dokkuvsSenate
Two self-hosted Heroku alternatives, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| dokku | Senate | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 77/100 | 29/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 14 in Platform as a Service | #20 of 20 in Application Management |
| GitHub stars | 32 205 | 20 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +51 | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 23 | 10 |
| Latest release | v0.38.32 · 25 Oct 2026 | v0.3.2 · 21 Jan 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | MIT | — |
| Main language | Go | — |
Which one should you pick?
dokku scores 77/100 against 29/100 for Senate, so it is the safer default.
dokku ships more often: 23 stable releases in the past year, against 10 for Senate.
If you want the quickest setup, Senate is easier to run; dokku needs more configuration.
dokku is growing faster right now (+51 stars in 30 days).
dokku details →Senate details → All Heroku alternatives →