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Azure Web Apps VS Dokku

Compare Azure Web Apps VS Dokku and see what are their differences

Azure Web Apps logo Azure Web Apps

Create and deploy mission critical Web apps that scale with your business

Dokku logo Dokku

Docker powered mini-Heroku in around 100 lines of Bash
  • Azure Web Apps Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-05
  • Dokku Homepage
    Homepage //
    2024-08-26
  • Dokku Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-24

Azure Web Apps features and specs

  • Scalability
    Azure Web Apps support automatic scaling based on demand, ensuring that your application can handle increased load without manual intervention.
  • Managed Platform
    Microsoft handles the underlying infrastructure, management, and maintenance, allowing developers to focus on building and deploying applications.
  • Integration
    Seamlessly integrates with other Azure services such as Azure SQL Database, Azure Storage, and Azure Functions, providing a comprehensive ecosystem for your application.
  • Security
    Advanced security features including SSL certificates, authentication with Azure Active Directory, and compliance with various industry standards.
  • Continuous Deployment
    Supports continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) pipelines from popular sources including GitHub, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps.
  • Global Reach
    Azure's global network of data centers allows you to deploy your web apps closer to your users, reducing latency and improving performance.

Possible disadvantages of Azure Web Apps

  • Cost
    Can be expensive compared to other hosting options, especially for larger applications with significant traffic and resource requirements.
  • Complexity
    The wide range of features and services can be overwhelming for new users, requiring a learning curve to fully utilize the platform.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Relying heavily on Azure-specific services can make it challenging to migrate to other platforms or cloud providers in the future.
  • Performance
    Shared infrastructure can occasionally lead to inconsistent performance, particularly during peak times or maintenance windows.
  • Customization Limitations
    Lacks some of the customization options available with traditional virtual machines or other hosting solutions, which can be a limitation for specialized requirements.
  • Service Outages
    Like any cloud service, Azure Web Apps can experience occasional outages, which can impact accessibility and availability of your application.

Dokku features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Dokku provides simple commands and clear documentation, making it straightforward to deploy, manage, and scale applications using a process similar to Heroku.
  • Heroku Compatibility
    Dokku uses a Heroku-like buildpack system, which allows users to deploy applications with ease if they are already familiar with Heroku.
  • Cost-Effective
    Being an open-source project, Dokku itself is free to use, which can significantly reduce the cost of deploying applications compared to using premium services.
  • Customizability
    As an open-source tool, Dokku allows for extensive customization according to user needs, offering flexibility in deployment settings and configurations.
  • Plugin System
    Dokku supports a wide range of plugins, enabling users to extend its functionality easily, such as adding database support, monitoring capabilities, and more.

Possible disadvantages of Dokku

  • Initial Setup Complexity
    Setting up Dokku for the first time might be challenging, especially for users with limited experience in server management and Linux administration.
  • Limited Built-In Features
    Compared to fully-managed PaaS solutions, Dokku has fewer built-in features, potentially requiring more effort to implement certain functionalities such as load balancing and extensive monitoring.
  • Scalability Challenges
    While Dokku supports basic scaling, it might not handle extensive scaling needs as efficiently as more robust enterprise-level solutions.
  • Resource Management
    Dokku's resource management capabilities are limited compared to dedicated orchestration tools like Kubernetes, making it less suitable for complex and large-scale application deployments.
  • Community Support
    Even though Dokku has a growing community, it is not as large or as active as some of the more popular platforms, which can limit the availability of community-driven support and resources.

Analysis of Azure Web Apps

Overall verdict

  • Azure Web Apps is a highly reliable and versatile platform for deploying web applications. It offers a rich set of features, scalability, and integration capabilities, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.

Why this product is good

  • Azure Web Apps offers seamless integration with other Azure services, providing a comprehensive cloud ecosystem.
  • It supports multiple programming languages and frameworks, including .NET, Java, Node.js, Python, PHP, and Ruby.
  • Azure Web Apps automatically handles scaling, load balancing, and security updates, which simplifies application management.
  • Built-in DevOps features, such as continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD), streamline development workflows.
  • Global reach with data centers worldwide ensures low latency and high availability for applications.

Recommended for

  • Organizations looking to leverage a robust cloud platform with strong integration into the broader Azure ecosystem.
  • Developers who need to deploy applications using a variety of programming languages and frameworks.
  • Teams requiring scalable, secure, and globally accessible web applications with minimal infrastructure management.

Analysis of Dokku

Overall verdict

  • Dokku is a solid option for teams or developers looking for a cost-effective way to deploy and manage applications with the flexibility of a self-hosted solution. While it might not be as polished or feature-rich as commercial PaaS providers like Heroku or AWS Elastic Beanstalk, its open-source nature and community support make it a reliable choice for those who are comfortable with a bit more hands-on management.

Why this product is good

  • Dokku is often hailed as a self-hosted Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution, which is based on Docker. It simplifies the deployment process by allowing developers to manage applications similar to how they would on Heroku, but with more control and flexibility. Dokku is lightweight, can be scaled easily, and integrates well with various databases and programming languages. It is also open-source and can be installed on any server that supports Docker, making it a cost-effective solution for many projects.

Recommended for

  • Small to medium-sized projects
  • Developers who prefer open-source solutions
  • Teams looking for a Heroku-like experience on their own infrastructure
  • Cost-conscious developers or startups
  • Technical users who are comfortable managing their server environment

Azure Web Apps videos

Comparing Azure Web Apps, VMs and Cloud Services

Dokku videos

00028 Creating Your Own PaaS with Dokku

More videos:

  • Review - Dokku - An open source PAAS alternative to Heroku. You could save $$$ money!
  • Review - Rise Up and Deploy Your Own Heroku-like Service with Dokku in Minutes! #webdevelopment #tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Azure Web Apps and Dokku)
Cloud Hosting
36 36%
64% 64
Cloud Computing
28 28%
72% 72
Backend As A Service
34 34%
66% 66
Network & Admin
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Azure Web Apps and Dokku

Azure Web Apps Reviews

We have no reviews of Azure Web Apps yet.
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Dokku Reviews

35+ Of The Best CI/CD Tools: Organized By Category
Dokku is a great alternative if you’re working with a stringent budget. It’s a miniaturized self-hosted platform as a service. You can deploy applications to it using Git. Because it’s a Heroku derivative, it’s compatible with Heroku apps.
Heroku vs self-hosted PaaS
CapRover is in many ways similar to Dokku. It uses Docker for deployment just like Dokku but CapRover does not support buildpack deployments as it uses Dockerfiles only. This is not necessarily a bad thing since Dockerfile deployments are great in Dokku as well. You don’t have to write your own dockerfiles however for simple deployments as there are multiple defaults for...
Source: www.mskog.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Dokku should be more popular than Azure Web Apps. It has been mentiond 21 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Azure Web Apps mentions (5)

  • How is TLS/HTTPS working and when do you need it
    Do we even need to set up TLS if our back and front end are hosted on services like https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/app-service/web/ or other web hosting platforms? Source: over 3 years ago
  • The 2021 Software Developer Shortage Is Coming
    Https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/app-service/web/ Https://cloud.google.com/appengine. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Azure DevOps Dashboard
    The solution runs on as a single Azure Web App, it uses a background WebJob to collect all the data needed to present in the web dashboard. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
  • Generate PDF files with asp.net core on Azure
    There are many libraries and services to generate PDF files for asp.net core web applications. There are excellent commercial solutions out there, but if you need a free solution, it gets harder. Some libraries are hard to use, or others are limited in functionality. I need a free, easy to use, and quick solution to generate PDF files on an Azure Web App. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago
  • Multitenant server
    You can host multiple Web Apps on the same App Service Plan. That's the easiest way to do it. With Azure SQL you can just create multiple databases to have isolation. Source: about 4 years ago

Dokku mentions (21)

  • Show HN: Wiederhol – GitHub for Checklists
    Android users can install https://wiederhol.com/ as a PWA (Progressive Web Application). Tech stack: Ruby on Rails, React, PostgreSQL, https://dokku.com/ for hosting on Hetzner, https://pwabuilder.com for the iOS app. PS: Wiederhol means 'repeat' (imperative verb form) in German. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Self-Hosting like it's 2025
    I am going to continue to stan for dokku for hosting web apps, docker images included https://dokku.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Deploy a NestJS Application with Dokku
    In this article, we will deploy a NestJS application using Dokku (https://dokku.com). - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Hosting your own PaaS: Open-Source Tools to Help You Exit the Cloud!
    # download the installation script Wget -NP . https://dokku.com/bootstrap.sh # run the installer Sudo DOKKU_TAG=v0.35.10 bash bootstrap.sh # configure your server domain Dokku domains:set-global your-domain.com # add your ssh key to the dokku user PUBLIC_KEY="your-public-key-contents-here" Echo "$PUBLIC_KEY" | dokku ssh-keys:add admin # create your first app Dokku apps:create test-app. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Stop Paying Vercel: Self-Host Unlimited NextJS Apps for $19/month
    Use GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Dokku or any CI/CD tool you prefer. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Azure Web Apps and Dokku, you can also consider the following products

Google App Engine - A powerful platform to build web and mobile apps that scale automatically.

Salesforce Platform - Salesforce Platform is a comprehensive PaaS solution that paves the way for the developers to test, build, and mitigate the issues in the cloud application before the final deployment.

Google Cloud Functions - A serverless platform for building event-based microservices.

AWS Lambda - Automatic, event-driven compute service

Now Platform - Get native platform intelligence, so you can predict, prioritize, and proactively manage the work that matters most with the NOW Platform from ServiceNow.

Heroku - Agile deployment platform for Ruby, Node.js, Clojure, Java, Python, and Scala. Setup takes only minutes and deploys are instant through git. Leave tedious server maintenance to Heroku and focus on your code.

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