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You can move a Heroku or Vercel application to Coolify on your own VPS, but the change is an operations migration, not a simple redeploy. Coolify supplies a self-hostable PaaS-style control plane; Docker runs your application, database, and service containers on infrastructure you provision and secure. The practical sequence is to inventory the existing platform, prepare and harden a VPS, reproduce the build and runtime configuration, migrate data, validate a parallel deployment, then change DNS with a tested rollback path.

What changes when you leave Heroku or Vercel

Heroku and Vercel hide much of the host platform. You normally choose an application configuration and let the provider handle the underlying servers, operating-system maintenance, network edge, and much of the platform recovery. With self-hosted Coolify, you become responsible for those layers.

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Coolify coordinates deployments but does not provide your compute capacity. Its documentation states that “The Coolify server does not relay your application traffic.” Your VPS (or another server you connect) hosts the workload containers and carries their traffic. Coolify itself is the management layer that builds, starts, routes, and observes those resources.

  • You choose the infrastructure: VPS size, disk type, region, operating system, network access, and additional storage.
  • You operate the control plane: installation, upgrades, SSH access, firewall policy, monitoring, backups, and recovery for Coolify.
  • You operate the workloads: application containers, databases, queues, cron jobs, volumes, object storage connections, and outbound integrations.
  • You own the failure domain: a bad update, exhausted disk, expired certificate, lost volume, or compromised credential is now your incident to contain and recover.

This trade-off can provide predictable infrastructure spending and more control over deployment topology. It does not remove the engineering work that Heroku or Vercel performed for you.

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Coolify’s architecture and the minimum VPS requirement

The current self-hosted minimum for the Coolify instance is 2 CPU cores, 2 GB of RAM, and 10 GB of disk space. That figure is a control-plane floor, not a production recommendation for several applications, builds, databases, or monitoring services.

Size the server for the complete workload. A build can temporarily consume more CPU and memory than the running web process. A database needs memory for its working set and disk for indexes, write-ahead logs, and growth. Backups need destination capacity, and retaining multiple releases or images consumes additional disk.

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Capacity question What to include in your estimate
CPU Normal request handling plus concurrent image builds, migrations, compression, and background jobs.
Memory Coolify, Docker, application processes, database caches, workers, and peak build usage with safety headroom.
Disk Operating system, Docker images and layers, persistent volumes, logs, database growth, temporary build files, and local backup staging.
Network Inbound traffic, deployment image pulls, package downloads, backups, webhooks, and outbound API or email traffic.
Recovery capacity Off-host backup destination and enough spare space to restore without deleting the live dataset.

There is no universal VPS size or guaranteed savings percentage for a migration. Measure your current CPU, memory, storage, request volume, build duration, and database growth, then add headroom for peaks and recovery operations. A small test application may fit the documented minimum; a production stack often needs substantially more.

Prepare the VPS before installing Coolify

Confirm access and operating-system support

Obtain a VPS with administrative SSH access and a Linux setup supported by the current Coolify installation guidance. Record the public IP address, hostname, region, disk layout, and provider recovery console. The recovery console matters if a firewall rule or SSH configuration locks you out.

Build a security baseline

  • Create an administrative account with SSH keys and test a second recovery key before disabling password login.
  • Apply operating-system updates and remove services you do not need.
  • Allow only required ports in the host and provider firewalls. Keep administrative access restricted to trusted addresses where practical.
  • Use a DNS name for the Coolify dashboard and document who controls the DNS zone.
  • Arrange off-host backups before production data is placed on the server.
  • Set disk, memory, and uptime alerts so resource exhaustion is detected before deployments fail.

Coolify can run on user-provided VPS or cloud servers. The provider is still responsible for the virtual machine’s availability, storage behavior, network policy, and account security; Coolify does not replace those controls.

Install Coolify and connect your source code

Review the current server and installation guidance, then run the automated installer from an authenticated administrative shell:

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curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | bash

After installation, complete the dashboard setup, change any bootstrap credentials, and verify that you can reach the instance through the intended hostname. Treat the dashboard as production infrastructure: restrict access, protect its credentials, and include it in your backup and restore plan.

Connect the Git provider that hosts each project. Coolify supports GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Gitea integrations. A project can be built from a Dockerfile, Docker Compose, Nixpacks, Railpack, or a prebuilt image. Choose the method that most faithfully reproduces the existing Heroku or Vercel build rather than changing build tooling and application behavior at the same time.

Inventory every Heroku or Vercel dependency

Do this before creating the production resource. Export configuration from the old platform and turn it into a migration checklist. Include:

  • Repository, branch, build command, start command, output directory, and runtime or language version.
  • All environment variables, secrets, API keys, signing keys, and certificates. Never commit secret values to the repository.
  • Domains, redirects, canonical-host behavior, webhook endpoints, callback URLs, and allowed origins.
  • Database engine, version, extensions, users, roles, connection limits, and migration history.
  • Persistent files, uploads, caches that must survive a restart, and object-storage buckets.
  • Workers, queues, scheduled jobs, one-off release tasks, and process concurrency.
  • Email, payment, analytics, error tracking, third-party APIs, and IP allowlists.
  • Health-check paths, expected status codes, readiness behavior, and graceful shutdown requirements.

Heroku-specific buildpacks, release phases, add-ons, config vars, and dyno process types need explicit equivalents. Vercel-specific serverless functions, edge assumptions, preview deployments, framework output settings, and platform-provided environment variables also need explicit equivalents. A successful image build does not prove that background jobs, filesystem behavior, or request timeouts match the old platform.

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Recreate the application in a staging resource

  1. Create a non-production resource in Coolify from the selected repository and branch. Use the same build strategy you intend to run in production.
  2. Enter environment variables and secrets in the resource or its environment management interface. Use staging credentials and separate database names; do not copy production secrets into logs, compose files, or commits.
  3. Set the process command and exposed port to match the container’s listening interface. Bind the application to the container network interface rather than only to localhost.
  4. Attach persistent volumes for data that must survive container replacement. Do not rely on a container’s writable layer for uploads or database files.
  5. Provision a database as a Coolify-managed resource or connect to an external managed database. Define its backup, restore, upgrade, and network-access procedures separately from the web container.
  6. Configure health checks and domains, then issue TLS certificates only after DNS and inbound routing are correct.
  7. Deploy and inspect logs for startup failures, missing variables, migrations, permissions, and connection errors. Confirm that a restart does not destroy required state.

Keep the old deployment serving users while this staging resource is tested. A parallel environment is safer than replacing the only working deployment during the first build.

Test behavior, not just deployment success

Application and data tests

  • Exercise authentication, file uploads, database reads and writes, search, payments, webhooks, and any long-running requests.
  • Run background workers and scheduled jobs at least once with staging credentials.
  • Verify outbound email, DNS lookups, API calls, callback URLs, and rate-limit behavior from the VPS network.
  • Test database migrations on a copy of production data and confirm the application can start with the migrated schema.

Operational tests

  • Trigger a deployment from the connected Git provider and confirm the expected image, commit, and release command are used.
  • Restart containers and the VPS; verify that persistent data, TLS, routing, and workers return without manual repair.
  • Check logs, metrics, disk alerts, certificate renewal, and health-check failures.
  • Perform a backup restore to an isolated resource. A backup that has never been restored is an assumption, not a recovery plan.
  • Document who receives alerts and the exact commands or dashboard actions needed to roll back.

Migrate the database and persistent files

Choose a method appropriate to the database and its write rate. For a small or low-write database, schedule an application maintenance window, export a consistent dump, import it into the new database, and run integrity checks. For a busy system, use the database’s replication or logical-migration facilities, monitor lag, and schedule a short final write freeze before promotion.

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Move uploaded files independently of the database. Copy them to the new persistent volume or object storage, preserve ownership and permissions, and verify representative files by checksum or application download. Confirm that generated caches can be rebuilt; do not spend migration time preserving disposable data.

Record the final source and destination versions, migration commands, row or object counts, and validation results. Keep the original database and files untouched until the new deployment has passed the agreed observation period.

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Change DNS and keep a rollback path

  1. Lower the relevant DNS record’s TTL ahead of the cutover if your DNS provider permits it, while remembering that resolvers may cache longer.
  2. Complete the final data synchronization and enable the planned write freeze or maintenance page.
  3. Point the application domain or reverse-proxy target at the Coolify deployment. Confirm TLS issuance, redirects, cookies, and webhook URLs.
  4. Watch error rates, latency, logs, queue depth, database connections, and resource usage from more than one network.
  5. Keep the old platform available and its data preserved until the new deployment is stable. If critical checks fail, return DNS to the old endpoint, stop writes to the new system as appropriate, and follow the documented reconciliation procedure.

Do not call the migration complete merely because DNS resolves. Verify real user flows, asynchronous jobs, scheduled tasks, and third-party callbacks after propagation.

Self-hosted Coolify versus Coolify Cloud

The choice is mainly about who operates the control plane. Both models still require servers for your applications and databases.

Concern Self-hosted Coolify Coolify Cloud
Control plane location Runs on infrastructure you provide and secure. Managed by Coolify; your connected servers run the workloads.
Updates and maintenance Your team installs updates, handles failures, and plans recovery. Coolify maintains the Cloud control plane.
Backups and restore You back up the Coolify instance and its configuration, plus every workload data source. Coolify handles control-plane operations; you remain responsible for application and database data on your servers.
Coolify platform fee The current pricing page describes the software as “Free Forever.” Infrastructure and operations still cost money. Current documentation lists $5 per month for two connected servers, plus $3 per month for each additional server.
Operational burden Maximum control and maximum responsibility. Less control-plane work, while server, workload, security, and data responsibilities remain.

The listed Cloud prices are time-sensitive and should be checked on the current pricing documentation before budgeting. Neither option makes VPS, storage, bandwidth, backups, monitoring, or incident response free.

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Calculate the real cost and risk

Compare total cost of ownership rather than the Coolify license alone. Add:

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  • VPS instances, attached block storage, object storage, snapshots, and backup retention.
  • Outbound bandwidth and provider charges for databases, registries, email, and external APIs.
  • Monitoring, log retention, vulnerability scanning, and alerting.
  • Engineering time for patching, upgrades, database administration, certificate issues, and incident response.
  • The business impact of downtime, corrupted data, an unavailable recovery console, or a compromised server.

Self-hosting may lower the recurring platform line item and make capacity decisions more transparent. It is financially sensible only when the team can reliably perform the security, backup, monitoring, and recovery work that the former platform absorbed.

Common failure modes and fixes

The build passes but the container exits

Check the start command, runtime version, required environment variables, listening port, and migration behavior. A platform build succeeding says nothing about the process staying healthy.

Uploads disappear after redeploy

The files were written to ephemeral container storage. Attach a persistent volume or use object storage, then restore and verify existing files before cutover.

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Requests work but jobs do not run

Web and worker processes are separate responsibilities. Create a worker resource with its own command, queue connection, concurrency, and health monitoring; configure scheduled jobs explicitly.

Users see certificate or redirect errors

Verify DNS points to the intended server, the domain is configured in Coolify, ports for HTTP and HTTPS are reachable, and the application trusts the proxy’s forwarded protocol and host headers.

The VPS runs out of disk

Inspect Docker images, build cache, logs, database files, and backup staging. Set retention limits, move backups off-host, and alert before free space reaches the level at which databases and deployments fail.

A deployment needs to be reversed

Retain the previous image or commit, define a one-step rollback in Coolify, and keep DNS and the old platform available until data writes are reconciled. Rolling back code does not automatically roll back a destructive database migration.

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A practical go/no-go checklist

  • The VPS meets workload capacity needs, not merely the 2-core, 2-GB, 10-GB Coolify minimum.
  • SSH recovery, firewall rules, operating-system updates, and dashboard access are tested.
  • Every variable, secret, process, domain, job, volume, integration, and database dependency has an owner.
  • Staging builds and health checks pass using the production-shaped configuration.
  • Database and file migration procedures have been rehearsed and a restore has succeeded.
  • Monitoring, alert routing, certificate renewal, and disk thresholds are active.
  • DNS cutover, write freeze, observation window, and rollback steps are written down.
  • The team has accepted the ongoing responsibility for Coolify updates, backups, security, and incident response.

If any of these items is missing, keep the existing Heroku or Vercel deployment live and close the gap before changing production DNS.

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