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7 jobs · 14 apps

Best open source software for solo developers

For a solo developer, a self-hosted stack starts with Coolify for deploying apps, Supabase for the backend and Uptime Kuma for monitoring.

A one-person dev stack: deploy, back end, monitoring, analytics and automation, all self-hostable and ranked with the solo-developer profile.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed daily

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    Coolify

    coollabsio/coolify

    Self-hostable Heroku, Netlify and Vercel alternative that deploys apps, databases and services to your servers.

    Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026

    Self-hosting PlatformsPHPDocker

    Stands out for a permissive Apache-2.0 license. Coolify has 65,110 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 5,095 commits in the last year; it replaces Heroku and Vercel.

  2. Rank 2:

    Dokploy

    Dokploy/dokploy

    Self-hostable PaaS to deploy apps and databases with Docker, Traefik and a clean dashboard.

    Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026

    Self-hosting PlatformsTypeScriptDocker

    Stands out for the newest codebase (created April 2024). Dokploy has 38,087 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,831 commits in the last year; it replaces Heroku and Vercel.

At a glance

Open source software for solo developers compared

Each section takes the top-ranked apps in one catalog category, scored on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits; an app appears only once. Projects with fewer than 12 commits in the last 12 months rank below every more active project.

Top 10 picks compared, data as of Oct 28, 2026
AppStands out forLicenseGitHub starsCommits (12 mo)Last commitDocker image
Coolifya permissive Apache-2.0 licenseApache-2.065,1105,095Oct 28, 2026Yes
Dokploythe newest codebase (created April 2024)Apache-2.038,0872,831Oct 28, 2026Yes
Supabasethe most GitHub starsApache-2.0114,2266,324Oct 28, 2026Yes
Appwritethe most commits in the last 12 months (21,189)BSD-3-Clause57,78621,189Oct 28, 2026Yes
Uptime Kumaa permissive MIT licenseMIT93,0181,361Oct 28, 2026Yes
Netdata–GPL-3.081,1992,752Oct 28, 2026Yes
Metabase–AGPL-3.049,8817,206Oct 28, 2026Yes
Umami–MIT39,7421,417Oct 27, 2026Yes
n8n–source-available, Sustainable Use License 1.0208,84010,360Oct 28, 2026Yes
Apache Airflow–Apache-2.047,2938,771Oct 28, 2026Yes

1 of 7 · 2 picks

Deploy and host

  1. 1

    Coolify

    Self-hostable Heroku, Netlify and Vercel alternative that deploys apps, databases and services to your servers.

    Stands out for a permissive Apache-2.0 license. Coolify has 65,110 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 5,095 commits in the last year; it replaces Heroku and Vercel.

  2. 2

    Dokploy

    Self-hostable PaaS to deploy apps and databases with Docker, Traefik and a clean dashboard.

    Stands out for the newest codebase (created April 2024). Dokploy has 38,087 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,831 commits in the last year; it replaces Heroku and Vercel.

2 of 7 · 2 picks

Backend

  1. 1

    Supabase

    Postgres development platform with auth, realtime, storage and edge functions, the open-source Firebase alternative.

    Stands out for the most GitHub stars. Supabase has 114,226 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 6,324 commits in the last year; it replaces Firebase.

  2. 2

    Appwrite

    End to end backend server for web, native, and mobile developers 🚀.

    Stands out for the most commits in the last 12 months (21,189). Appwrite has 57,786 GitHub stars, uses the BSD-3-Clause license, ships a Docker image and had 21,189 commits in the last year; it replaces Firebase and Supabase.

3 of 7 · 2 picks

Monitoring

  1. 1

    Uptime Kuma

    Easy-to-use self-hosted uptime monitor with status pages and 90+ notification channels.

    Stands out for a permissive MIT license. Uptime Kuma has 93,018 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,361 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Uptime Robot.

  2. 2

    Netdata

    Real-time infrastructure monitoring with per-second metrics and zero-config dashboards.

    Netdata has 81,199 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,752 commits in the last year; it replaces Datadog and Pingdom.

4 of 7 · 2 picks

Analytics

  1. 1

    Metabase

    Easy way for everyone in your company to ask questions and learn from data.

    Metabase has 49,881 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 7,206 commits in the last year; it replaces Metabase Cloud and Tableau.

  2. 2

    Umami

    Simple, fast, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics.

    Umami has 39,742 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,417 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics.

5 of 7 · 2 picks

Automation

  1. 1

    n8n

    Free node based Workflow Automation Tool. Easily automate tasks across different services.

    n8n has 208,840 GitHub stars, is source-available under the Sustainable Use License 1.0 (not an open-source license), ships a Docker image and had 10,360 commits in the last year; it replaces Zapier and IFTTT.

  2. 2

    Apache Airflow

    Platform to programmatically author, schedule, and monitor workflows.

    Apache Airflow has 47,293 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 8,771 commits in the last year.

6 of 7 · 2 picks

Developer tools

  1. 1

    OpenHands

    Platform for AI software development agents that write code and run commands.

    AI-nativeOpenHands has 92,067 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 3,361 commits in the last year.

  2. 2

    code-server

    VS Code in the browser, hosted on a remote server.

    code-server has 79,721 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 336 commits in the last year.

7 of 7 · 2 picks

Backups

  1. 1

    Duplicati

    Free backup software that stores encrypted, incremental backups on cloud storage and servers.

    Duplicati has 15,172 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 2,792 commits in the last year.

  2. 2

    Kopia

    Cross-platform backup tool with encryption, deduplication and a web UI.

    Kopia has 14,511 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 439 commits in the last year.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the cheapest way to self-host as a solo developer?

One VPS with Docker and a self-hosting platform such as Coolify or Dokploy can run your apps, databases and these tools side by side. Add off-site backups first.

Is Coolify free?

Yes. Coolify is open-source software released under the Apache-2.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Can I run this stack with Docker?

All 14 apps here publish Docker images, including Coolify, Dokploy and Supabase, so most of the stack can run side by side with Docker Compose on one server. Size the server for the heaviest app and add off-site backups.

How is this list ranked?

Each section takes the top-ranked apps in one catalog category, scored on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits; an app appears only once. Projects with fewer than 12 commits in the last 12 months rank below every more active project.

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