A Coolify alternative that also runs game servers
Zelie is a self-hosted alternative to Coolify. It deploys apps from GitHub, a Docker image or plain files, runs PostgreSQL, MariaDB and Redis, and hosts game servers beside them, all from one binary that installs with one command and needs no Docker.
Updated October 2026
01
Zelie and Coolify side by side
Install and upkeep
Install
- Zelie
- YesOne command, a few minutes
- Coolify
- YesOne command
No PHP stack to run
- Zelie
- YesOne Go binary
- Coolify
- NoPHP and Laravel, with PostgreSQL and Redis
Runs without Docker
- Zelie
- YesIts own containerd
- Coolify
- NoBuilt on Docker
Light on memory
- Zelie
- YesUnder 66 MB, checked on every change
- Coolify
- PartlyNeeds at least 2 GB of RAM
Updates from the panel
- Zelie
- YesOne click, rolls back by itself if it fails
- Coolify
- YesOne click or automatic
Game servers
Pterodactyl and Pelican eggs
- Zelie
- Yes21 games ready, any other by its link
- Coolify
- No
Console, files, SFTP, schedules
- Zelie
- Yes
- Coolify
- No
Players and RCON tools
- Zelie
- YesRust and Minecraft, a player list for some Steam games
- Coolify
- No
Safe passwords by default
- Zelie
- YesRCON and admin passwords get a random value
- Coolify
- No
Steam updates
- Zelie
- YesChecks each hour, updates when nobody plays
- Coolify
- No
Apps and databases
Deploy from GitHub on push
- Zelie
- Yes
- Coolify
- Yes
Deploys without downtime, one-click rollback
- Zelie
- YesLast five versions kept
- Coolify
- Yes
Automatic HTTPS for apps
- Zelie
- Yes
- Coolify
- Yes
Databases
- Zelie
- YesPostgreSQL, MariaDB, Redis, with a data browser, linkable to game servers too
- Coolify
- YesMany engines
Metrics
- Zelie
- YesRequests, errors, memory and CPU for a day
- Coolify
- PartlyServer and container usage
Security
Two-step login
- Zelie
- YesRequired, with a passkey or an app
- Coolify
- PartlyOptional
Nothing on the network runs as root
- Zelie
- YesThe root part has no port
- Coolify
- NoReaches servers as root over SSH
Secrets the panel cannot read back
- Zelie
- Yes
- Coolify
- No
Encrypted backups to S3
- Zelie
- YesEncrypted on the server
- Coolify
- PartlyDatabase backups to S3
Coming later
Several machines from one panel
- Zelie
- Planned
- Coolify
- Yes
Sub-users with their own permissions
- Zelie
- Planned
- Coolify
- PartlyTeams
Docker Compose and one-click services
- Zelie
- No
- Coolify
- Yes
- Yes
- Partly
- Planned
- No
Comparing with Pterodactyl and Pelican as well? The full table has all of them.
02
What Zelie adds
- Game servers beside your apps. Minecraft, Rust, Valheim and 18 more are ready, and any Pterodactyl or Pelican egg can be imported, with a console, files, SFTP and schedules.
- No Docker, no PHP. Zelie is one binary of about 50 MB with its own containerd and its state in SQLite. Its processes stay under 66 MB of memory when idle, where Coolify asks for at least 2 GB of RAM.
- A deploy that keeps the old version up. A push builds, runs your tests and passes a health check before traffic moves. If a step fails, the old version keeps serving, and the last five versions stay ready to roll back.
- Root has no port. The web panel runs as its own user, and the part that runs as root listens on no network port.
- Sealed secrets and required two-step login. The panel cannot read app secrets back, and every account needs a passkey or an authenticator app.
Builds use your Dockerfile, or Railpack works out how to build the project. A container image or a folder of your own files run too. Each app is one image or Dockerfile; Docker Compose files are not read.
03
Moving from Coolify to Zelie
There is no import tool. An app moves by pointing Zelie at the same GitHub repository or image and giving it the same environment variables and domain.
- 01Connect GitHub in Zelie. It creates a GitHub App in your own account, with access only to the repositories you choose.
- 02Create the app from the repository, or from the image you used, and paste its variables as a
.envfile. - 03Create the database in Zelie and link it to the app. The app gets
DATABASE_URL. To move the data, dump it from the old database and upload the dump to restore it in Zelie. - 04Point the domain at Zelie once the new app is live, and remove the old one.
04
Questions
Can Zelie deploy from GitHub like Coolify?
Yes. Every push to the app’s branch builds, tests and deploys it, if you leave that on. Private repositories work through a GitHub App that Zelie creates in your account.
Does Zelie run Docker Compose files?
No. An app is one image, one Dockerfile or a folder of files. A project with several services becomes one app per service, linked to its databases.
Which databases does Zelie run?
PostgreSQL 18 and 17, MariaDB 11.8 and 10.11, and Redis 8. None has a port open to the internet, and linking one to an app gives the app its connection variables.
Can I run Zelie and Coolify on the same server?
They can share a machine in principle, since Zelie does not touch Docker. Both want ports 80 and 443 for domains, so reach Zelie through a Cloudflare Tunnel or move one of them off those ports.
Install Zelie
Run this as root on a Debian or Ubuntu server. It checks the release’s signature, installs Zelie and asks how people will reach the panel.
curl -fsSL https://github.com/Caria-Core/zelie/releases/latest/download/install.sh | shFree on a single server. Read how the install works first if you want to know what it changes.