A self-hosted Heroku alternative: deploy with git push on your own VPS

How to get the Heroku and Vercel git-push experience on a server you control, with automatic builds, SSL and databases — and no per-app platform bill.

2 min read[self-hosting][heroku][docker][tutorial]

— DeployKit Team

Platforms like Heroku and Vercel made one idea mainstream: push to git and your app is live. The trade-off is that you rent that convenience per app, per seat and per gigabyte, on infrastructure you don't control.

A self-hosted PaaS gives you the same workflow on a server you own. This post walks through what that means in practice and how to set it up with DeployKit.

Why self-host your deployments?

  • Predictable cost. One VPS runs many apps and databases. The bill doesn't grow with every new service.
  • No vendor lock-in. Underneath it's plain Docker, Compose and Traefik. Uninstall the platform and your containers keep running.
  • Your data stays yours. Databases, logs and environment variables live on your own disks.

What you need

  • A Linux VPS with a public IP (2 GB of RAM is a comfortable start).
  • A domain whose DNS you can edit.
  • Node.js 20+ on the server, only to run the installer CLI.

1. Install DeployKit on the server

SSH into the server and run the installer:

bash
npm i -g @deploykit/cli && deploykit install

The installer sets up the dashboard behind Traefik, which issues Let's Encrypt certificates automatically for every domain you add. The installation guide covers the requirements and options in detail.

2. Connect a repository

From the dashboard, create an application and link a GitHub or GitLab repository. DeployKit registers the webhook for you, so every push to the selected branch triggers a deploy.

You don't need a Dockerfile: Nixpacks detects Node.js, Python, Go, Ruby, Rust and more, and builds the image. If you already have a Dockerfile, DeployKit uses it instead.

3. Push to deploy

bash
git push origin main

DeployKit detects the stack, builds the image, starts the container and routes your domain to it with HTTPS. Build and runtime logs stream live to the dashboard, and if a release goes wrong you can roll back to any previous deployment in one click.

4. Add a database

PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB and Redis are one click away, with scheduled backups and one-click restore. Connection strings go into your app as environment variables, encrypted at rest.

Heroku vs. a self-hosted PaaS

Heroku-style PaaS Self-hosted with DeployKit
Cost model Per app / dyno Your server, any number of apps
Where data lives Provider Your own disks
Lock-in Platform-specific Plain Docker underneath
Git-push deploys Yes Yes

Next steps

Read the quickstart to deploy your first app, or browse the full documentation to explore preview deployments, scheduled tasks and multi-server setups.

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