The best Platform as a service
Every option ranked — open-source, self-hostable, and commercial — by our transparent Sovereignty Score, with honest trade-offs so you choose what fits you, not us.
Push code, get a running app. You are paying for the part between a container and a URL, and it is a large multiple of the server underneath.
L3Infrastructure — layer 3 of the AI stack- 1
Coolify
Top pickOpen sourceSelf-hosted Heroku — one server, Apache-2.0, everything included.
Free and open source. You pay only for the server. Paid cloud option available. · in our Heroku comparison →
What is Coolify? →94sovereignty - 2
Dokku
Open sourceThe original self-hosted PaaS — small, stable, unglamorous.
Free and open source. You supply the server. · in our Heroku comparison →
What is Dokku? →95sovereignty - 3
CapRover
Open sourceSelf-hosted PaaS with a proper web UI and one-click apps.
Free and open source. You supply the server. · in our Heroku comparison →
What is CapRover? →93sovereignty - 4
Railway
CommercialThe Heroku experience, without owning a server.
Usage-based with a small monthly minimum; typically well below Heroku for comparable workloads. · in our Heroku comparison →
What is Railway? →34sovereignty - 5
Render
CommercialThe predictable managed option, with a real free tier.
Free tier for small services; paid instances from about $7/month. Checked 2026-08-05. · in our Heroku comparison →
What is Render? →33sovereignty
Is it free?
The free tier, its real limits and where you start paying — read from each vendor's own pricing page and dated.
Run these yourself
What each one actually needs — real RAM, honest running cost, and the setup time nobody quotes.
- Self-hosting Coolify 4 GB on the control node, plus whatever your apps need
- Self-hosting Dokku 2 GB plus whatever your apps need
- Self-hosting CapRover 2 GB control node plus app memory
Replacing a specific tool?
Head-to-head comparisons for each popular platform as a service product.
Straight head-to-heads
Two platform as a service tools, side by side — verified facts and a plain verdict.