Dokku: the small PaaS that never dies

Dokku is a single-server open-source PaaS that reproduces Heroku's git push deploy flow using Docker, buildpacks and an automatic SSL reverse proxy. Jeff Lindsay started it in 2013 and it is still actively maintained: release 0.35, from mid-2025, added Cloud Native Buildpack improvements and Caddy as an alternative to nginx.

December 26, 2025 5 min 249 4.3

Tools

Railway and Render: deployment platforms without surprises

Railway and Render have spent years filling the gap between Vercel and AWS. By the fall of 2025 their offering has matured enough for a seasoned assessment: where they beat Heroku, where they fall short of Fly, and what happens when a bill grows.

October 3, 2025 6 min 467 4.3