Dozzle is a brilliant self-hosted viewer for Docker logs on a host you run. LogCaster is the managed, source-agnostic version: stream from any source over NDJSON or Vector, share one live view across your team with real access control, and never run or secure it yourself.
Credit where it's due: Dozzle is one of the best free tools in its lane. It's open-source, mounts the Docker socket, auto-discovers your containers, and streams live logs in your browser in under a minute. For a homelab, a single host, or local debugging, it's hard to beat. LogCaster isn't trying to take that away.
The move happens when a small team needs more than a self-hosted, Docker-only viewer. Dozzle is something you run and secure on your own infrastructure, and it reads logs from the container runtime. LogCaster is managed — there's nothing for you to host, patch, or lock down — and it's source-agnostic: point any source at it over open NDJSON or Vector, not just Docker. Then scope each service to its own channel, give the right people access, and everyone shares the same live view.
An honest read. Dozzle facts reflect the open-source project and Dozzle Cloud's current tiers.
| LogCaster | Dozzle | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Fully managed — we run it, you sign in. | Self-hosted — you run the container and mount the Docker socket. |
| Sources | Source-agnostic — any source over NDJSON / Vector. | Docker-centric — reads the container runtime (Docker, Swarm, K8s). |
| Live streaming | Yes — streaming-first. | Yes — and it's excellent at it.✓ real-time, low latency |
| Team access | Roles + per-channel scoping, one shared view. | Multi-user auth / proxy-forward; bound to the host you run. |
| What you operate | Nothing. | A container, the socket, auth, and upgrades on your infra. |
| Pricing | One flat monthly price. | Free & open-source self-hosted; Dozzle Cloud $10–$39/mo. |
It's a genuinely great tool. Choose Dozzle if you want:
LogCaster is opening access to small dev teams who want a managed, shared log view. Join the waitlist.