TempsTemps

Temps vs Kamal

From deployment tool to full platform

Kamal deploys containers over SSH. Temps gives you that plus a dashboard, git-push deploys, preview environments, and built-in observability — in a single binary.

Get started with TempsAll comparisons

Monthly cost at a glance

Temps
Kamal
Self-hosted
$0
$0
Cloud version
From $6/mo
N/A
With full observability
$0
$0+
With managed databases
$0
$0
$curl -fsSL https://temps.sh/deploy.sh | bash

The short answer

Choose Temps if you…

  • You want a full PaaS with a web dashboard, not just a CLI tool
  • You want git-push deploys without configuring GitHub Actions
  • You need built-in analytics, error tracking, and monitoring
  • You want preview environments for every pull request
  • You need managed databases with HA support
  • You don't want to install Ruby or manage a local toolchain

Choose Kamal if you…

  • You want the simplest possible deployment — just SSH + Docker
  • You prefer a minimal tool with no server-side control plane
  • You're deploying Rails apps and want first-party Basecamp tooling
  • You already have a mature observability stack you're happy with
  • You want zero dependencies on your servers beyond Docker

Why teams switch from Kamal

Full PaaS, not just a deploy tool
Kamal is a CLI-only deployment tool — no web UI, no dashboard, no git-push triggers. Temps is a complete platform with a web interface and automated workflows.
Built-in observability
Kamal has zero built-in monitoring. You need Sentry, PostHog, Pingdom, and a logging stack separately. Temps includes analytics, error tracking, session replay, and uptime monitoring.
No Ruby required
Kamal requires a Ruby environment and Docker on your local machine. Temps is a single Rust binary — install and go.
Git-push deploys out of the box
Kamal needs GitHub Actions or CI/CD glue for automated deploys. Temps supports native git-push deployment with zero configuration.

Feature comparison

What each platform includes out of the box, and what needs a separate subscription.

  • Git push deployments

    Temps

    Yes
    Native

    Kamal

    No
    Requires CI/CD setup

  • Web dashboard

    Temps

    Yes
    Full management UI

    Kamal

    No
    CLI-only

  • Docker support

    Temps

    Yes

    Kamal

    Yes

  • Zero-downtime deploys

    Temps

    Yes

    Kamal

    Yes

  • Automatic SSL

    Temps

    Yes
    Automatic

    Kamal

    Yes
    Via kamal-proxy

  • Custom domains

    Temps

    Yes

    Kamal

    Yes

  • Preview environments

    Temps

    Yes
    Per pull request

    Kamal

    No
    Manual setup required

  • Managed PostgreSQL

    Temps

    Yes
    HA clusters

    Kamal

    No
    Docker accessory (no HA)

  • Managed Redis

    Temps

    Yes
    Included

    Kamal

    No
    Docker accessory

  • S3-compatible storage

    Temps

    Yes
    Built-in (RustFS, MinIO supported)

    Kamal

    No

  • Error tracking

    Temps

    Yes
    Sentry-compatible

    Kamal

    No
    Not available

  • Analytics

    Temps

    Yes
    Privacy-first, unlimited

    Kamal

    No
    Not available

  • Session replay

    Temps

    Yes
    Built-in

    Kamal

    No

  • Uptime monitoring

    Temps

    Yes
    Built-in checks + alerting

    Kamal

    No
    Not available

  • Transactional email

    Temps

    Yes
    SMTP, SES, Scaleway, Cloudflare built in

    Kamal

    No

  • Multi-server support

    Temps

    Yes

    Kamal

    Yes

  • Rolling deployments

    Temps

    Yes

    Kamal

    Yes

  • Open source

    Temps

    Yes
    MIT / Apache 2.0

    Kamal

    Yes
    MIT

What it actually costs

Both are free and open-source. But Kamal is a deployment tool only — adding a dashboard, observability, managed databases, and preview environments means integrating 5+ separate tools. Temps includes everything.

ScenarioTempsKamal
Self-hosted$0$0
Cloud versionFrom $6/moN/A (no cloud offering)
With full observability$0 (included)$0 + several tools to run yourself, or $50–150+/mo SaaS
With managed databases$0 (included, HA)$0 (basic Docker containers, no HA)

Migrating from Kamal

Easy difficulty

Kamal apps are Docker-based, so your images port directly. Replace the kamal.yml deploy config with a Temps service definition — most settings have direct equivalents. You gain a web dashboard and native git-push automation that replaces the manual SSH-based deploy workflow. The main learning curve is un-learning Kamal's CLI-centric approach, not any app code changes.

Ready to switch from Kamal?

Self-host Temps for free, or run it on Temps Cloud from ~$6/mo.

Read the quickstart guideSee pricing