Back4app vs Heroku (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Back4app grades higher than Heroku: 2.4 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Back4app grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. Heroku grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Back4app
Managed backend platform built on Parse, billed per app
Which one is for you
Pick Back4app if
- Fits if you want a hosted Parse backend for one prototype or small app
- Makes sense if you'd rather not run a database server
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you run several apps, because each app needs its own subscription
- Tight if you outgrow 25K requests, as the next plan is $15 per app a month billed annually
- Pricey if you grow, since Pay As You Go is $80 and Dedicated is $400 per app a month
- Watch out: monthly billing is higher than the annual prices, and the page shows only the saving
- Watch out: point-in-time backups are an add-on at $100 a month on lower plans
Pick Heroku if
- Fits if you are a developer who wants to push code and not run servers
- Makes sense if you want managed Postgres next to your app
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as the lowest tier is $5 a month
- Tight if you need an app awake, because Eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes and are for personal accounts only
- Pricey as you scale, since prices are per dyno and the database is billed separately
- Watch out: Eco charges the $5 in full even if you subscribe mid-month
How we grade them
| 2.4GPABack4appFair | 1.8GPAHerokuWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe MVP plan is $15 per app a month billed annually, in the middle of web hosting at $10.99 to $20.83. It covers one app, and the next step is $80. | CEco is $5 a month and Basic $7, but always-on scaling and metrics start at $25 per dyno, and a Postgres database is billed separately from $5. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan with 25K requests, 250 MB database, 1 GB transfer and 1 GB files, no card needed. A prototype can live on it, a real app will not. | FNo free plan and no trial are listed anywhere on the pages read. |
| Features | CA database with generated APIs, auth, cloud functions, jobs, real-time and storage. Web deployment and the AI Agent have separate pricing pages that weren't readable for the listing. | BDynos, managed Postgres and key-value, an add-ons marketplace, many languages, zero-downtime deploys and AI inference. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You build the backend and its data model yourself. | DNo store rating on record. You deploy with Git or Docker and a command line, which puts it below 3.8 on our ladder. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it has an API and connects to GitHub, MongoDB Atlas, DigitalOcean and Mailgun. | BA web platform with a Git and Docker workflow and a large add-on marketplace. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | a managed Parse backend for small apps | developers deploying apps without managing servers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Back4app and Heroku. How we grade
Price against what you get
Back4app starts at $15 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Heroku starts at $5 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Heroku starts $10 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 5 score higher than Back4app for less, and 1 scores higher than Heroku for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Back4app also covers AI agents.
- Heroku also covers databases.
At a glance
| Back4app | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $15 per app / month, billed annually (MVP plan) | $5 per month for an Eco dyno plan |
| Free plan | Free plan with 25K requests, 250 MB database, 1 GB data transfer and 1 GB file storage, no credit card required. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Back4app | Salesforce |
| Price read from | back4app.com | heroku.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Back4app
- Each subscription covers one app, so several apps mean several subscriptions.
- The listed prices are billed annually; the monthly rate is higher and the page shows only the saving.
- Point-in-time backups on Dedicated include an add-on priced at $100 a month on lower plans.
- Web deployment and the AI Agent have their own pricing pages, which were not readable for this entry.
Heroku
- No free plan is listed on the pricing page; the lowest dyno price is $5 a month.
- Eco dynos are for personal accounts only and sleep after 30 minutes without traffic.
- Databases are priced separately from dynos: Postgres Essential-0 is $5 a month for 1 GB of storage.
- Dyno prices are per dyno, so running several dynos multiplies the monthly cost.
Key features
Back4app
- Database with auto-generated APIs
- A MongoDB-backed database with REST, GraphQL and SDK access, created automatically for each class, cloud function or job.
- Authentication and access control
- User sign-up and login with ACLs and role-based access control, plus email templates for verification and password reset.
- Cloud functions and jobs
- Server-side JavaScript functions that connect to the database and auth; the number of Cloud Code jobs rises by plan.
- Web deployment
- Deploy full-stack web apps from GitHub to a b4a.app URL with automatic CI/CD.
- Real-time and storage
- Live queries for instant data sync, and file storage delivered through a global CDN.
- AI Agent
- Describe an app and the AI Agent provisions the Back4app backend and deploys a web app, per the vendor's home page.
Heroku
- Dynos
- Apps run in managed containers deployed with Git or Docker. The Cedar generation is the full-integration option and Fir is the Kubernetes-based one.
- Managed data services
- Heroku Postgres, Key-Value Store and Apache Kafka run as managed services, with Postgres plans starting at $5 a month.
- Language support
- The site lists Python, .NET, Java, Node.js, Go, PHP, Ruby, Scala and Clojure.
- Add-ons marketplace
- Heroku Elements lists add-ons, integrations and buildpacks that extend an app.
- Zero-downtime deploys and scaling
- Standard dynos add preboot, horizontal scaling and metrics, and Performance dynos add dedicated compute and autoscaling.
- Heroku AI
- Managed inference and agents, with MCP support, for building AI features into apps.
Plans
Back4app
Free$0
25K requests a month, 250 MB database, 1 GB transfer and 1 GB files, for developing, learning and prototyping.
MVP$15
per app / month, billed annually
500K requests, 1 GB data storage, 250 GB transfer, 50 GB files and daily backups. The page shows a 40% annual saving.
Pay As You Go$80
per app / month, billed annually
5M requests, 3 GB data storage, 1 TB transfer, 250 GB files, daily backups, SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Annual saving of 20% shown.
Dedicated$400
per app / month, billed annually
Unlimited requests on 10 CPUs and 14 GB RAM, 8 GB data storage, 2 TB transfer, point-in-time backups, HIPAA after a BAA.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom SLAs, on-premises or your own infrastructure, multi-region, professional services and a dedicated engineer.
Heroku
Eco$5
per month, a shared pool of 1,000 dyno hours
0.5 GB RAM, personal accounts only, two process types. Dynos sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity. The $5 is charged in full for the month even if you subscribe late.
Basic$7
per dyno / month
0.5 GB RAM, always on, free SSL and up to 10 process types.
Standard-1X$25
per dyno / month
0.5 GB RAM with horizontal scaling, app metrics and alerts, preboot and zero-downtime deploys.
Standard-2X$50
per dyno / month
1 GB RAM with the Standard-1X features.
Performance-M$250
per dyno / month
2.5 GB RAM on dedicated compute with autoscaling.
Performance-L$500
per dyno / month
14 GB RAM on dedicated compute with autoscaling. Performance-XL is $750 with 62 GB RAM.
Ways to pay less
Back4app
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves 20% to 40%
The pricing page shows 40% off on MVP and 20% off on Pay As You Go and Dedicated when billed annually.
Heroku
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Back4app or Heroku?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Heroku is cheaper to start with: $5 a month, against $15 a month for Back4app. Back4app starts at $15 per app / month, billed annually (MVP plan), and Heroku starts at $5 per month for an Eco dyno plan.
Which has a free plan, Back4app or Heroku?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Back4app has a free plan. Heroku does not.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.