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Solutions · Self-hosted PaaS

A VPS for Dokploy

Dokploy is a self-hosted PaaS on Docker and Traefik: applications from Git or Compose, databases, backups and automatic HTTPS from one dashboard. Its docs ask for 2 GB of RAM and 30 GB of disk, and every app you deploy adds to that. BD-8 at $12.90 is the cheapest machine with room; C2-4-80 at $36.90 arrives with Dokploy installed.

Deploy BD-8Deploy C2-4-80 with Dokploy installed

What it needs

Software from the docs, sizes labelled by source

The software and the security posture come from the project's own documentation. Where the project publishes no hardware figure, the sizes say whose they are.

From docs.dokploy.com

  • “At least 2GB of RAM and 30GB of disk space.” Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora or CentOS.
  • Install: curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sh. Docker is installed for you if missing.
  • Ports 3000 (dashboard), 80 and 443 (Traefik) must be free; “the installation will fail if any of these ports are already in use”.
  • Open http://your-ip:3000 to the setup page and create the admin. Do not disable IP:port access until HTTPS on a domain works.

Sizes (Dokploy's minimum, then what apps add)

Sizing by workload
WorkloadvCPURAM
Dokploy alone (official minimum)Dashboard, Postgres, Redis and Traefik. 30 GB of disk for images.22 GB
Dokploy + a few apps and a databaseBuilds happen on this machine; give them CPU.48 GB
Several projects, previews, Swarm nodesOr a small Dokploy box plus bigger remote servers.824 GB

The plans that fit

4 machines, priced live

Cheapest fitting machine first. Prices are today's, per month, read from the catalogue.

  • BD-8$12.90/mo

    4 vCPU · 8 GB · 100 GB disk · 32 TB

    Cheapest with real room for apps. 4 vCPU, 8 GB, 100 GB (above the 30 GB floor three times over) and 32 TB of transfer. Its supplier does not run start-up scripts: one pasted line installs it.

    Deploy
  • C2-4-80$36.90/mo

    2 vCPU · 4 GB · 80 GB disk · 3 TB

    Arrives with Dokploy installed. 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB, in over thirty cities, setup page waiting on port 3000.

    Deploy installed
  • C4-8-160$72.90/mo

    4 vCPU · 8 GB · 160 GB disk · 4 TB

    Arrives installed, with room. 4 vCPU / 8 GB and 160 GB of disk for images, volumes and backups.

    Deploy installed
  • BD-24$31.90/mo

    8 vCPU · 24 GB · 300 GB disk · 32 TB

    8 vCPU / 24 GB for several projects. Previews, staging and production without builds starving the apps.

    Deploy

“Deploy installed” opens the configurator with our Dokploy start-up script already in the start-up box, in full, before you buy. It runs once, as root, while the server is built, and only on suppliers whose platform runs start-up scripts; on the other rows the install is the same commands, pasted by you.

The install

Three steps, from Dokploy's docs

With the preset, step 1 is done when the server arrives. Do step 2 the minute you get the IP.

  1. Install. curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sh Docker if needed, Postgres, Redis, Traefik and Dokploy. A couple of minutes.
  2. Finish the setup page now. Open http://your-ip:3000 and create the admin account; it is the first visitor who gets to.
  3. Domain, HTTPS, then close 3000. Give the dashboard a domain in Settings and confirm HTTPS works before you disable IP:port access — Dokploy's docs warn that doing it the other way round locks you out. Then ufw delete allow 3000/tcp.

Honestly

What we would actually buy

The floor is 2 GB and 30 GB. Buy the 8 GB, 100 GB machine that costs less than the floor-sized ones.

For Dokploy and a few apps

BD-8 · $12.90/mo

4 vCPU, 8 GB and 100 GB at $12.90: Dokploy with its Postgres and Redis, Traefik, and three or four applications with their databases, plus disk for images and backups. It does not run our preset, so the install is one pasted line; C2-4-80 at $36.90 arrives with Dokploy running if you would rather not type it.

Deploy BD-8C2-4-80 with Dokploy installed

Questions

What people ask before they buy one.

What does Dokploy require?
Its installation docs say at least 2 GB of RAM and 30 GB of disk on Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora or CentOS, with ports 3000, 80 and 443 free. That is the platform: Dokploy, its Postgres and Redis, and Traefik. The apps you deploy live on the same machine, so buy for them; an 8 GB machine with 100 GB of disk is where it stops being tight.
Is it safe that the preset leaves port 3000 open?
It is how Dokploy installs: the setup page on 3000 must be reachable once so you can create the admin account, and the first visitor gets to. The preset opens it and leaves /root/DOKPLOY-NEXT-STEPS.txt telling you to finish setup at once, give the dashboard a domain with HTTPS, and only then close 3000 — in that order, because Dokploy's docs warn that disabling IP access before HTTPS works locks you out.
Which ports does it use?
3000 for the dashboard, 80 and 443 for Traefik in front of your apps, and 22 for SSH. The preset opens exactly those. Dokploy's installer fails if 80, 443 or 3000 are already taken, which is why it wants a fresh machine.
Docker Compose apps or Git deployments?
Both. Dokploy builds from a Git repository with Nixpacks, a Dockerfile or Buildpacks, or runs a docker-compose file you give it, and it manages Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB and Redis as first-class services with scheduled backups to S3-compatible storage.
Can it manage more than one server?
Yes: remote servers over SSH and Docker Swarm for multi-node setups. A common shape is a small Dokploy box and one or two bigger workers; any plan here can play either role.
Dokploy or Coolify?
Both are one-line self-hosted PaaS on Docker with Git deploys and automatic HTTPS. Dokploy is lighter and closer to Compose and Swarm; Coolify is older, broader and multi-server from the start. They run on the same machines, and we keep a page for each.

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