Coolify
Self-hostable PaaS alternative to Vercel/Heroku
The Lens
Coolify is a self-hosted PaaS that handles deployment, SSL, database provisioning, and reverse proxying for your applications. Point it at a server, connect your Git repos, and it handles builds, deployments, SSL certificates, and reverse proxying. It's your own private Heroku running on a $5/mo server.
Self-hosting is free under Apache 2.0. You get automatic deployments from Git, built-in database provisioning (Postgres, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB), wildcard SSL via Let's Encrypt, and a clean dashboard. It's impressive how much it covers.
The catch: you're trading money for ops time. When a deployment fails at 2 AM, there's no support team. It's you and the Docker logs. The managed cloud option starts at $5/mo per server but you're still managing the underlying infrastructure decisions. And Coolify itself needs updates, which occasionally break things if you're not careful with the upgrade path.
Free vs Self-Hosted vs Paid
free self hosted paid cloudSelf-hosted (free): Full features, no limits. Install on any VPS: Hetzner ($4/mo), DigitalOcean ($6/mo), your own hardware. Apache 2.0 license means no restrictions on commercial use.
Cloud managed ($5/mo per server): Coolify manages the Coolify installation on YOUR server. You still provide and pay for the VPS. So it's $5/mo + your VPS cost. It handles updates and basic monitoring.
The math: A small Hetzner VPS (4GB RAM, 2 CPU) for $4/mo can run Coolify + 3-4 small apps. Compare that to Vercel Pro ($20/mo per member) or Railway ($5/mo + usage). For a solo developer running 5 projects, you save $50-100/mo easily.
Where it breaks down: Once you need high availability, multi-region, or serious scaling, you're building infrastructure expertise. At that point, the managed PaaS services earn their price.
Self-host free on a $4-6/mo VPS. Cloud management adds $5/mo per server.
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