# Kamal

21 Hacker News commenters recommended Kamal and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free tool for deploying Docker containers to your own servers with no-downtime deploys. Most common caveat: the build and config setup, including secrets, takes time to get running.

## Why people recommend it

- Used by Basecamp and 37signals (3 comments): "the build system that 37signals / Basecamp / DHH developed, specifically to move off the cloud" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46337873)) "at first only used by 36signals and now used by them and me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46614885)) "Basecamp is running successfully with Kamal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47917895))
- Handles deployments well, no downtime (3 comments): "You can do no-downtime deploy of a web service with:" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45915950)) "used Kamal to deploy the app with docker" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47877536)) "it handles deployments very well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48548467))
- Stable, reliable infrastructure (2 comments): "things have never been more stable and reliable from an infrastructure point of view" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47873073)) "Kamal in Rails world is a neat middleground for some extra robustness" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47025704))
- Complex setups up quickly (2 comments): "Kamal really kicks ass, and you can have a pretty complicated infrastructure up in no time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47875001)) "Kamal + cloudflare tunnel is a neat setup." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45970563))

## What people warn about

- Too restrictive for some infrastructure (2 comments): "not all our infrastructure is deployed with Kamal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47876608)) "Kamal was too restrictive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47912215))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Flux CD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/flux.md): 44 recommend
- [Dokku](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dokku.md): 22 recommend
- [Argo CD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/argocd.md): 21 recommend
- [bootc](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bootc.md): 16 recommend
- [OSTree](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ostree.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Kamal", https://hackerapproved.com/p/kamal/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).