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Comparison

Dokku vs Render

Compare categories, runtimes, pricing, regions, infrastructure, and platform trade-offs.

Comparison space

Updated

Platform

Hosting model
Managed
Managed
Self-Hosted
Self-Hosted
Open source / license
MIT
Open source / license
—
Services
Block Storage
Block Storage
CDN
CDN
Compute
Compute
Key-Value Store
Key-Value Store
Managed Databases
Managed Databases
Workloads
APIs
APIs
Backend Services
Backend Services
Background Workers
Background Workers
Data Processing
Data Processing
Scheduled Jobs
Scheduled Jobs
Static Sites
Static Sites
Web Applications
Web Applications
Capabilities
Compute Autoscaling
Compute Autoscaling
Deployment Rollbacks
Deployment Rollbacks
Preview Environments
Preview Environments
Scale to Zero
Scale to Zero
Zero-Downtime Application Deployments
Zero-Downtime Application Deployments

Development & Execution

Deployment & packaging
Docker / OCI
Docker / OCI
Kubernetes
Kubernetes
Self-hosted
Self-hosted
Runtimes
.NET Runtime
.NET Runtime
Bun
Bun
Custom Runtime
Custom Runtime
JVM
JVM
Node.js
Node.js
Languages
C#
C#
Clojure
Clojure
Elixir
Elixir
Go
Go
Java
Java
JavaScript
JavaScript
Kotlin
Kotlin
PHP
PHP
Python
Python
Ruby
Ruby
Rust
Rust
Scala
Scala
TypeScript
TypeScript
Frameworks
Astro
Astro
Django
Django
Express.js
Express.js
FastAPI
FastAPI
Fastify
Fastify
Laravel
Laravel
Next.js
Next.js
Nuxt
Nuxt
Remix
Remix
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails
Spring Boot
Spring Boot
SvelteKit
SvelteKit

Pricing

Billing basis
Plan based Dokku Software
Plan based Render Workspace Plans
Software charge
Dokku Core and Dokku Pro run on customer-managed servers; infrastructure, storage, transfer, backups, monitoring, and administration are separate.
$0 / month + compute Hobby
Starting price
$849 one-time Dokku Pro
$0 / month + compute Hobby
Free entry / commitment
Free plan Available in public plans
Recurring free allowances No card required

Infrastructure & Availability

Infrastructure provider
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Microsoft Azure
  • DigitalOcean
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • Any compatible Ubuntu or Debian server, virtual machine, dedicated server, or supported K3s cluster
  • Render-managed cloud infrastructure
Supported providers
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Microsoft Azure
  • DigitalOcean
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • Any compatible Ubuntu or Debian server, virtual machine, dedicated server, or supported K3s cluster
  • Render-managed cloud infrastructure
Placement control
Unknown
  • Regional

Security & Compliance

Access & identity
Deployment Credentials
SSH public keys Git deployment access to a self-hosted Dokku instance; host security remains operator-owned
Unknown
Access Control
Unknown
Workspace roles Advanced roles on Scale and Enterprise
Single Sign-On
Unknown
SAML 2.0 SSO and SCIM Scale and Enterprise
Encryption & secrets
Secrets Management
Unknown
Environment variables, environment groups and secret files
Encryption
Unknown
TLS 1.2+ in transit; encrypted disks, snapshots and Render Postgres data at rest
Network isolation & protection
Private Networking
Unknown
Same-region private network and private services Environment boundaries require Pro or higher
Assurances & programs
HIPAA
Unknown
HIPAA-enabled workspaces Scale/Enterprise; BAA required; supported resources and regions only
SOC Reports
Unknown
SOC 2 Type II