Render vs Heroku

Side-by-side — pricing, strengths, tradeoffs, and fit.

Render

Unified cloud for web services, static sites, databases, and cron — a Heroku successor.

Heroku

Cloud application platform

At a glance

Free TierEnterprise
● Established·From $7/mo
· Not enough data·From Contact sales

Overview

One-liner

Unified cloud for web services, static sites, databases, and cron — a Heroku successor.

One-liner

Cloud application platform

Maturity

Established

Maturity

Not enough data

Open source

✕ No

Open source

✕ No

Pricing

Free tier

✓ Available

Free static sites and limited free web services

Free tier

✕ None

Starts at

$7/mo

Starts at

Contact sales

Model

Usage-based

Model

Flat rate

Enterprise

✓ Available

Enterprise

✕ None

Best for

✓ Best for

Full-stack apps needing backend + DBOne platform for services and Postgres
Heroku replacementsFamiliar PaaS with modern pricing

✓ Best for

Teams with existing Heroku deployments, Salesforce ecosystem users, or developers who prefer the original PaaS experience

Not ideal for

✕ Not for

—

✕ Not for

New projects — better alternatives (Railway, Render, Fly.io) now exist at lower cost with better DX

Strengths

↑ Strengths

Full-stack PaaS
Simple, predictable pricing
Easy Heroku migration

↑ Strengths

Git-based deploys
10+ language buildpacks
Add-on marketplace
Heroku Postgres

Weaknesses

↓ Weaknesses

Cold starts on free tier
Fewer global regions than hyperscalers

↓ Weaknesses

—

Full Render profile →Full Heroku profile →