docs.coopcloud.tech/docs/intro/comparisons.md

---
title: Comparisons
---

We think it's important to understand that *Co-op Cloud* is more than just
software and technical configurations. It is also a novel organization of *how*
to [create technology socially](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/federation).
However, strictly technically speaking you may be wondering:

### What about `$alternative`?

We have various technical critiques of other similar projects which are already up-and-running in the ecosystem, as they don't necessarily meet our needs as a small tech co-op. However, Co-op Cloud isn't meant to be a replacement for these other projects.

Here is a short overview of the pros/cons we see, in relation to our goals and needs.

### Cloudron

[Cloudron](https://www.cloudron.io) is complete solution for running apps on your own server

**Pros**

- 👍 Decent web interface for app, domain & user management.
- 👍 Large library of apps.
- 👍 Built-in SSO using LDAP, which is compatible with more apps and often has a better user interface than OAuth.
- 👍 Apps are actively maintained by the Cloudron team.

**Cons**

- 👎 Moving away from open source. The core is now proprietary software.
- 👎 Libre tier has a single app limit.
- 👎 Based on Docker images, not stacks, so multi-process apps (e.g. parsoid visual editor for Mediawiki) are a non-starter.
- 👎 Difficult to extend apps.
- 👎 Only supported on Ubuntu LTS.
- 👎 Upstream libre software communities aren't involved in packaging.
- 👎 Limited to vertical scaling.
- 👎 Tension between needs of hosting provider and non-technical user.
- 👎 LDAP introduces security problems - one vulnerable app can expose a user's password for all apps.
- 👎 Bit of a [black box](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_box).

### YunoHost

[YunoHost](https://yunohost.org) is an operating system aiming for the simplest administration of a server

**Pros**

- 👍 Lovely web interface for app, domain & user management.
- 👍 Bigger library of apps.
- 👍 Awesome backup / deploy / restore continuous integration testing.
- 👍 Supports hosting apps in subdirectories as well as subdomains.
- 👍 Doesn't require a public-facing IP.
- 👍 Supports system-wide mutualisation of resources for apps (e.g. sharing databases by default)

**Cons**

- 👎 Upstream libre software communities aren't involved in packaging.
- 👎 Uninstalling apps leaves growing cruft.
- 👎 Limited to vertical scaling.
- 👎 Not intended for use by hosting providers.

### Caprover

[CapRover](https://caprover.com) is an easy to use app/database deployment & web server manager for applications

**Pros**

- 👍 Bigger library of apps.
- 👍 Easy set-up using a DigitalOcean one-click app.
- 👍 Works without a domain name or a public IP, in non-HTTPS mode (good for homeservers).
- 👍 Deploy any app with a `docker-compose.yml` file as a "One Click App" via the web interface.
- 👍 Multi-node (multi-server) set-up works by default.

**Cons**

- 👎 Single-file app definition format, difficult to tweak using entrypoint scripts.
- 👎 Nginx instead of Traefik for load-balancing.
- 👎 Command-line client requires NodeJS / `npm`.
- 👎 [Requires 512MB RAM for a single app](https://github.com/caprover/caprover/issues/28).
- 👎 [Backup/restore is "experimental"](https://caprover.com/docs/backup-and-restore.html), and doesn't currently help with backing up Docker volumes.
- 👎 Exposes its bespoke management interface to the internet via HTTPS by default.

### Ansible

[Ansible](https://www.ansible.com) mature automation and deployment tool.

**Pros**

- 👍 Includes server creation and bootstrapping.

**Cons**

- 👎 Upstream libre software communities aren't publishing Ansible roles.
- 👎 Lots of manual work involved in things like app isolation, backups, updates.

### Kubernetes

[Kubernetes](https://kubernetes.io) (or K8s) is a system for automating deployment, scaling, and
management of containerized applications.


**Pros**

- 👍 Helm charts are available for some key apps already.
- 👍 Scale all the things.

**Cons**

- 👎 Too big -- requires 3rd party tools to run a single-node instance.
- 👎 Not suitable for a small to mid size hosting provider.

### Docker-compose

[Docker Compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/) is a tool for defining and running multi-container applications.

**Pros**

- 👍 Quick to set up and familiar for many developers.

**Cons**

- 👎 Manual work required for process monitoring.
- 👎 Secret storage not available yet.
- 👎 Swarm is the new best practice.

### Doing it Manually (Old School)

If you are an absolute Shaman in a Shell and learning new gadgets just slows you down,
have it, but maybe ask how old [is old enough](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press)?

**Pros**

- 👍 Simple - just follow upstream instructions to install and update.

**Cons**

- 👎 Loads of manual work required for app isolation and backups.
- 👎 Array of sysadmin skills required to install and maintain apps.
- 👎 Hard to share configurations into the commons.
- 👎 No idea who has done what change when.


### Stackspin

[Stackspin](https://www.stackspin.net) deployment and management stack for a
handful of popular team collaboration apps.

**Pros**

- 👍 Easy instructions to install & upgrade multiple tightly integrated apps.
- 👍 Offers a unified SSO user experience.
- 👍 Offers tightly integrated logging, monitoring, and maintenance.
- 👍 Has a strong focus and attention to security.

**Cons**

- 👎 Upstream libre software communities aren't involved in packaging.
- 👎 It is not designed to be a general specification.
- 👎 Hard to share configurations into the commons.
- 👎 Significantly limited library of eight apps.
- 👎 Additional apps are treated as "External Apps" with only OAuth2/OpenID integration.
- 👎 Requires a Kubernetes cluster.


### Maadix

[Maadix](https://maadix.net) managed hosting and deployment of popular privacy preserving applications.

**Pros**

- 👍 Nice looking web interface for app, domain & user management.
- 👍 Offers a paid hosting service to get up and running easily.

**Cons**

- 👎 Upstream libre software communities aren't involved in packaging.
- 👎 It is not designed to be a general specification.
- 👎 Hard to share configurations into the commons.
- 👎 Limited library of apps.
- 👎 Uses Ansible (see above)
- 👎 Appears to be only a team of two people.
- 👎 Appears to be inactive on Mastodon and limited GitLab activity. 

### Dokploy 

[Dokploy](https://dokploy.com/) (who have [their own comparison](https://docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/comparison)).

- 👍 Supports builds from Git repositories, Dockerfiles, Nixpacks, and Buildpacks like Heroku and Paketo.
- 👍 [~100 application templates](https://docs.dokploy.com/docs/core/templates)

- 👎 [Bespoke TOML config](https://github.com/Dokploy/templates?tab=readme-ov-file#templatetoml-structure)
- 👎 Community on Discord and Github discussions
- 👎 Freemium / open-core model

### Cosmos Cloud 

[Cosmos Cloud](https://cosmos-cloud.io/), "The cloud doesn't need to be someone else's computer"

- 👍 [Native client apps](https://cosmos-cloud.io/clients/)
- 👍 Built-in VPN 

- 👎 Community on Discord, Github discussions, and Reddit
- 👎 "Up to 19 users" even on paid plans
- 👎 Freemium / open-core model
- 👎 ["Commons clause"](https://github.com/azukaar/Cosmos-Server/blob/master/LICENCE)