Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) has become an invaluable tool for developers looking to deploy cloud-based applications quickly and efficiently. PaaS handles all the infrastructural heavy lifting, allowing developers to focus on writing code. This simplified deployment results in faster time-to-market.
While the major cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure offer proprietary PaaS options, open source PaaS gives developers more control, flexibility, and portability. With open-source PaaS, you avoid vendor lock-in and can migrate applications between environments.
This article explores the top 8 open-source PaaS platforms that provide developers the speed and ease of PaaS combined with open-source freedom.
Introduction to PaaS Benefits
PaaS sits between Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in the cloud computing stack. IaaS provides the raw computing infrastructure and virtualization, while SaaS delivers complete applications over the Internet.
PaaS provides a middle layer that hosts the runtime environment for applications. This includes the operating system, programming languages, databases, web servers, and more. PaaS automates and consolidates all these components into a single development platform.
For developers, PaaS offers numerous benefits:
- Speed and efficiency – PaaS automates deployment, resource provisioning, load balancing, scaling, and more. This significantly reduces the time and effort required to get applications to market.
- Focus on code – PaaS handles all infrastructure management, allowing developers to concentrate on writing application code. No need to worry about configuring servers or databases.
- Portability – PaaS provides a consistent environment for development, testing, staging, and production. Easily migrate applications between environments.
- Collaboration – PaaS facilitates team collaboration with built-in features for source control, task tracking, code reviews, etc.
- Cost savings – The automation and resource optimization of PaaS reduces overall app hosting costs. Only pay for the resources used.
- Security – PaaS offers built-in security features like authentication, authorization, SSL/TLS encryption, firewalls, role-based access control, and more.
While proprietary PaaS options from major cloud providers offer these advantages, they also come with some downsides like vendor lock-in, lack of customization, and closed-source opacity.
Open-source PaaS tools provide the same benefits without restrictions.
The Power of Open Source PaaS
Open-source PaaS platforms offer similar speed, efficiency, and ease of use as proprietary solutions while also providing these key advantages:
- Avoid vendor lock-in – Proprietary PaaS makes it difficult to migrate apps to new platforms. Open source provides flexibility to deploy apps anywhere.
- Customization – Modify open-source PaaS code to add features or functionality for your use cases.
- Transparency – Open source code can be audited for security and compliance. No hidden proprietary code.
- Community support – Take advantage of open-source user communities for documentation, troubleshooting, feature requests, and continuous improvement.
- Cost savings – Avoid proprietary license fees and only pay for infrastructure usage, which is optimized by PaaS.
- On-prem support – Some open-source PaaS options can be deployed on-premises for hybrid cloud capabilities.
While open-source PaaS requires a bit more hands-on management than fully-managed proprietary solutions, the benefits of flexibility, transparency, and control often outweigh the tradeoff in convenience.
Next, we’ll explore some of the top open-source PaaS solutions available today. Each has unique strengths and is ideal for certain use cases.
Overview of Top Open Source PaaS Projects
There are over a dozen noteworthy open-source PaaS options available today. This overview highlights 8 of the most popular, flexible, and full-featured solutions:
1. Cloud Foundry
Cloud Foundry is an open-source PaaS with broad functionality for deploying scalable web apps and services. It uses BOSH, a cross-platform toolchain, to facilitate deployment to any IaaS including on-prem infrastructure.
Key features:
- Supports the most popular development frameworks and languages.
- Built-in service integration for databases, monitoring, containers, etc.
- CLI makes it easy to integrate into CI/CD pipelines.
- Active open source community provides strong support.
- Can be deployed across public clouds, private data centers, or hybrid environments.
With robust capabilities and a modular architecture, Cloud Foundry is a top choice for teams that need scalability and flexibility.
2. App Engine
App Engine is Google Cloud’s PaaS solution, offered as a managed service or open source version that can be self-hosted. The open source App Engine flexible environment supports Docker containers, Python, Java, PHP, Go, and more.
Key features:
- Quickly deploy containerized or compute apps.
- Managed autoscaling based on traffic demands.
- No servers to provision or manage.
- Integrated with other Google Cloud services.
- Open source version provides portability between public and private cloud.
App Engine is ideal for teams already using Google Cloud services.
3. CapRover
CapRover is a lightweight open source PaaS optimized for deploying Docker apps with minimal configuration. It runs on any Linux server and automates app deployment, scaling, SSL, DNS, load balancing, and more.
Key features:
- Deploy apps from Docker images or GitHub repos with single commands.
- Web UI provides easy management and monitoring.
- Built-in Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate generation.
- Integrated health monitoring, logging, and metrics.
- Marketplace of 1-click installable apps like WordPress.
CapRover brings Docker automation to PaaS in a simple, self-hosted package.
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4. Rancher
Rancher provides enterprise-grade Kubernetes management as an open-source PaaS alternative. It simplifies deployment, security, networking, load balancing, and more across multiple Kubernetes clusters.
Key features:
- Deploy and manage Kubernetes on any infrastructure.
- Non-disruptive scaling, upgrades, and rollbacks.
- Intuitive GUI for cluster management and monitoring.
- Granular role-based access control policies.
- Integrated CI/CD pipelines and GitOps.
- Support for VMs, bare metal, and major cloud providers.
For robust Kubernetes cluster management, Rancher is a leading open-source choice.
5. Tsuru
Tsuru is an extensible and portable open-source PaaS focused on productivity and ease of use. It utilizes Docker containers, supports multiple languages, and provides an API-driven approach to integrate external services.
Key features:
- Deploy apps using Docker containers, Git, or pre-built binaries.
- Supports languages like Python, Node.js, Java, Ruby, Go.
- CLI and dashboard for management and monitoring.
- API enables integration with external databases, caches, storage, etc.
- Built-in scaling, load balancing, health checking, and rollback.
Tsuru enables productive app deployments with Docker and API-based extensibility.
6. OpenShift (OKD)
OKD is the open-source community version of Red Hat’s enterprise Kubernetes platform for deploying container-based apps. It adds developer-friendly features on top of Kubernetes like simplified deployment flows.
Key features:
- Automates infrastructure provisioning and app deployments.
- Web console provides an intuitive UI for management.
- Built-in CI/CD pipelines with Git integration.
- Options for multi-tenancy, role-based access control, quotas, and more.
- Active community plus enterprise support options available.
OKD brings PaaS convenience to Kubernetes in a customizable open-source package.
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7. Heroku
Although not fully open source, Heroku provides a popular and flexible PaaS focused on developer productivity. Apps can be deployed from source control via Git pushes for rapid delivery.
Key features:
- Supports major languages and frameworks like Ruby, Node.js, Java, PHP, Python, and Go.
- Integrated data services, application logging, monitoring, and more.
- Seamless collaboration with integrated CI/CD pipelines.
- Add-on marketplace with 100+ third-party services.
- Platform API for customization and automation.
Heroku offers easy cloud deployments with extensive language and add-on support.
8. Dokku
Similar to Heroku, Dokku provides a minimal open-source PaaS focused on making app deployment easy through a Git push-to-deploy model. It has over 40 community plug-ins to extend functionality.
Key features:
- Deploy apps from Git by pushing to Dokku.
- Buildpack support for Node, Python, Java, Ruby, PHP apps.
- Integrations for databases, caching, messaging, and more.
- Docker and Dockerfile support.
- Configuration via SSH and an interactive shell.
- Small resource footprint.
For lightweight Git deployments, Dokku is a top open source option.
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Comparing Key Features and Functionality
The leading open-source PaaS platforms profiled above have some distinct differences in their feature sets and overall functionality:
- CLI vs GUI – Some PaaS options like Cloud Foundry, Dokku, and Tsuru are primarily CLI-driven while others like Rancher have intuitive graphical dashboards. CLI offers automation flexibility while GUIs enable visual management.
- Built-in vs External Services – Platforms like Heroku have a wide range of built-in add-ons and services while options like Tsuru leverage API integration to utilize external services. The best approach depends on your application needs.
- Hosting and Support – Most open-source PaaS platforms can run on any infrastructure you manage. Some like Cloud Foundry offer enterprise support packages. Heroku and OpenShift have fully managed hosting options.
- Infrastructure Flexibility – Options like Cloud Foundry, OpenShift, Rancher, and Tsuru can run across on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments. Others are optimized for specific infrastructures like AWS.
The “best” open source PaaS depends on your application needs, team skills, infrastructure, and other factors. Evaluate options based on these key considerations.
Best Platforms for Specific Use Cases
Here are some recommendations on selecting the right open-source PaaS for your application and environment:
- Simple Docker Deployments – For containerized apps, CapRover, Dokku, and Tsuru make Docker deployment easy.
- Extensibility and Customization – Cloud Foundry, OpenShift, and Tsuru enable the most extensibility through modules, plugins, and APIs.
- Multi-Cloud Infrastructure – For portability across public clouds, Cloud Foundry, OpenShift, and Platform9 are top choices.
- Easy Cloud Migration – Heroku, CapRover, and Platform9 allow shifting apps from on-prem to cloud with minimal changes.
- On-Prem and Hybrid Cloud – Cloud Foundry, OpenShift, Platform9, and Rancher excel at on-prem and hybrid deployments.
- Enterprise Kubernetes Management – For production Kubernetes, OpenShift and Rancher are leading solutions.
Selecting an open-source PaaS with alignment to your use cases will maximize benefits and return on investment.
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Conclusion
Open-source PaaS provides developers with the deployment flexibility, transparency, and control missing from proprietary solutions. The leading options like Cloud Foundry, OpenShift, and Rancher allow you to realize PaaS benefits like accelerated delivery and reduced costs without lock-in.
Evaluate your team skills, application needs, and infrastructure landscape to select the right open-source PaaS. The options highlighted in this article are top solutions for common scenarios like cloud migrations, Kubernetes management, Docker deployments, and customization.
By leveraging open-source PaaS, development teams can focus on coding amazing applications rather than infrastructure management. The power of open source allows customizing PaaS to fit your use cases rather than adapting to a vendor’s model. Unlock your productivity and innovation by selecting the right open-source PaaS for your needs today.
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