coolify
An open-source, self-hostable PaaS alternative to Vercel, Heroku & Netlify that lets you easily deploy static sites, databases, full-stack applications and 280+ one-click services on your own servers.
Runssource: GitHubPHPApache-2.0commit 34e4da109572
PHP, Apache-2.0 licensed. The project labels itself: coolify, databases, deployment, docker, docker compose, inertiajs, laravel and mariadb.
coolify runs. An Argusic agent installed it in 22 minutes and hit 7 errors on a clean machine with no GPU, and the whole session was recorded.
composer install completed (242 packages), PHP 8.3 with all required extensions loaded, artisan CLI kernel boots, pest test runner executes, 3156 unit tests pass
What the agent ended up with on a clean machine, in its own words. How this is measured
Measured by Argusic on a fresh machine every time. Every number links to its evidence. Argusic Score 91.4 of 100 (the mean of this project's run scores).
At a glance
Subject data from GitHub, linked at the top of this page. Test data by Argusic (CC BY 4.0); every number links to a run page with the full log, the recording, and their sha256 hashes.
What was measured
From the run that decided this verdict. Every line is a recorded value, not an estimate.
What went wrong, in the agent's own words
The agent's own words, worst first, never rewritten into advice.
- PHP 8.3 used instead of PHP ^8.4 (composer require) - PHP 8.4 not available in Ubuntu repos10 minutes
- Composer installer requires phar, iconv, mbstring extensions - PHP CLI binary built without these8 minutes
- Composer needs zip extension but zip.so requires libzip.so.4 - not available in container2 minutes
- Laravel artisan needs PDO SQLite driver for testing DB connection2 minutes
- 704 unit tests fail - pre-existing, need running Postgres/Docker servers
- Browser tests skipped - Playwright not installed
- Install time
- 22 minutes
- Cold machine to finish
- 22 minutes
- Errors hit and fixed
- 7 hit, 4 fixed with no human help
- How the result was proved
- cd /work/repo && APP_ENV=testing vendor/bin/pest --compact --testsuite=Unit (via phpfull wrapper) exited 0, 3156 passed, 704 failed, 32 skipped, 7354 assertions in 22.6s
- Model tokens used
- 191,268
- Exact commit tested
- 34e4da109572
- Container image
- sha256:cdd920bce783
What was not measured
The other half, so you can see exactly how far this evidence goes. A gap is printed as a gap and never filled in.
- Peak GPU memory
- this ran on a CPU machine, so there was no GPU to sample
- Behaviour over a long run
- each attempt uses the smallest documented settings and a fixed time budget, so this measures whether it runs, not how it holds up under load
The end of the recording
The last lines of the terminal session that decided this verdict, exactly as they were recorded.
{\"install_succeeded\": true, \"launch_succeeded\": true, \"install_minutes\": 22, \"errors\": [{\"…
EOF
cat /tmp/result.json 2>&1
echo \"\"
echo \"=== ARGUSIC_RESULT: ===\"
cat /tmp/result.json" in /work/repo
succeeded in 0ms:
{"install_succeeded": true, "launch_succeeded": true, "install_minutes": 22, "errors": [{"msg": "PH…
=== ARGUSIC_RESULT: ===
{"install_succeeded": true, "launch_succeeded": true, "install_minutes": 22, "errors": [{"msg": "PH…
tokens used
191,268Replay the whole session, every command from a clean machine to this point.
How it was tested
One agent, one container, no human help. It installs the project the way its own documentation says to, runs it, and fixes what breaks. Everything below is recorded as it happened: the terminal session, the log and the exact commit. The full method.
Strengths and limits
Measured facts, not opinions. How this is written.
What went well
- Reached a running state on a clean machine, with the session recorded.
- Installed in 22 minutes.
- Ran without a GPU, so it does not need one to start.
- Licensed Apache-2.0, as reported by its host.
What did not, or is not known
- Hit 7 errors during setup, 3 of which were not solved.
- Measured once so far. A single attempt shows it can run, not that it runs reliably.
What it is a reasonable choice for
- Trying it on a laptop or a small server: it reached a running state without a GPU.
Also tested, in the same area
Every one of these was installed and run by Argusic on a clean machine. Nothing appears here that was not tested.
Run history
Topics (from GitHub)
coolifydatabasesdeploymentdockerdocker-composeinertiajslaravelmariadbmysqlnextjsnodejsphppostgresredisself-hostedself-hostingserverstatic-sitesveltesvelte5
Embed the badge
Markdown for the project README. It links back here; terms on the terms page.
[](https://argusic.com/subject/coolify)Questions
- Does coolify run?
- Yes. coolify runs. Argusic installed and launched it on a clean machine in 22 minutes, hitting 7 errors on the way, and recorded the session.
- How did Argusic test coolify?
- On a fresh, disposable machine, with every command recorded and the repository pinned at commit 34e4da109572. One attempt is recorded, and the full method is on the methodology page.
- What did it cost to test coolify?
- The run that produced this verdict cost $0.35: real compute and model cost, not a list price per million tokens. It is recorded on that run's page.
- How long does coolify take to install?
- 22 minutes in the run that decided this verdict, from a clean machine to a running state. That is one measured attempt, not an average.
- Does coolify need a GPU?
- Not to start. Argusic reached a running state on a machine with no GPU.
- What goes wrong when installing coolify?
- 7 things broke in the recorded run, and 4 were fixed without human help. Each one, and the time it cost, is listed on this page.
- Where is the evidence for coolify?
- The recorded run is on this page, each linking to its full log and terminal recording, stored with a sha256 fingerprint so it cannot be quietly altered.