version, upgrading to v4.0.0 stable:
# Coolify auto-updates by default
# Check your version in Settings > Coolify Settings
# Or trigger manually:
docker pull ghcr.io/coollabsio/coolify:latest
docker compose up -dYour data and configurations persist across upgrades. Back up your database before major version jumps.
Minimum server requirements
Deploying applications
From Git
- Add your GitHub or GitLab account in Settings > Git Sources
- Create a new resource, select Application, choose your repo and branch
- Coolify detects the framework (Astro, Next.js, Django, etc.) and selects the build pack
- Set your domain, add environment variables, hit Deploy
- Coolify builds, deploys, and provisions SSL automatically
Push a new commit and Coolify re-deploys. You can also enable auto-deployment on push.
From Docker Compose
Coolify supports Docker Compose as a build pack. Paste or upload your docker-compose.yml, configure environment variables, and deploy the full stack. This is useful for complex multi-service apps.
See the Coolify Docker Compose docs for details on magic environment variables and volume management.
One-click services
The 280+ service templates include databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, ClickHouse), monitoring (Uptime Kuma, Beszel), analytics (Plausible, Umami), automation (n8n), wikis (Outline), and many more. One click, configure a few settings, and the service is running.
Some services we’ve covered in detail:
What Coolify does well
After running it for months:
Deployments are reliable. Git-push deployments work consistently. Build logs are real-time and searchable. Failed deployments show clear error messages. Preview deployments for PRs are useful for teams.
SSL management is automatic. Let’s Encrypt certificates are provisioned and renewed without intervention. Caddy handles the proxy layer cleanly.
One-click services save time. Deploying a PostgreSQL database with backups configured takes three clicks. Setting up monitoring with Beszel or Uptime Kuma is equally fast.
The community is active. Issues get fixed within days. The Discord server has thousands of members. Service templates are updated regularly.
Cost savings are real. Running 8 apps, 2 databases, and 3 services on a single Hetzner CX32 ($8/month) costs less than a single Heroku dyno.
What’s still rough
Multi-server is missing. You can currently manage one server per Coolify instance. If you need apps across multiple VPS, you need multiple Coolify instances. v5 fixes this, but it’s not available yet.
No built-in CDN. Coolify serves apps from your VPS. For static assets and global audiences, you need a CDN in front. Bunny.net works well for this.
Mobile clients don’t exist. Management is through the web UI only. There’s no mobile app for quick checks.
Some service templates are outdated. Community-maintained templates occasionally lag behind upstream releases. Check versions before deploying.
Debugging proxy issues is still tedious. Caddy config problems require manual intervention occasionally. The v4.1 database-backed proxy storage helps, but edge cases remain.
Coolify alternatives
If Coolify isn’t the right fit:
- Dokploy: Simpler, fewer features, easier setup. Good for single-app deployments. See our Dokploy install guide.
- Kamal 2: CLI-only, zero server overhead. Built by the Rails team at 37signals. Great if you don’t need a web dashboard.
- CapRover: Older but stable. Cluster mode available. Fewer one-click services.
- Easypanel: Clean UI, focused on simplicity. See our Easypanel review.
- Pangolin: Not a PaaS, but useful for exposing self-hosted services through tunnels. See our Pangolin guide.
For a detailed comparison of the top three options, see our Coolify vs Dokploy vs Kamal 2 guide.
Should you switch?
If you’re on Heroku and paying more than $10/month, Coolify saves you money immediately. A $5-8/month VPS handles what Heroku charges $25+/month for.
If you’re on Vercel and hitting bandwidth limits, Coolify gives you unlimited bandwidth on your own server. The tradeoff is no edge network — your VPS serves everything. Add a CDN if you need global performance.
If you’re self-hosting with raw Docker Compose, Coolify adds a management layer that makes deployments, monitoring, and backups easier. The one-click service templates alone save hours of configuration.
If you need multi-server orchestration right now, Coolify can’t do it yet. v5 will add this. For single-server setups, v4.1.0 is production-ready.
The Coolify website has setup guides, and the GitHub repo tracks active development. The community Discord is responsive for troubleshooting.
FAQ
Can I run Coolify alongside other reverse proxies?
Coolify uses Caddy as its internal reverse proxy. If you have Traefik or Nginx already running on the same server, they’ll conflict on port 80/443. You can either: let Coolify manage the proxy layer (recommended), or run Coolify on a dedicated VPS with no other proxy.
Does Coolify support ARM servers?
Yes. Coolify runs on ARM (including Hetzner’s ARM64 instances and Oracle Free Tier ARM VMs). Some service templates may have ARM compatibility issues, but core functionality works.
How do backups work?
Coolify supports scheduled database backups stored locally or pushed to S3-compatible storage (Bunny Storage, AWS S3, Backblaze). Application data backups require manual volume snapshots. For full server backups, consider zerobyte-restic-gui.
Is Coolify production-ready?
v4.0.0 stable is production-ready for single-server setups. Thousands of companies ran the beta in production for 1-2 years. It has bugs (the creator acknowledges this), but they get fixed fast. For critical production workloads, set up monitoring with Beszel and keep backups current.
What about Coolify Cloud?
Coolify offers a managed cloud version where they run the Coolify instance for you on their servers. Your apps still deploy to your connected VPS. It costs $5/month for the management layer, on top of your VPS cost. Useful if you don’t want to maintain the Coolify instance itself.
