Cosmos

A home server manager and secure gateway that protects self-hosted apps with authentication, anti-DDoS shielding, HTTPS and a built-in app store.

6.2k stars, 252 forks Go On GitHub since February 2023

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is Cosmos?

Cosmos sits in front of your self-hosted applications as a reverse proxy and security layer. It adds single sign-on with multi-factor authentication, automatic HTTPS, and a shield against bots and denial-of-service attacks, aiming to fix the problem of vulnerable apps exposed from home servers. It also manages Docker containers, offers an app store, handles backups and storage, and includes its own VPN for reaching services remotely. It runs on servers, NAS devices and Raspberry Pis, and 12 translations of the interface are available.

Good fit if

  • You expose home services to the internet and worry about their security.
  • You want proxy, SSO and container management in one tool.

Look elsewhere if

  • You need an OSI-approved license: YunoHost is AGPL.
  • You only want an app store for your home server: Runtipi.

Before you adopt it

Cosmos is Apache-2.0 with the Commons Clause, which makes it source-available rather than open source: you may not sell it or a service whose value comes from it. Contributors sign a CLA, and one developer writes about 94% of the code.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 30 October 2026. Report a correction

Cosmos health: is it still maintained?

58 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    30 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 30 August 2026.
    18 / 30
  • Contributors
    3 people wrote the 30 commits of the last 90 days; the most active wrote 93% of them.
    5 / 20
  • Releases
    3 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v0.23.4, on 30 August 2026.
    15 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 65% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 2 days.
    15 / 20
  • Security practices
    No OpenSSF Scorecard for this repository yet, so this part gets a neutral score.
    5 / 10

Read from GitHub on 1 November 2026. How the score works

Cosmos license: is it open source?

Cosmos uses Apache-2.0 + Commons Clause. It is source-available, not an OSI-approved open-source license: the code is public, but the license restricts how you may use it, usually commercially. Contributors sign a contributor license agreement, which lets the owner relicense their work later.

  1. February 2023First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayApache-2.0 + Commons Clause. A contributor license agreement is required.

How to run Cosmos yourself

Docker
No Docker files in the repository
Compose file
None in the repository
Setup effort
Not rated: no compose file to judge from
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
Builds for macOS, Linux, including ARM in GitHub releases
Interface languages
12 languages

Install instructions: cosmos-cloud.io or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to Cosmos

  • UmbrelAn elegant home server OS. Run OpenClaw, store your files and, and do more with over 300 apps in the Umbrel… 58 health · PolyForm license · 12.5k stars
  • CoolifyAn open-source, self-hostable PaaS alternative to Vercel, Heroku & Netlify that lets you easily deploy… 78 health · Apache-2.0 · 65.5k stars
  • DokkuA docker-powered PaaS that helps you build and manage the lifecycle of applications 78 health · MIT · 32.2k stars
  • KuberoA free and self-hosted PaaS alternative to Heroku / Netlify / Coolify / Vercel / Dokku / Portainer running… 35 health · GPL-3.0 · 4.5k stars
  • DokployOpen Source Alternative to Vercel, Netlify and Heroku. 86 health · Apache-2.0 · 38.2k stars

All 25 projects in Self-hosting & PaaS

Questions about Cosmos

Is Cosmos open source?

Not by the OSI definition. Cosmos uses Apache-2.0 + Commons Clause, which makes the code public but restricts how it may be used.

Is Cosmos still maintained?

Its health score is 58 of 100 (actively developed). It had 30 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 30 August 2026, and its latest release came out on 30 August 2026.

How do I run Cosmos?

You can run it as an app for macOS, Linux, including ARM. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What are the alternatives to Cosmos?

Close alternatives in the Self-hosting & PaaS category include Umbrel, Coolify, Dokku.