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Heroku → Coolify

medium

Coolify is a self-hosted Heroku on your own VPS. Git push deploy, built-in databases, SSL, and all the DX — for the cost of a $5/mo VPS.

Estimated: 2-4h · 6 steps
Progress0%
Step 1: Provision a VPS

Hetzner CX21 (€4/mo) or similar. Ubuntu 22.04. Minimum 2 CPU, 4GB RAM.

Step 2: Install Coolify
curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | bash
Step 3: Connect your VPS

Coolify dashboard (port 8000) → Servers → Add Server. Add your VPS SSH credentials.

Step 4: Import GitHub repo

New Resource → Application → GitHub. Coolify detects Procfile, Dockerfile, or Nixpacks buildpack.

Step 5: Add databases

New Resource → PostgreSQL/Redis. Auto-configured internal networking. Copy DATABASE_URL to app environment.

Step 6: Migrate data
heroku pg:backups:download && pg_restore -d $COOLIFY_DATABASE_URL latest.dump
✓ App deploys on git push. Custom domain working with SSL.
Get started with Coolify →

What this migration involves

Moving from Heroku to Coolify is rated medium and takes about 2-4h on a typical project. The guide breaks it into 6 steps, 2 of which ship with runnable commands and 1 with a verification check.

FAQ

How long does migrating from Heroku to Coolify take?

Around 2-4h for a typical project — 6 steps, difficulty rated medium, 2 of them with copy-paste commands.

Is moving from Heroku to Coolify reversible?

No reverse guide is tracked yet, so treat this as a one-way move and keep a full export of your Heroku data before you start.

What does Coolify cost compared to Heroku?

Coolify: open-source from $0/mo, free plan available.