Piku

The tiniest platform as a service: git push deployments to your own servers, no matter how small, inspired by Dokku but without Docker.

6.6k stars, 157 forks Python On GitHub since March 2016

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is Piku?

Piku lets you deploy apps with git push to any Linux machine, even a Raspberry Pi or a small VPS. It reads a Procfile to know which processes to run, detects Python, Node.js, Ruby, Go, Java and other runtimes, sets up virtual environments, and configures Nginx and uWSGI for you. There are no containers, which keeps resource use very low. Configuration is done through environment variables and a small command-line tool over SSH.

Good fit if

  • You deploy small apps to low-powered machines where Docker is too heavy.
  • You like Heroku's Procfile workflow.

Look elsewhere if

  • You want containers and a web dashboard: Coolify or CapRover.
  • You want the Docker-based original: Dokku.

Before you adopt it

Piku is MIT-licensed and community-maintained, with no paid parts. Development is slow, with five commits in the last 90 days, but the tool is small and stable.

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

Piku health: is it still maintained?

41 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    5 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 4 September 2026.
    9 / 30
  • Contributors
    3 people wrote the 5 commits of the last 90 days; the most active wrote 40% of them.
    8 / 20
  • Releases
    0 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v1.0.0, on 6 April 2024.
    1 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 83% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 6 hours.
    19 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 4 of 10.
    4 / 10

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

Piku license: is it open source?

Piku uses MIT, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. March 2016First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayMIT.

How to run Piku yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file 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
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
English only

Install instructions: piku.github.io or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to Piku

  • CapRoverScalable PaaS (automated Docker+nginx) - aka Heroku on Steroids 72 health · Apache-2.0 · 15.2k stars
  • KuberoA free and self-hosted PaaS alternative to Heroku / Netlify / Coolify / Vercel / Dokku / Portainer running… 35 health · GPL-3.0 · 4.5k stars
  • DokkuA docker-powered PaaS that helps you build and manage the lifecycle of applications 78 health · MIT · 32.2k stars
  • /dev/pushLike Vercel, but open source and for all languages. 63 health · MIT · 4.8k 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

All 25 projects in Self-hosting & PaaS

Questions about Piku

Is Piku open source?

Yes. Piku is published under MIT, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Piku still maintained?

Its health score is 41 of 100 (actively developed). It had 5 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 4 September 2026, and its latest release came out on 6 April 2024.

How do I run Piku?

You can run it with Docker. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What are the alternatives to Piku?

Close alternatives in the Self-hosting & PaaS category include CapRover, Kubero, Dokku.