Heroku review (2026): is it worth $5 a month?
Platform for deploying apps in containers called dynos
Black Friday: is there a Heroku sale?
Heroku report card
Weak · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for developers deploying apps without managing servers
Heroku is a platform for running apps in managed containers, with Postgres and add-ons around them. It starts at $5 a month, but there's no free plan, the cheap Eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes, and you're working from the command line and Git.
Who Heroku is for
- 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
Who Heroku is not for
- 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
Why Heroku gets a 1.8
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyEco 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.
- FFree plan and trialNo free plan and no trial are listed anywhere on the pages read.
- BFeaturesDynos, managed Postgres and key-value, an add-ons marketplace, many languages, zero-downtime deploys and AI inference.
- DEase of useNo store rating on record. You deploy with Git or Docker and a command line, which puts it below 3.8 on our ladder.
- BPlatforms and integrationsA web platform with a Git and Docker workflow and a large add-on marketplace. No desktop or phone apps.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Heroku's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/heroku#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/heroku.svg" alt="Heroku: 1.8 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Heroku stands among web hosts
Heroku's GPA of 1.8 is higher than 9 of the 54 other web hosts we grade, and level with 10.
It stands best on features (B, above 29 of 54) and worst on free plan and trial (F, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $5 a month, against a middle price of $9 for the category: 19 of the 52 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 55 web hosts we grade, cut by the letter each got. Heroku’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 5 of 54, level with 21
- FFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 54, level with 35
- BFeaturesAbove 29 of 54, level with 25
- DEase of useAbove 0 of 54, level with 8
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 24 of 54, level with 30
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 53 web hosts. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Heroku, or make your own?
Keep it
Nothing Heroku does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 4 things listed below take a company.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 35 of the 54 other web hosts grade higher. It costs $60 a year.
What you could not
- Databases with views, filters and links between them.
- It plugs into other products, Salesforce, Git and Docker among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Heroku’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Heroku?
Heroku is a platform-as-a-service owned by Salesforce. Apps run in managed containers called dynos, deployed with Git or Docker, and the platform adds managed databases such as Postgres and a key-value store, an add-on marketplace and managed AI inference. Dynos are priced by tier per month, and databases are priced separately.
Worth knowing
- 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
- 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.
Heroku pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Heroku is a paid product, starting at $5 per month for an Eco dyno plan.
- Starts at
- $5 per month for an Eco dyno plan
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Eco | $5per 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 | $7per dyno / month | 0.5 GB RAM, always on, free SSL and up to 10 process types. |
| Standard-1X | $25per dyno / month | 0.5 GB RAM with horizontal scaling, app metrics and alerts, preboot and zero-downtime deploys. |
| Standard-2X | $50per dyno / month | 1 GB RAM with the Standard-1X features. |
| Performance-M | $250per dyno / month | 2.5 GB RAM on dedicated compute with autoscaling. |
| Performance-L | $500per dyno / month | 14 GB RAM on dedicated compute with autoscaling. Performance-XL is $750 with 62 GB RAM. |
Read from heroku.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Heroku before you buy.
Works with
- Salesforce
- Git
- Docker
- Postgres
- Apache Kafka
Heroku alternatives
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- Heroku vs Fly.io
Free trial · from $2.19/mo
- Heroku vs DigitalOcean
Free plan · from $4/mo
- Heroku vs Vercel
Free plan · from $20/mo
Common questions
Does Heroku have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Heroku is listed for Web.
Does Heroku have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Heroku is listed for Web.
Is Heroku open source?
Heroku is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.