Heroku vs Stackhero (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Heroku and Stackhero share a 1.8 GPA, neither has a free plan, and Heroku starts cheaper, at $5 a month against $15 a month.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Stackhero
Managed hosting for Node.js, Docker, databases and open-source apps
Which one is for you
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
Pick Stackhero if
- Fits if you want a managed Node.js or database instance and hourly billing
- Works for developers who deploy by git push and want backups handled
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, because none is listed
- Tight if you run a tiny static site: sizes start at 1 vCPU and 1GB RAM
- Pricey if you stack services, since each one is billed separately, such as PostgreSQL from $19 a month
- Not for you if you don't use a terminal, as deploys are by git push
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAHerokuWeak | 1.8GPAStackheroWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CA Node.js instance is $15 a month, billed hourly, which sits between the $10.99 middle and the $20.83 dearer quarter. Larger sizes reach $299. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial are listed anywhere on the pages read. | FNo free plan or trial. The buttons say Try now for free, but the pages read state no trial terms. |
| Features | BDynos, managed Postgres and key-value, an add-ons marketplace, many languages, zero-downtime deploys and AI inference. | BGit-push deploys, dedicated instances, daily backups kept up to 3 months, one-click updates and a 99.9% SLA across a large service catalog. Nothing in the listing is missing from the core hosting job. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. You deploy with Git or Docker and a command line, which puts it below 3.8 on our ladder. | DNo store rating on record. Deploys go through a terminal, GitHub Actions or CI, so you work on the command line. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web platform with a Git and Docker workflow and a large add-on marketplace. No desktop or phone apps. | BWeb console with GitHub Actions, GitLab, Docker and database integrations, in US and EU regions. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | developers deploying apps without managing servers | managed app and database instances billed by the hour |
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: Heroku and Stackhero. How we grade
Price against what you get
Heroku starts at $5 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Stackhero starts at $15 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, 1 scores higher than Heroku for less, and 5 score higher than Stackhero 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
- Stackhero also covers dashboards.
At a glance
| Heroku | Stackhero | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $5 per month for an Eco dyno plan | $15 per month for a Node.js instance (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM), billed hourly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Salesforce | Stackhero |
| Price read from | heroku.com | stackhero.io |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Stackhero
- Each service is priced separately: a PostgreSQL instance, for example, starts at $19 a month and a Node.js instance at $15 a month.
- Sizes start at 1 vCPU and 1GB RAM, so there is no cheaper tier for very small static sites.
- Premium support is included in every plan, and the page states a 99.9% SLA with financial compensation.
- Buttons read 'Try now for free', but the pricing pages read for this listing state no trial terms.
Key features
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.
Stackhero
- Deploy with git push
- Node.js apps are deployed from a terminal, GitHub Actions, GitLab or any CI/CD system, choosing a branch, tag or commit.
- Dedicated instances
- Each service runs on its own isolated infrastructure with NVMe or SSD disks, a dedicated IP, and TCP and UDP ports available.
- Large service catalog
- The catalog lists dozens of services, among them Docker, PHP, Python, Ruby, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Redis, Elasticsearch, GitLab, Nextcloud and Matomo.
- Backups and updates
- Backups are taken every 24 hours and kept for up to 3 months, restores are free, and updates are applied with one click.
- Hourly billing
- Instances can be created and deleted at any time, are billed by the hour and appear on one invoice at the end of the month.
- US and EU regions
- Servers are offered in the USA and in Europe, and the vendor says its hosting is independent of third-party clouds.
Plans
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.
Stackhero
Hobby 1 GB$15
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
1 vCPU, 1GB RAM and 10GB SSD storage for a Node.js app; about $0.02 an hour.
Hobby 2 GB$29
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
1 vCPU, 2GB RAM and 20GB SSD storage; about $0.04 an hour.
Startup 8 GB$59
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
2 vCPUs, 8GB RAM and 50GB SSD storage; about $0.08 an hour.
Startup 16 GB$99
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
4 vCPUs, 16GB RAM and 100GB SSD storage; about $0.14 an hour.
Enterprise 32 GB$159
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
8 vCPUs, 32GB RAM and 200GB SSD storage; about $0.22 an hour.
Enterprise 64 GB$299
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
16 vCPUs, 64GB RAM and 400GB SSD storage; about $0.42 an hour.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Heroku or Stackhero?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Heroku is cheaper to start with: $5 a month, against $15 a month for Stackhero. Heroku starts at $5 per month for an Eco dyno plan, and Stackhero starts at $15 per month for a Node.js instance (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM), billed hourly.
Which has a free plan, Heroku or Stackhero?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Heroku nor Stackhero has a free plan.
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.