Porter review (2026): is it worth paying for?
App deployment into your own AWS, Azure or Google Cloud
Black Friday: is there a Porter sale?
Porter report card
Weak · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for Heroku-style deploys on your own cloud
Porter deploys from GitHub into your own AWS, Azure or Google Cloud account, billed on the memory and CPU you request. Its fee comes on top of your cloud bill, and there is no free plan.
Who Porter is for
- Fits if you want Heroku-style deploys on your own cloud account
- Works for startups moving off Heroku
Who Porter is not for
- Pricey if you add it up: the fee comes on top of your cloud provider's bill
- Skip it if you want a free tier, as none is listed
- Tight if you need SSO, advanced roles or volume discounts, which need Enterprise and a sales call
- Watch out: billing is on requested resources, not cloud instance capacity
Why Porter gets a 1.6
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- DValue for money$6 per GB of RAM and $13 per vCPU a month, so 1 vCPU with 2 GB is $25 before the cloud bill, above the ordinary range.
- FFree plan and trialNo free plan and no trial on record, so you pay from the start.
- CFeaturesGitHub deploys, autoscaling, monitoring, logs, alerts and a Heroku migration path. It relies on a cloud account you supply.
- CEase of useYou connect a cloud account and configure apps, with no store rating.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb dashboard with a few integrations, built on GitHub.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Porter's own pages on 13 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/porter#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/porter.svg" alt="Porter: 1.6 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Porter stands among web hosts
Porter's GPA of 1.6 is higher than 5 of the 122 other web hosts we grade, and level with 23.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 57 of 122) and worst on free plan and trial (F, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $13 a month, against a middle price of $9.69 for the category: 67 of the 107 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 4 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 123 web hosts we grade, cut by the letter each got. Porter’s own letter is outlined.
- DValue for moneyAbove 0 of 122, level with 12
- FFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 122, level with 62
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 122, level with 85
- CEase of useAbove 40 of 122, level with 82
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 57 of 122, level with 65
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 111 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 Porter, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Porter you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 94 of the 122 other web hosts grade higher. It costs $156 a year.
What you could make
- Job scheduling: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on and roles and permissions.
What this rests on. Porter’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 Porter?
Porter deploys applications into the customer's own AWS, Azure or Google Cloud account without hands-on DevOps work. It bills for the CPU and memory an app requests, and the cloud provider's charges for the underlying infrastructure are billed separately by that provider. An Enterprise tier adds volume discounts, advanced roles, SSO and on-premise installation.
Worth knowing
- Porter's metered fee does not include the underlying AWS, Azure or Google Cloud cost, which is billed separately by the provider.
- Rates are $6 per GB of RAM and $13 per vCPU a month, billed on requested resources rather than cloud instance capacity.
- Volume discounts, SSO and advanced roles are Enterprise features that require talking to sales.
- The pricing FAQ mentions startup deals through some accelerators and investors, and a 50% discount for non-profits.
Key features
- Your own cloud account
- Applications run in your AWS, Azure or Google Cloud account, and the servers keep running if you stop paying Porter, according to the pricing FAQ.
- Deploy from GitHub
- Unlimited applications can be deployed from GitHub with preview environments, jobs and cron jobs.
- Autoscaling
- Applications autoscale, including custom autoscaling rules.
- Monitoring, logging and alerts
- Monitoring, logging and alerting are part of the Standard offering, along with certificate management.
- Heroku migration path
- The site has a dedicated guide for moving apps off Heroku.
- Enterprise controls
- Advanced role-based access control, SAML-based SSO and on-premise installation are offered on the Enterprise tier.
Porter pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Porter is a paid product, starting at Metered: $6 per GB of RAM and $13 per vCPU, per month, plus your cloud bill.
- Starts at
- Metered: $6 per GB of RAM and $13 per vCPU, per month, plus your cloud bill
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Custom | Pay as you go for requested app resources: $6 per GB RAM and $13 per vCPU per month ($0.009 and $0.019 per hour). Unlimited apps, preview environments, autoscaling and cron jobs. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Volume discounts above 40 vCPU or 80 GB RAM, premium support, advanced RBAC, SAML SSO, custom alerts and on-prem installation. Sold through sales. |
Read from porter.run on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Porter before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Nonprofit50% discount for non-profits
The pricing FAQ states Porter offers non-profits a 50% discount.
Stated on porter.run - StartupsStartup deal through accelerators and investors
The pricing FAQ says funded startups often have access to a deal through investors such as Y Combinator and a16z speedrun, and others can apply for the startup deal.
Stated on porter.run
Works with
Porter alternatives
- Porter vs Qovery
Free plan · from $299/mo
- Porter vs Render
Free plan · from $25/mo
- Porter vs Heroku
From $5/mo
- Porter vs Railway
Free trial · from $5/mo
- Porter vs Northflank
Free plan · from $12/mo
Common questions
Does Porter have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Porter is listed for Web.
Does Porter have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Porter is listed for Web.
Is Porter open source?
Porter is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026.