Heroku 🇺🇸
Build data-driven apps with fully managed data services
Heroku is a platform as a service (PaaS) that enables developers to build and run apps on the cloud.
It was founded in 2007 and quickly became a popular platform for its ease of use, minimal configuration and low operational overhead.
A core component of Heroku is the concept of "dynos" - lightweight isolated containers in which your application runs. You can scale the number of dynos that run your app to be able to handle more load.
Heroku offers a marketplace for add-ons to extend the capabilities of the platform. For example, there's add-ons for databases, monitoring, analytics, logging and sending transactional emails.
Example customers include Airbase, Dovetail, Hotel Engine, ClickMechanic, Ambassify. Read their case studies.
What's good about Heroku
- As easy as it gets if you just want to deploy a Git repo
- Pretty much everything is managed, no operational overhead
- Heroku Postgres is battle-tested
What does Heroku do?
Here are some of the managed services that Heroku offers:
Heroku's Pricing
For most of its services, Heroku follows a pay-as-you-go model in which you pay for the resources you used each month.
There's a free tier which is suitable for small projects, prototypes or for learning purposes. However, this tier has its limitations - there's a cap on the number of hours a dyno can run per month and it will be put to sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity.
Below are some example configurations and their estimated cost:
| Example configuration | Estimated cost |
|---|---|
| VM Small | $50.00 / mo Dyno 1 GB RAM (Standard 2X) |
| VM Medium | $250.00 / mo Dyno 2.5 GB RAM (Performance M) |
| VM Large | $500.00 / mo Dyno 14 GB RAM (Performance L) |
| Load Balancer | Included in plan |
| Managed PostgreSQL | $50.00 / mo 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage |
| Managed Redis®* | $200.00 / mo 1 GB RAM |
| Free egress allowance | 2 TB / mo per app |
| 1 TB of egress beyond allowance | Not publicly listed |
You can find Heroku's latest pricing here.
Note: These pricing examples are based on several assumptions. Your actual costs may differ. Always check the cloud provider's website for the most up-to-date pricing.
Where are Heroku's data centers located?
Based on our records, Heroku has at least 10 data center locations around the world:
| Slug | Country | Location |
|---|---|---|
| sydney | Australia 🇦🇺 | Sydney |
| montreal | Canada 🇨🇦 | Montreal |
| frankfurt | Germany 🇩🇪 | Frankfurt |
| mumbai | India 🇮🇳 | Mumbai |
| dublin | Ireland 🇮🇪 | Dublin |
| tokyo | Japan 🇯🇵 | Tokyo |
| singapore | Singapore 🇸🇬 | Singapore |
| london | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 | London |
| virginia | United States of America 🇺🇸 | Virginia |
| oregon | United States of America 🇺🇸 | Oregon |
Heroku Alternatives
Here are some alternatives to Heroku:
Railway🇺🇸
We like Railway for its great developer experience, usage-based pricing, and for its wide range of deployment templates.
Render🇺🇸
Render is a great alternative to Heroku if you're looking for a fully managed experience at more affordable prices.
Scaleway🇫🇷
If you're looking for a European-based provider that might be a good alternative to Heroku, Scaleway offers a wide range of managed services and server configurations.
Fly.io🇺🇸
Fly.io is a solid alternative to Heroku if you're looking to deploy your app across multiple regions and would like to keep your operational overhead and costs under control.
DigitalOcean🇺🇸
DigitalOcean's App Platform is worth looking into if you want a similar deployment experience as Heroku's, but at a lower price point.
Our data for Heroku was last updated on March 28, 2024.