Why would I opt for this over docker-compose while risking vendor lock-in on a non stanard tool?
this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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Hi, this is an open-source tool used by many big companies. It actually is really just a command line tool to help manage docker containers, so there isn't much of a lock in. I understand your worry but this is much better than docker compose because this manages deployments for you. You don't need to log into the server yourself, just update the config and hit deploy.
Thanks for the explanation. And thanks for the article. I learnt something today.
I apologise for other users downvoting this post, seems petty.
This is fine, but k8s is already a big ask for homelab and self hosting. And kamal requires a basic fluency in ruby, which is... not the most intuitive interpreter. I say this coming from years of managing chef.
Hi, I understand it's not for everyone. But maybe someone would find it useful. I found this to be a simple solution to self-hosting my own apps, I just thought I would share this.