Cloud · head to head
Dokku vs Fastly
Dokku
Cloud
Single-server platform that accepts a git push and runs Heroku buildpacks on Docker
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Dokku one maintainer accounts for nearly all human commit activity and the project records roughly 10,500 US dollars of annual income on Open Collective, which is not enough to fund a maintainer, so continuity rests on one person continuing to volunteer.; Fastly bandwidth is priced per region, and delivery to India, Africa and South Korea is $0.28 per GB against $0.12 in North America and Europe
- They diverge on capability: Dokku covers Git push deploy, Fastly covers Edge Compute.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Dokku and Fastly actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Dokku
- Git push deploy
- Heroku buildpacks
- Datastore plugins
- Automatic certificates
- Zero downtime deploys
- Pluggable schedulers
Only in Fastly
- Edge Compute
- CDN
- DDoS Protection
- Real-time Analytics
- Image Optimization
- Video Streaming
- API
- Instant Purge
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Dokku
- Running a dozen side projects and client applications on one virtual private server with Heroku style deploymentnot Fastly
- Moving off a managed platform when the monthly bill has grown faster than the traffic hasnot Fastly
- A consultancy that wants buildpack deployments without teaching every client team Kubernetesnot Fastly
- Keeping a legacy Procfile application alive on hardware you control after a managed platform deprecates its stacknot Fastly
Fastly
- Serving static and dynamic content through a global CDNnot Dokku
- Running edge logic and caching in front of an origin applicationnot Dokku
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Dokku
- One maintainer accounts for nearly all human commit activity and the project records roughly 10,500 US dollars of annual income on Open Collective, which is not enough to fund a maintainer, so continuity rests on one person continuing to volunteer.
- Dokku Pro asks 849 US dollars for a lifetime licence from a project with no disclosed legal entity behind the promise and no published refund terms, while the product is still described as in development at early bird pricing.
- Dokku is single-server by design, and the k3s scheduler that provides multi-node support is missing log retrieval, process inspection and content-based health checks, with a post-run hook the documentation says does not consistently fire.
- Supported operating systems are limited to Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 and Debian 11 or later, so organisations standardised on Red Hat, Rocky or Alma Linux cannot run it on their approved base image.
- Backups are separate commands per datastore plugin that you schedule yourself, with no unified snapshot, no point-in-time recovery and no tested restore path, so verifying that a restore works is entirely your responsibility.
Fastly
- Bandwidth is priced per region, and delivery to India, Africa and South Korea is $0.28 per GB against $0.12 in North America and Europe
- The same traffic therefore costs more than twice as much depending on where the audience is, which is invisible until the bill arrives
- The free allowance is 100 GB of bandwidth and 1M requests a month
- Requests are billed separately from bandwidth, at $0.01 per 10,000 above the first million
- High volume rates past 50 TB are not published and require contacting sales
Pricing, plan by plan
Dokku
Free- DokkuFree
- MIT licensed, no usage limits
- Command line and SSH only
- All datastore and certificate plugins
- Dokku Pro$849/one-time
- Lifetime licence with free upgrades and no subscription
- Covers 1 production and 2 pre-production servers
- Web dashboard and JSON REST API
Fastly
Free- Free TrialFree
- CDN
- DDoS protection
- Real-time analytics
- Pay-As-You-GoFree
- Usage-based pricing
- Advanced features
- Priority support
Which should you pick?
Choose Dokku if
- You need git push deploy.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Docker, CLI, Self-hosted.
- You also want heroku buildpacks.
Choose Fastly if
- You need edge compute.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want cdn.
Questions people ask
- Is Dokku or Fastly better?
- Neither clearly leads. Dokku starts at Free and Fastly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Dokku or Fastly?
- Dokku starts at Free and Fastly at Free.
- Does Dokku or Fastly run on more platforms?
- Dokku runs on Linux, Docker, CLI, Self-hosted. Fastly runs on Web, Api.
- Can I use Dokku for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Dokku best used for?
- Dokku is most often used for running a dozen side projects and client applications on one virtual private server with heroku style deployment, moving off a managed platform when the monthly bill has grown faster than the traffic has, a consultancy that wants buildpack deployments without teaching every client team kubernetes, keeping a legacy procfile application alive on hardware you control after a managed platform deprecates its stack. Of those, running a dozen side projects and client applications on one virtual private server with heroku style deployment and moving off a managed platform when the monthly bill has grown faster than the traffic has are not what Fastly is typically brought in for.
- What can Dokku do that Fastly cannot?
- Dokku covers Git push deploy, Heroku buildpacks, Datastore plugins, Automatic certificates. Fastly covers Edge Compute, CDN, DDoS Protection, Real-time Analytics.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Dokku: Is Dokku still maintained?
Yes. Version 0.38.27 shipped in August 2026 with roughly six releases in the preceding two months. The caveat is that one maintainer writes nearly all of it.
Fastly: Does Fastly charge based on usage or a flat monthly fee?
Fastly operates on a usage-based model with volume discounts. They offer a free tier with 100 GB bandwidth and 1M requests for experimentation, then customers pay per unit consumed with tiered discounts as consumption increases.
SourceDokku: What does Dokku Pro give me over the free edition?
A web dashboard, a JSON REST API, git push over HTTPS, browser log tailing, team management and email support from the maintainers. It costs 849 US dollars once for one production and two pre-production servers.
Fastly: What are Fastly's main service packages and their costs?
Fastly offers Network Services Packages ($1,500-$6,000/month baseline), Security Packages (custom pricing), Compute Packages ($500/month entry level), and Observability Packages ($1,500/month entry level). Enterprise solutions include custom quotes for high-volume deployments.
SourceDokku: Can Dokku run across multiple servers?
Only through the k3s or Nomad schedulers. The k3s path is missing several commands and health check types, and the older Kubernetes scheduler is deprecated and no longer developed.
Fastly: Can I start using Fastly for free?
Yes, Fastly offers a free tier with generous allowances for experimentation including 100 GB bandwidth and 1M requests. You can start building free and only pay when you use additional resources.
SourceDokku: Will my Heroku application run on it unchanged?
Usually. Dokku runs the same buildpacks and reads a Procfile, so the application layer normally moves across. Add-ons, scaling behaviour and backups are the parts you have to rebuild.
Fastly: Are there surprise overage charges with Fastly?
Fastly advertises predictable pricing with no surprise overages. The pricing structure is designed to be transparent as consumption grows.
SourceRelated pages
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