Cloudways

Best Self-hosted Alternatives to Cloudways

A curated collection of the 5 best self hosted alternatives to Cloudways.

Managed cloud hosting platform that provisions and manages servers on public cloud providers, enabling deployment of web apps (WordPress, PHP, Laravel). Provides automated server provisioning, security controls, backups, monitoring, scaling and performance management.

Alternatives List

#1
Dokploy

Dokploy

Open-source self-hostable PaaS for deploying containerized applications and managing databases with Docker Compose, Traefik, monitoring, and backups.

Dokploy screenshot

Dokploy is an open-source, self-hostable Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) that simplifies deploying and managing containerized applications and databases across multiple servers. It provides a web UI, CLI and API for application lifecycle, database management, backups, monitoring and notifications.

Key Features

  • Deploy applications using Dockerfiles, Nixpacks, or Heroku-style buildpacks; native Docker Compose support for multi-service apps.
  • Multi-server deployments and clustering using Docker Swarm, with centralized management of nodes and containers.
  • Database provisioning and management for MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB and Redis, including automated backups to external storage.
  • Traefik integration for routing and TLS management, plus real-time resource monitoring (CPU, memory, network) and alerting.
  • CLI and REST API access, templates for common OSS stacks, and community-contributed templates and add-ons.

Use Cases

  • Host multiple web services and microservices on a single control plane for small teams or VPS fleets.
  • Manage and back up self-hosted databases (Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis) with scheduled backups and restores.
  • Deploy complex Docker Compose stacks (e.g., web app + DB + worker) with centralized logs, metrics, and rolling updates.

Limitations and Considerations

  • Multi-node scaling relies on Docker Swarm; there is no native Kubernetes control plane integration documented in the main project. This may limit integration with Kubernetes-native tooling or teams standardized on Kubernetes.

Dokploy is actively maintained and community-driven, focused on giving developers a developer-friendly, self-hosted PaaS alternative to managed services. It is best suited for teams who prefer Docker Compose/Swarm and want integrated DB management, monitoring, and backups under a single interface.

30.9kstars
2.1kforks
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#2
Zoraxy

Zoraxy

A general-purpose HTTP reverse proxy and forwarding tool for homelabs, offering web UI, ACME/TLS, stream proxy, plugins and realtime monitoring.

Zoraxy screenshot

Zoraxy is a general-purpose HTTP reverse-proxy and forwarding gateway designed for homelab and self-hosted services. It provides a web UI for configuring proxies, TLS, routing and runtime utilities so users can expose and manage services from a single gateway.

Key Features

  • HTTP reverse proxy supporting virtual directories, alias hostnames and custom headers.
  • Automatic WebSocket proxying and stream proxy support for TCP/UDP forwarding.
  • TLS/SSL management with ACME (Let's Encrypt) support, auto-renew and SNI/SAN certificate handling; includes DNS challenge integrations.
  • Load balancing, basic auth, redirection rules and blacklist/whitelist controls (IP/CIDR/country).
  • Real-time analytics and uptime monitoring with instant network/visitor statistics and no-reload access control.
  • Plugin system and built-in utilities (mDNS scanner, Wake-on-LAN, IP/port scanners, debug forward proxy).
  • Web-based SSH terminal for in-browser administration.

Use Cases

  • Expose and route multiple self-hosted web apps (home server, NAS, media servers) behind a single, manageable reverse proxy.
  • Provide TLS/ACME certificate automation and DNS-challenge workflows for services without manual cert management.
  • Monitor service availability and traffic in real time, and run network utilities (scans, WOL) from the gateway UI.

Limitations and Considerations

  • Some advanced modules are community-maintained or seeking maintainers (notably ACME integration improvements and an extended logging/analysis module), which may affect feature completeness for large-scale deployments.

Zoraxy is lightweight and targeted at homelab users and small deployments that need a single gateway for routing, TLS and basic observability. It is distributed with prebuilt binaries and Docker artifacts and can be built from source with Go, making it suitable for ARM/SBC and x86 environments.

5kstars
277forks
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#3
Squirrel Servers Manager

Squirrel Servers Manager

Self-hosted, UI-focused tool to manage servers over SSH with Ansible playbooks, Docker container visibility, automations, and Prometheus-backed metrics.

Squirrel Servers Manager screenshot

Squirrel Servers Manager (SSM) is an all-in-one, UI-focused tool for managing servers, configurations, and containers. It is designed to be agentless and operates over SSH, combining Ansible-driven configuration automation with Docker management and monitoring.

Key Features

  • Agentless server management over SSH (no host agents required)
  • Ansible playbook management and execution (local and remote playbooks)
  • Docker container visibility with basic statistics and update notifications
  • Metrics and statistics for hosts (CPU, RAM, and more) with anomaly detection
  • Automation triggers based on events such as playbook runs and container actions
  • Secrets handling designed around Ansible Vault and bcrypt-based credential storage
  • “Collections” to install open-source services on managed devices with one click

Use Cases

  • Homelab or small-fleet operations for managing Linux hosts and Docker workloads from a single UI
  • Standardizing server configuration via Ansible playbooks with auditable execution
  • Lightweight monitoring and operational automation without deploying agents

Limitations and Considerations

  • The project is described as an alpha/work-in-progress and may not be production-ready
  • Some integrations are listed as planned/coming soon rather than fully available

SSM is a good fit for teams and individuals who want an approachable interface for Ansible and Docker workflows while keeping deployments agentless. It aims to cover day-to-day operations like deployment, monitoring, and automation from one dashboard.

1kstars
38forks
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#4
Dockwatch

Dockwatch

Dockwatch provides a web UI to monitor Docker containers, schedule and apply image updates, send configurable notifications, run commands, and perform mass container maintenance.

Dockwatch screenshot

Dockwatch is a PHP-based web application that helps manage Docker containers by monitoring state changes, scheduling and applying image updates, and sending configurable notifications. It exposes a browser UI for container control, mass actions, task scheduling and interactive shells.

Key Features

  • Monitor container lifecycle events and resource thresholds (CPU/memory)
  • Detect available image tag updates and apply updates per-container with cron-style schedules
  • Send notifications to multiple platforms with per-container triggers and filters
  • Mass actions for containers (start/stop/restart/pull/update) and prune orphan images, volumes, and networks
  • Interactive web shell access and scheduled command execution for containers
  • Grouped container table views, icon matching for containers, and generation of docker run / docker-compose snippets

Use Cases

  • Keep Docker hosts up to date by automatically checking and applying image tag updates on a schedule
  • Send alerts for container state changes, resource pressure, or completed update tasks to chat platforms
  • Perform bulk maintenance across many containers and perform scheduled container-specific commands

Limitations and Considerations

  • Focused on Docker Engine; does not provide native Kubernetes orchestration or cluster-aware rolling updates
  • Update process is cron/schedule-driven and not intended as a full-featured deployment orchestration tool
  • Requires access to the Docker API/socket on the host, which may need careful privilege management

Dockwatch is suited for operators who need a lightweight, UI-driven tool to automate container updates, notifications, and routine maintenance tasks on Docker hosts. It emphasizes per-container control, notification integrations, and simple automation rather than complex orchestration.

314stars
11forks
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#5
HomelabOS

HomelabOS

HomelabOS is an Ansible and Docker-based app platform to deploy, update, back up, and run 100+ self-hosted services with a simple “app store” experience.

HomelabOS screenshot

HomelabOS is a self-hosted platform that helps you deploy and manage a large catalog of services on your own servers. It focuses on reproducible setup, security defaults, and keeping services usable on a local network even when the internet is unavailable.

Key Features

  • Curated “app store” catalog for deploying 100+ self-hosted services
  • Automated provisioning and configuration using Ansible
  • Container-based service deployment (Docker)
  • Built-in backup and restore workflows using restic
  • Optional S3-compatible backup targets (for example via MinIO)
  • Security-oriented defaults for common homelab deployments
  • Optional Tor hidden service configuration for exposing apps without port forwarding
  • Optional Terraform workflow to deploy a bastion/reverse-proxy host

Use Cases

  • Quickly stand up a homelab with common apps (chat, file sync, media, home automation)
  • Create a more private alternative to multiple SaaS subscriptions under one admin workflow
  • Run LAN-first services that continue working during internet outages

Limitations and Considerations

  • App availability, updates, and configuration options depend on the maintained catalog/roles
  • Managing many containers and backups can require planning for storage and system resources

HomelabOS is best suited for homelab operators who want an opinionated, automated way to deploy many services consistently. It combines infrastructure automation with a large app catalog to reduce ongoing maintenance overhead.

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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running