Dokploy can run Docker on your VPS. Nearzero keeps the DNS record, Community host metrics, and a policy-bounded Agent attached to the server you selected — without a Cloud-only monitoring split or a proprietary production directory.
These are the jobs Dokploy does not give you.
Optional CoreDNS writes an A record to the IP of the host that runs the service. Dokploy still expects you to create provider DNS records.
Host and service metrics ship with the Community control plane. Dokploy documents remote-server monitoring as unsupported and a separate monitoring service as Cloud-only.
Nearzero inspects live deploys, logs, domains, and servers under RBAC and a production gate. Dokploy’s AI generates Compose for you to review. Different job.
The Community control plane is the product you install. Dokploy’s repository mixes Apache-2.0 with a proprietary enterprise directory.
Read the competitor column as what you give up — not as a feature list for them.
| Area | Nearzero | Dokploy | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| DNS | Optional authoritative zone to the selected server | You create external DNS; Traefik then routes | Nearzero can move the record with the workload. |
| Monitoring | Host and service metrics in Community | Remote monitoring unsupported; advanced monitoring Cloud-only | Day-two visibility should not depend on the paid edition. |
| AI | Agent on live platform state, production gate off by default | BYOK assistant that drafts Compose | Generating a file is not operating the fleet. |
| Remote setup | Dedicated SSH identity and host-key verification | Root access and a Bash-default server; non-root unsupported | Know the access model before you add a production host. |
| Source and edition | Self-hosted Community control plane | Apache-2.0 core plus proprietary enterprise code | SSO, custom roles, and audit logs sit behind a commercial license on their side. |
Control stays on the host. Nearzero builds, deploys, and routes.
Place the app on a remote server and the managed record can target that IP. You are not keeping a spreadsheet of A records next to the UI.
Community includes host metrics, deployments, and logs. Remote-server monitoring being unsupported on Dokploy is a real gap if you run more than one box.
It uses scoped tools against project, server, log, and domain state. Production mutations stay off until an administrator enables them.
Short answers for why this control plane belongs on your servers.
Yes. Choose Nearzero when you want DNS, metrics, and a policy-bounded Agent bound to the selected server — not when you need a Compose-drafting assistant.
Code outside /proprietary is Apache-2.0. Code inside /proprietary uses a source-available license for production. Nearzero Community is the control plane you install.
Their docs say remote-server monitoring is unsupported, and the separate retained monitoring system is Cloud-only. Nearzero Community includes host metrics on the servers you operate.
Managed records to the selected server, Community metrics, and an Agent that operates live platform state under a production gate. Not a broader template catalog or enterprise SSO pack.
Yes. Both leave the host with you. Nearzero treats that as the reason to install it.
Thirty minutes against the hosts, DNS, and Compose you actually run.
Bring what you run today. We will say when Nearzero is the wrong install.
A working session, not a pitch deck.
Own the host first. Then put the control plane on it.
Dedicated Linux host, DNS, HTTPS, and the first deploy.
Vercel, Netlify, Coolify, and Dokploy — what they do not give you.