Deploy Coolify

An open-source, self-hostable PaaS alternative to Vercel, Heroku & Netlify that lets you easily deploy static sites, databases, full-stack applications and 280+ one-click services on your own servers.

⭐ 50.4k stars📜 Apache License 2.0🔴 Advanced⏱ ~20 minutes

A fully operational Coolify instance. Think of Coolify as a self-hosted Vercel or Heroku. Once installed, it manages your other Docker containers, handles deployments from GitHub/GitLab, and provides an integrated reverse proxy.

🚀 Self-Hosting Level: If you only deploy one thing, let it be Coolify. It makes deploying everything else 10x easier.

Prerequisites

A server with Docker and Docker Compose installed (setup guide)
A domain name pointed to your server (optional but recommended)
Basic terminal access (SSH)

The Config

Create a directory for Coolify and add this docker-compose.yml:


# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 🚀 Created and distributed by The AltStack
# 🌍 https://thealtstack.com
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
# Docker Compose for Coolify
# Note: Coolify is a self-hosted PaaS.
version: '3.8'
 
services:
  coolify:
    image: ghcr.io/coollabsio/coolify:latest
    container_name: coolify
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    environment:
      - APP_ENV=production
      - DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
      - DB_HOST=db
      - DB_DATABASE=coolify
      - DB_USERNAME=coolify
      - DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD:-password}
    volumes:
      - coolify_data:/var/www/html/storage
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock # Essential for controlling Docker
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    networks:
      - coolify_net
    healthcheck:
      test: [ "CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8000/api/health" ]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
    restart: unless-stopped
 
  db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    container_name: coolify-db
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: coolify
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-password}
      POSTGRES_DB: coolify
    volumes:
      - coolify_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - coolify_net
    healthcheck:
      test: [ "CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U coolify" ]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
 
networks:
  coolify_net:
    driver: bridge
 
volumes:
  coolify_data:
    name: coolify_data
  coolify_db_data:
    name: coolify_db_data

Let’s Ship It


# Create a directory
mkdir -p /opt/coolify && cd /opt/coolify
 
# Create the docker-compose.yml (paste the config above)
nano docker-compose.yml
 
# Pull images and start
docker compose up -d
 
# Watch the logs
docker compose logs -f

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Required
`APP_ENV`	`production`	No
`DB_CONNECTION`	`pgsql`	No
`DB_HOST`	`db`	No
`DB_DATABASE`	`coolify`	No
`DB_USERNAME`	`coolify`	No
`DB_PASSWORD`	`${DB_PASSWORD:-password}`	No

Post-Deployment Checklist

Service is accessible on the configured port
Admin account created (if applicable)
Reverse proxy configured (Caddy guide)
SSL/HTTPS working
Backup script set up (backup guide)
Uptime monitor added (Uptime Kuma)

The “I Broke It” Section

Container won’t start?


docker compose logs coolify | tail -50

Port already in use?


# Find what's using the port
lsof -i :PORT_NUMBER

Need to start fresh?


docker compose down -v  # ⚠️ This deletes volumes/data!
docker compose up -d