Pier vs Coolify
Updated
Pier and Coolify both turn a VPS into a self-hosted Heroku: deploy Docker images, Compose stacks and Git repos with automatic HTTPS. Coolify is the more mature, feature-rich option and needs at least 2 CPU cores and 2 GB RAM. Pier is a single Rust binary that idles at 20–40 MB RAM and runs on a 512 MB / 1 vCPU server, trading some of Coolify's breadth for a much smaller footprint.
curl -fsSL https://pier.team/install | sudo bash GitHub At a glance
| Pier | Coolify | |
|---|---|---|
| Language / runtime | Rust, single static binary | PHP / Laravel |
| Idle RAM of the platform itself | 20–40 MB (+ Traefik) | Hundreds of MB to ~1 GB |
| Minimum server | 512 MB RAM, 1 vCPU minimum (1 GB recommended) | 2 GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, 10 GB disk |
| Platform database | Embedded SQLite (WAL) | PostgreSQL + Redis containers |
| Platform components | 1 binary (systemd) + Traefik | App, PostgreSQL, Redis, realtime and proxy containers |
| Deploy sources | Docker image, Dockerfile, Compose, Git, auto-build with Railpack | Docker image, Dockerfile, Compose, Git, Nixpacks / buildpacks |
| Automatic HTTPS | Traefik + Let's Encrypt | Traefik or Caddy + Let's Encrypt |
| Multi-server | Lightweight agents with heartbeat and metrics | Remote servers over SSH |
| Backups | Scheduled DB and volume backups to S3-compatible storage | Scheduled DB backups to S3-compatible storage |
| Team access | Global roles (Owner / Admin / User) + per-project roles (Admin / Editor / Viewer) | Teams with member roles |
| One-click templates | 35+ | Hundreds |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
Pick Pier if
- Your server is small (512 MB–2 GB RAM) and you want that memory for your apps, not the control plane.
- You want one binary and one systemd unit to install, update and back up — no platform database to babysit.
- You need built-in alerts (Telegram, Discord, Slack, email), load-balanced replicas and encrypted secrets out of the box.
Pick Coolify if
- You need Coolify's breadth today: preview deployments and a very large template catalog.
- You want the larger community and longer track record — Coolify has been around for years, Pier since 2026.
- RAM and disk are not scarce on your servers, so the footprint difference does not matter.
Architecture
Coolify is a Laravel application. Next to it the installer runs PostgreSQL, Redis, a realtime service and a reverse proxy as separate containers, which is why its docs recommend 2 GB of RAM before you deploy anything.
Pier is one Rust binary that runs as a systemd service. Its state lives in an embedded SQLite database, the web UI is server-rendered (HTMX + Alpine.js, ~30 KB of JS), and the only extra container is Traefik for routing and HTTPS. See Why Pier for the full numbers.
Workflow
Day to day, the two feel similar: create a project, add an app from an image, a Dockerfile, a Compose file or a Git repository, attach a domain, and get a certificate automatically. Both can add databases in one click and back them up to S3.
Where Pier is behind
Pier is younger. Coolify has a larger template catalog and preview deployments. If you rely on those today, Coolify is the safer choice — and if you mostly need “Heroku on a small VPS”, Pier will do the job with a fraction of the overhead.