Dokku vs Kubernetes

Overview

Kubernetes

Stacks61.2K

Followers52.8K

Votes685

Dokku

Stacks180

Followers216

Votes69

GitHub Stars31.4K

Forks2.0K

Dokku vs Kubernetes: What are the differences?

Automation and Orchestration: Dokku is a simple, lightweight platform that focuses on automating the deployment process by using a simple command-line interface. It is primarily designed for small to medium-sized projects and provides basic deployment and scaling functionalities. In contrast, Kubernetes is a powerful container orchestration platform that offers advanced automation and orchestration capabilities. It enables the management of large-scale containerized applications, automatic scaling, and high availability, making it suitable for complex and scalable projects.
Infrastructure Complexity: Dokku is relatively easy to set up and use as it runs directly on a single server. It simplifies the deployment process by abstracting away the complexity of infrastructure management. On the other hand, Kubernetes is designed to operate on a cluster of multiple servers, which leads to a higher level of complexity. It requires additional infrastructure components like a load balancer and a distributed file system, making it better suited for enterprise-grade applications with more complex infrastructure requirements.
Supported Environments: Dokku is specifically built for deploying applications on a single server, making it suitable for small projects or personal use. It is compatible with popular hosting providers and can be easily set up on a virtual private server. Conversely, Kubernetes is designed to scale and orchestrate applications across multiple servers or clusters, making it a better choice for large-scale production environments. It supports various cloud providers and can be deployed on-premises or in a hybrid cloud setup.
Customizability and Extensibility: Dokku is lightweight and focuses on simplicity, which limits its customization options. It provides a minimal set of features to deploy applications quickly but lacks advanced customizability. In contrast, Kubernetes is highly extensible and customizable. It offers a robust API and includes a wide range of features like service discovery, load balancing, and rolling updates. Kubernetes also provides a vast ecosystem of plugins and extensions that can be used to enhance its functionality based on specific needs.
Community and Support: Dokku has a smaller community compared to Kubernetes. While it has an active community that provides updates and support, the resources and community-driven contributions are not as extensive as Kubernetes. Kubernetes, being an open-source platform developed by Google, has a large and vibrant community. It receives frequent updates and benefits from the contributions of many developers and companies. The extensive community support ensures a more stable and well-maintained platform.
Learning Curve and Complexity: Dokku has a relatively low learning curve and is easy to set up and use for small projects. It provides a straightforward deployment workflow and requires minimal configuration. On the other hand, Kubernetes has a steeper learning curve due to its advanced features and complex architecture. It requires a deeper understanding of containerization, networking, and distributed systems. Setting up and managing a Kubernetes cluster involves more configuration and administrative tasks, making it better suited for experienced DevOps teams.

In Summary, Dokku is a lightweight and simple deployment platform suited for small projects, while Kubernetes is a powerful container orchestration platform designed for large-scale, complex applications with advanced automation and customization options.

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Advice on Kubernetes, Dokku

Simon

Senior Fullstack Developer at QUANTUSflow Software GmbH

Apr 27, 2020

Decidedon

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Our whole DevOps stack consists of the following tools:

@{GitHub}|tool:27| (incl. @{GitHub Pages}|tool:683|/@{Markdown}|tool:1147| for Documentation, GettingStarted and HowTo's) for collaborative review and code management tool
Respectively @{Git}|tool:1046| as revision control system
@{SourceTree}|tool:1599| as @{Git}|tool:1046| GUI
@{Visual Studio Code}|tool:4202| as IDE
@{CircleCI}|tool:190| for continuous integration (automatize development process)
@{Prettier}|tool:7035| / @{TSLint}|tool:5561| / @{ESLint}|tool:3337| as code linter
@{SonarQube}|tool:2638| as quality gate
@{Docker}|tool:586| as container management (incl. @{Docker Compose}|tool:3136| for multi-container application management)
@{VirtualBox}|tool:774| for operating system simulation tests
@{Kubernetes}|tool:1885| as cluster management for docker containers
@{Heroku}|tool:133| for deploying in test environments
@{nginx}|tool:1052| as web server (preferably used as facade server in production environment)
@{SSLMate}|tool:2752| (using @{OpenSSL}|tool:3091|) for certificate management
@{Amazon EC2}|tool:18| (incl. @{Amazon S3}|tool:25|) for deploying in stage (production-like) and production environments
@{PostgreSQL}|tool:1028| as preferred database system
@{Redis}|tool:1031| as preferred in-memory database/store (great for caching)

The main reason we have chosen Kubernetes over Docker Swarm is related to the following artifacts:

Key features: Easy and flexible installation, Clear dashboard, Great scaling operations, Monitoring is an integral part, Great load balancing concepts, Monitors the condition and ensures compensation in the event of failure.
Applications: An application can be deployed using a combination of pods, deployments, and services (or micro-services).
Functionality: Kubernetes as a complex installation and setup process, but it not as limited as Docker Swarm.
Monitoring: It supports multiple versions of logging and monitoring when the services are deployed within the cluster (Elasticsearch/Kibana (ELK), Heapster/Grafana, Sysdig cloud integration).
Scalability: All-in-one framework for distributed systems.
Other Benefits: Kubernetes is backed by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), huge community among container orchestration tools, it is an open source and modular tool that works with any OS.

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Detailed Comparison

Kubernetes	Dokku
Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers. It handles scheduling onto nodes in a compute cluster and actively manages workloads to ensure that their state matches the users declared intentions.	It is an extensible, open source Platform as a Service that runs on a single server of your choice. It helps you build and manage the lifecycle of applications from building to scaling.
Lightweight, simple and accessible;Built for a multi-cloud world, public, private or hybrid;Highly modular, designed so that all of its components are easily swappable	Open source PAAS alternative to Heroku; No vendor lock-in; Getting started is extremely easy; Extensible & customizable
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 31.4K
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 2.0K
Stacks 61.2K	Stacks 180
Followers 52.8K	Followers 216
Votes 685	Votes 69
Pros & Cons
Pros 166 Leading docker container management solution 130 Simple and powerful 108 Open source 76 Backed by google 58 The right abstractions Cons 16 Steep learning curve 15 Poor workflow for development 8 Orchestrates only infrastructure 4 High resource requirements for on-prem clusters 2 Too heavy for simple systems	Pros 23 Simple 12 Open Source 11 Free 11 Built on Docker 4 Git deploy
Integrations
Vagrant Docker Rackspace Cloud Servers Microsoft Azure Google Compute Engine Ansible Google Kubernetes Engine	Ubuntu Semaphore Drone.io CloudBees Arch Linux GitLab CI Travis CI CircleCI GitHub Actions Debian

What are some alternatives to Kubernetes, Dokku?

Heroku

Heroku is a cloud application platform – a new way of building and deploying web apps. Heroku lets app developers spend 100% of their time on their application code, not managing servers, deployment, ongoing operations, or scaling.

Clever Cloud

Clever Cloud is a polyglot cloud application platform. The service helps developers to build applications with many languages and services, with auto-scaling features and a true pay-as-you-go pricing model.

Rancher

Rancher is an open source container management platform that includes full distributions of Kubernetes, Apache Mesos and Docker Swarm, and makes it simple to operate container clusters on any cloud or infrastructure platform.

Google App Engine

Google has a reputation for highly reliable, high performance infrastructure. With App Engine you can take advantage of the 10 years of knowledge Google has in running massively scalable, performance driven systems. App Engine applications are easy to build, easy to maintain, and easy to scale as your traffic and data storage needs grow.

Red Hat OpenShift

OpenShift is Red Hat's Cloud Computing Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering. OpenShift is an application platform in the cloud where application developers and teams can build, test, deploy, and run their applications.

Docker Compose

With Compose, you define a multi-container application in a single file, then spin your application up in a single command which does everything that needs to be done to get it running.

Docker Swarm

Swarm serves the standard Docker API, so any tool which already communicates with a Docker daemon can use Swarm to transparently scale to multiple hosts: Dokku, Compose, Krane, Deis, DockerUI, Shipyard, Drone, Jenkins... and, of course, the Docker client itself.

AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Once you upload your application, Elastic Beanstalk automatically handles the deployment details of capacity provisioning, load balancing, auto-scaling, and application health monitoring.

Tutum

Tutum lets developers easily manage and run lightweight, portable, self-sufficient containers from any application. AWS-like control, Heroku-like ease. The same container that a developer builds and tests on a laptop can run at scale in Tutum.

Render

Render is a unified platform to build and run all your apps and websites with free SSL, a global CDN, private networks and auto deploys from Git.

Related Comparisons

Dokku vs Kubernetes: What are the differences?

Automation and Orchestration: Dokku is a simple, lightweight platform that focuses on automating the deployment process by using a simple command-line interface. It is primarily designed for small to medium-sized projects and provides basic deployment and scaling functionalities. In contrast, Kubernetes is a powerful container orchestration platform that offers advanced automation and orchestration capabilities. It enables the management of large-scale containerized applications, automatic scaling, and high availability, making it suitable for complex and scalable projects.
Infrastructure Complexity: Dokku is relatively easy to set up and use as it runs directly on a single server. It simplifies the deployment process by abstracting away the complexity of infrastructure management. On the other hand, Kubernetes is designed to operate on a cluster of multiple servers, which leads to a higher level of complexity. It requires additional infrastructure components like a load balancer and a distributed file system, making it better suited for enterprise-grade applications with more complex infrastructure requirements.
Supported Environments: Dokku is specifically built for deploying applications on a single server, making it suitable for small projects or personal use. It is compatible with popular hosting providers and can be easily set up on a virtual private server. Conversely, Kubernetes is designed to scale and orchestrate applications across multiple servers or clusters, making it a better choice for large-scale production environments. It supports various cloud providers and can be deployed on-premises or in a hybrid cloud setup.
Customizability and Extensibility: Dokku is lightweight and focuses on simplicity, which limits its customization options. It provides a minimal set of features to deploy applications quickly but lacks advanced customizability. In contrast, Kubernetes is highly extensible and customizable. It offers a robust API and includes a wide range of features like service discovery, load balancing, and rolling updates. Kubernetes also provides a vast ecosystem of plugins and extensions that can be used to enhance its functionality based on specific needs.
Community and Support: Dokku has a smaller community compared to Kubernetes. While it has an active community that provides updates and support, the resources and community-driven contributions are not as extensive as Kubernetes. Kubernetes, being an open-source platform developed by Google, has a large and vibrant community. It receives frequent updates and benefits from the contributions of many developers and companies. The extensive community support ensures a more stable and well-maintained platform.
Learning Curve and Complexity: Dokku has a relatively low learning curve and is easy to set up and use for small projects. It provides a straightforward deployment workflow and requires minimal configuration. On the other hand, Kubernetes has a steeper learning curve due to its advanced features and complex architecture. It requires a deeper understanding of containerization, networking, and distributed systems. Setting up and managing a Kubernetes cluster involves more configuration and administrative tasks, making it better suited for experienced DevOps teams.

Dokku vs Kubernetes

Overview