Dokploy vs Hatchbox (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Dokploy grades higher than Hatchbox: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Dokploy grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Hatchbox grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Dokploy
Open-source platform to deploy apps and databases on your own servers
Hatchbox
Deploy Rails and Ruby apps to servers you own, billed per server
Which one is for you
Pick Dokploy if
- Fits if you want to run apps on your own servers with a dashboard
- Works for solo developers on the Hobby plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you want a team: Hobby allows 1 user, 1 organization and 2 environments
- Watch out: you bring the servers, and extra ones are $4.50 a month each
- Skip it if you need roles, 2FA or chat support, which start on Startup
- Not for you if you need SSO, SCIM or audit logs, which need Enterprise
Pick Hatchbox if
- Fits if you run Rails and want servers in your own DigitalOcean or Hetzner account
- Works for people with several apps who want a flat fee per server
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, since there is none
- Tight if you dislike giving a card first: the 7-day trial needs a payment method
- Watch out: the cloud server is billed separately at the provider's list price on top of $15
- Not for you if you want hands-off hosting, as you still run your own servers
- Watch out: the pricing page has a Yearly toggle but lists no yearly plan
How we grade them
| 2.2GPADokployFair | 2.0GPAHatchboxFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BHobby is $4.50 per server a month, inside the cheaper quarter, and you bring the servers. | C$15 a server a month with unlimited apps, level with the $10.99 middle of hosting. The server itself is billed by your cloud provider on top. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 7-day trial with no card. After that, nothing free on Cloud, though the software is described as open source. | DA 7-day free trial that needs a payment method, with billing starting after day 7. No free plan. |
| Features | CBuilds, multi-server deploys, backups, templates, monitoring, API, CLI and MCP. Hobby is limited to 1 user, 2 environments and 1 backup per database. | CServer setup, Rails-aware zero-downtime deploys, workers, cron, databases, SSL and a beta MCP server. The vendor says it is not a hands-off replacement for Heroku. |
| Ease of use | DYou connect and run your own servers, which takes command-line and server skills. | CNo store rating on record. You connect a cloud account or Ubuntu server and keep SSH access to run it. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb dashboard with an API, CLI, MCP server and several integrations. | BWeb dashboard with DigitalOcean, Hetzner, AWS, Linode, Vultr, AppSignal, Honeybadger and Sidekiq. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | self-hosted deploys with a cloud option | deploying Rails apps to your own cloud servers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Dokploy and Hatchbox. How we grade
Price against what you get
Dokploy starts at $4.50 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Hatchbox starts at $15 a month and scores 2.3.
Hatchbox scores higher, and starts $10.50 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 11 score higher than Dokploy for less, and 5 score higher than Hatchbox for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Dokploy is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Dokploy | Hatchbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $4.50 per server / month on the Cloud Hobby plan | $15 per server / month |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial on Dokploy Cloud, no credit card required. | 7-day free trial; a payment method is required at checkout and billing starts after day 7. |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Dokploy | Hatchbox |
| Price read from | dokploy.com | hatchbox.io |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Dokploy
- The Cloud plans are priced per connected server, and you bring the servers; extra servers cost $4.50 a month each.
- The Hobby plan allows 1 user, 1 organization, 2 environments, 1 backup per database and 1 scheduled job per application.
- Role-based permissions, 2FA and email and chat support start on the Startup plan; SSO, SCIM and audit logs need Enterprise.
- The yearly toggle shows a 20% discount but only monthly figures are in the page text; a self-hosted Enterprise option is listed, and the docs call the software free and open source
Hatchbox
- The server is paid separately to the cloud provider at its list price, on top of $15 a month per server Hatchbox manages.
- There is no free plan, and the trial needs a payment method.
- The vendor says it is not a hands-off replacement for Heroku: you still run your own servers.
- The pricing page has a Yearly toggle but lists no yearly plan.
Key features
Dokploy
- Flexible builds
- Applications can be built with Nixpacks, Heroku Buildpacks or a custom Dockerfile, and Docker Compose is supported natively.
- Multi-server deployment
- Applications can be deployed to remote servers, and Docker Swarm clusters are supported for multi-node setups.
- Databases with backups
- MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB and Redis can be managed and backed up from the dashboard.
- Templates
- Open-source templates deploy popular apps such as Supabase, Cal.com and PocketBase in one click.
- Monitoring and notifications
- CPU, memory and network usage are shown in real time, with alerts sent to channels such as Slack, Discord, Telegram and email.
- API, CLI and MCP
- A REST API and a command-line tool are included, and AI tools can connect to Dokploy through MCP.
Hatchbox
- Your own servers
- Servers are created in your DigitalOcean, Hetzner, AWS, Linode or Vultr account, or you can bring an Ubuntu server, and you keep full SSH access.
- Rails-aware deploys
- Rails is detected from the Gemfile; the Ruby version comes from the repo and Puma runs behind Caddy, with zero-downtime deployments.
- Workers and cron
- Sidekiq or Solid Queue workers, other processes, cron jobs, environment variables and streaming logs are managed in the dashboard.
- Databases
- PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis and SQLite can run on the server, or managed databases can be connected with environment variables.
- Automatic SSL
- Caddy handles SSL redirects, and On-Demand TLS issues certificates for custom domains.
- MCP server (beta)
- A beta MCP server lets Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or another MCP client ask what is deployed and investigate failing jobs.
Plans
Dokploy
Hobby$4.50
per server / month
Unlimited deployments, databases and applications on 1 server, with 1 user, 1 organization and 2 environments. Community support on Discord.
Startup$15
per month, starting at, with extra servers at $4.50 each
Up to 3 servers, 3 organizations, unlimited users and environments, basic roles (Admin, Developer), 2FA, and email and chat support.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited servers, fine-grained roles, SSO/SAML, SCIM, audit logs, white labeling and priority support, available hosted or self-installed. Sold through sales.
Hatchbox
Standard$15
per server / month
Unlimited apps and team members, zero-downtime deployments, hosted Hatchbox domains, custom domains with SSL and human support.
Ways to pay less
Dokploy
- Annual discount
20% off with yearly billing
The pricing page's billing toggle labels yearly billing as a 20% discount; the yearly figures are not shown in the page text.
Hatchbox
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dokploy or Hatchbox?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Dokploy is cheaper to start with: $4.50 a month, against $15 a month for Hatchbox. Dokploy starts at $4.50 per server / month on the Cloud Hobby plan, and Hatchbox starts at $15 per server / month.
Which has a free plan, Dokploy or Hatchbox?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Dokploy nor Hatchbox has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.