Heroku vs Vercel (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Vercel grades higher than Heroku: 2.4 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Heroku grades higher on features. Vercel grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. 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.
Vercel
Git-based hosting for front-end and full-stack web 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 Vercel if
- Fits if you ship Next.js or other framework apps from Git
- Works for personal projects on the free Hobby plan
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if the project earns money and you want to stay on the free plan
- Pricey if you have a team: each extra deploying seat is $20 a month
- Watch out: usage beyond the $20 credit is billed on demand
- Watch out: Enterprise pricing isn't published
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAHerokuWeak | 2.4GPAVercelFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CPro is $20 a month per deploying seat with $20 of usage credit, just inside the dearer quarter ($19). Usage past the credit is billed per resource. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial are listed anywhere on the pages read. | BHobby is free with CI/CD, a CDN and a firewall, plus a 14-day Pro trial. But it's limited to non-commercial, personal use. |
| Features | BDynos, managed Postgres and key-value, an add-ons marketplace, many languages, zero-downtime deploys and AI inference. | CGit deploys, preview URLs, CDN, firewall, analytics and spend controls. It's front-end hosting first, and SCIM, multi-region failover and the SLA are Enterprise only. |
| 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. | CNo store rating on record. You connect a Git repo and set up projects, domains and environment variables. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web platform with a Git and Docker workflow and a large add-on marketplace. No desktop or phone apps. | BWeb only, with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps and Next.js. |
| Best for | developers deploying apps without managing servers | deploying front-end apps from Git |
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 Vercel. 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. Vercel starts at $20 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Heroku starts $15 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 1 scores higher than Heroku for less, and 6 score higher than Vercel 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
- Heroku also covers databases.
- Vercel also covers web analytics and page speed.
At a glance
| Heroku | Vercel | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $5 per month for an Eco dyno plan | $20 per month for 1 deploying seat (Pro) |
| Free plan | None | Hobby plan: $0 a month, with automatic CI/CD, a global CDN, a web application firewall and DDoS mitigation. Limited to non-commercial, personal use. |
| Free trial | None listed | Pro trial: 14 days with $20 in credits. |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Salesforce | Vercel |
| Price read from | heroku.com | vercel.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 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.
Vercel
- The Hobby plan is limited to non-commercial, personal use under Vercel's fair use guidelines.
- Pro includes one deploying seat; each extra Owner or Member seat is $20 a month, while viewer seats are free.
- Usage beyond the $20 monthly credit is billed on demand, per resource, such as per million requests or per GB-hour.
- Enterprise pricing is not published, and SCIM, multi-region failover and the 99.99% SLA are Enterprise only.
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.
Vercel
- Git deploys and preview URLs
- Projects deploy on every push from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket or Azure DevOps, and each branch gets its own preview URL.
- Fluid compute
- Server code is billed for actual execution time rather than idle time, according to the pricing page.
- Global CDN and firewall
- Content is served from a global delivery network with HTTPS certificates, a web application firewall and DDoS mitigation on every plan.
- Analytics and observability
- Traffic and performance insights are included, with deeper observability available as a paid add-on on Pro.
- Spend management
- Pro teams can set a spending limit and alerts, and Vercel says it will stop usage before the budget is exceeded.
- AI Gateway and SDK
- Vercel offers an AI Gateway and an open-source AI SDK for apps that call language models, alongside Sandbox for running untrusted code.
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.
Vercel
Hobby$0
Import a repo and deploy, with CI/CD, CDN, firewall and fluid compute. Restricted to non-commercial, personal use.
Pro$20
per month, includes 1 deploying seat and $20 of usage credit
Adds $20 of monthly usage credit, spend management, cold start prevention and free viewer seats. More deploying seats are $20 a month each.
EnterpriseCustom
Sold through sales: SCIM and directory sync, managed WAF rulesets, multi-region compute and failover, 99.99% SLA and advanced support.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Heroku or Vercel?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Heroku is cheaper to start with: $5 a month, against $20 a month for Vercel. Heroku starts at $5 per month for an Eco dyno plan, and Vercel starts at $20 per month for 1 deploying seat (Pro).
Which has a free plan, Heroku or Vercel?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Vercel 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.