Raklane Compared
How Raklane on your own server differs from a bare VPS, a server panel (self-hosted or hosted) and a managed app platform — and when another tool fits better.
There are four common ways to get an app from a Git repository onto the internet. This page compares them by category, not by brand, so it stays true when a provider changes its plans. Where a category is easier to picture with an example, one is named; check the provider's own documentation for its current details.
| Bare VPS | Server panel | Managed app platform | Raklane on your server | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examples | Any VPS, set up by hand | Coolify, Dokploy, CapRover — self-hosted or their hosted versions | Railway, Render, Heroku | — |
| Whose server runs your app | Yours | Yours | Theirs | Yours |
| Where your code is built | On your server | On your server, unless you add a separate build server | On theirs | On Raklane, never on your server |
| How the platform reaches your server | — | The panel runs on the server, or a hosted panel logs in over SSH | — | Your server connects out to Raklane; Raklane never logs in |
| Platform software to install and patch | You assemble it | The panel (self-hosted), or nothing (hosted) | Nothing | One small agent, which updates itself |
| A bad release after go-live | You roll back by hand | You roll back by hand | Usually you roll back by hand | Rolled back automatically during a short window after go-live |
| What you pay, and how | Your provider | Your provider, plus the hosted plan if you use one | Usage, usually in USD by card | Your provider, plus a small management fee prepaid in rupiah, no card |
What Raklane does differently
Your server only runs your app — it never builds it
On most tools that use your server, the build runs on it too: installing dependencies and compiling can take more memory than the app itself, so a small VPS slows down or runs out of memory in the middle of a deploy, while your live app shares the same machine. Raklane builds every image on its own build system and your server only pulls the finished image. A 1 vCPU / 1 GB VPS is enough to start. See How Raklane Works.
Raklane never logs into your server
Hosted panels need an SSH key with root (or sudo) on every server and port 22 open to them. Self-hosted panels put an admin dashboard on the server itself, which you have to keep patched and protected. On Raklane, a small agent on your server opens one outbound, mutually authenticated (mTLS) connection to Raklane. There's no SSH key to hand over, no inbound port for Raklane, and no dashboard on your server. The only inbound ports are 80/443 for your visitors. See Security & Architecture.
A release that fails after go-live rolls itself back
Every release must pass a health check before it gets traffic, and the previous release keeps serving until it does. After cutover, the previous release stays warm for a short window, and if the new one fails during that window Raklane switches back on its own. See Deploying Your App.
Your apps don't depend on Raklane to serve traffic
Visitors connect straight to your server, where Caddy serves your app over HTTPS. If Raklane is unreachable, your apps keep serving; only new deploys wait. See BYOC: Overview & How It Works.
Priced and paid the Indonesian way
The fee is in rupiah, prepaid from a wallet you top up by bank transfer, with no card on file. If the wallet runs out, nothing on your server is stopped. Prices are public on the Pricing page. See BYOC Billing.
When another tool fits better
Raklane is young, and some things other tools do are not here yet. Choose something else today if you need:
- Your own Dockerfile or Docker Compose. Raklane builds with Cloud Native Buildpacks (Node.js, Python, Go, Ruby, Java, PHP) and serves static sites as-is. It doesn't build from a Dockerfile or a Compose file.
- One-click open-source apps (a CMS, analytics, automation tools). Raklane deploys your code, plus Postgres and MySQL databases; it has no catalog of ready-made apps.
- Built-in backups for databases on your own server. These are coming soon. Until then, back up the server or the database yourself — see Running Apps & Databases on BYOC.
- One app spread across several servers, with failover between them. On Raklane, all of an app's replicas run on the one server you choose.
- Nothing to rent at all. Raklane runs on a server you bring. Raklane Cloud, with servers Raklane runs, is coming soon.
- A tool you can run entirely yourself, with no outside service. Raklane's control plane is a hosted service. Your apps keep running without it, but deploys need it.
Where to go next
- Getting Started — connect your server and deploy your first app.
- Setting Up a BYOC Server — what your server needs.
- Pricing — the live price table and a calculator.