dokku vs supabase
Two of the top projects in Backends, databases and hosting, side by side: who leads on each score part and who each one suits, then setup, license, activity and what each review found.
dokku
Self-hosted mini-Heroku PaaS that deploys apps with git push
supabase
Postgres backend with auth, storage, realtime and edge functions
Verdict
dokku ranks higher, 76 to 74. Of the 5 score parts we measure for both, dokku leads on 2, supabase on 2 and 1 is even.
- Adoptionsupabase leads by 22 points, 98 to 76: a wide gap.
- FreshnessEven at 100.
- Maintenancedokku leads by 20 points, 92 to 72: a wide gap.
- Easy to rundokku leads by 34 points, 67 to 33: a wide gap.
- Agent-readysupabase leads by 85 points, 85 to 0: a wide gap.
Pick dokku if you are
Self-hosters wanting a Heroku-style git-push deploy on one VM
- Installs on a single VM with one bootstrap script
- Supports Ubuntu 22.04/24.04/26.04 and Debian 11+ on amd64 and arm64
Pick supabase if you are
Developers needing a Postgres backend with auth, storage and vectors
- Built on Postgres, PostgREST, GoTrue and Realtime, so the data layer is plain SQL
- Official clients for JavaScript/TypeScript, Flutter, Swift and Python
| What we compare | dokku | supabase |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 76, popular | 98, widely used |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 92, healthy | 72, fair |
| Easy to run | 67, easy | 33, some setup |
| Agent-ready | 0, none | 85, ready |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 32.2k | 111.8k |
| License | MIT (permissive) | Apache-2.0 (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | Sep 2026 | Aug 2026 |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Docker | Yes | Yes |
| GPU | Not stated | Not needed |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Mentioned | Not stated |
dokku
Dokku is a small Platform-as-a-Service that runs on a single Ubuntu or Debian VM and builds and runs applications in Docker containers. Applications are deployed over SSH, and the server is managed through the `dokku` command line, including domains and SSH keys. The README describes it as a Docker-powered mini-Heroku and does not mention any AI features.
Who it is for: Self-hosters wanting a Heroku-style git-push deploy on one VM
Strengths
- Installs on a single VM with one bootstrap script
- Supports Ubuntu 22.04/24.04/26.04 and Debian 11+ on amd64 and arm64
- MIT license, with an active release history and Ubuntu and Arch packages
- Written in Go, with documentation and a Slack support channel
Weaknesses
- Not an AI project; the README has no AI or model features
- Targets one server; the README describes no multi-node setup
- Only Ubuntu and Debian are listed as supported operating systems
- Deployment and management are CLI and SSH based; the README mentions no web UI
- Docker
- Needs Docker, SSH keypair
supabase
Supabase bundles a Postgres database with generated REST and GraphQL APIs, JWT-based auth, S3-backed file storage, realtime change feeds over websockets, and edge functions. It also includes a vector and embeddings toolkit for AI workloads. It runs as a hosted platform, can be self-hosted, or run locally, and has official clients for JavaScript, Flutter, Swift and Python.
Who it is for: Developers needing a Postgres backend with auth, storage and vectors
Strengths
- Built on Postgres, PostgREST, GoTrue and Realtime, so the data layer is plain SQL
- Official clients for JavaScript/TypeScript, Flutter, Swift and Python
- Hosted, self-hosted and local development options
- Apache-2.0 license; vector and embeddings toolkit included
Weaknesses
- Many separate services to run when self-hosting; README gives no resource requirements
- Go, Java, Rust, Ruby and C# clients are community-maintained, some partial
- Repo has no Docker or compose files; self-hosting is documented elsewhere
- no GPU
- Compose
- Needs PostgreSQL, S3-compatible storage, Envoy
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