Heroku Alternatives in 2026

Heroku killed their free tier. Now what? Here's every viable alternative, from PaaS platforms to self-hosted solutions.

Why People Left Heroku

• No free tier — Used to be the go-to for hobby projects
• Expensive — $7/mo minimum, $25/mo for reasonable resources
• Cold starts — Eco dynos sleep after 30 min
• Slow builds — Buildpack system is dated
• Limited regions — US and EU only

Quick Comparison

Platform	Free Tier	Paid From	Best For
Railway	$5 credit	$5/mo	Heroku refugees
Render	Static only	$7/mo	Simple apps
Fly.io	3 VMs free	$1.94/mo	Edge deployment
Koyeb	1 app free	$5/mo	Serverless
Coolify	Self-hosted	VPS cost	Full control
VPS + Docker	—	$4.99/mo	Maximum value

Platform Alternatives

1. Railway (Best Heroku Replacement)

Railway is what Heroku should have become:

Pricing:

• $5 free credit/month
• Pay-as-you-go after
• ~$5/mo for small apps

Pros:

• Nearly identical to Heroku
• Git push deploy
• Built-in databases
• Great UI
• Usage-based pricing

Cons:

• $5 credit burns fast
• No free tier anymore
• US regions only

Migration:

# Install CLI
npm install -g @railway/cli

# Deploy
railway login
railway init
railway up

2. Render

Render is Heroku-inspired but modern:

Pricing:

• Free static sites
• Services from $7/mo
• Databases from $7/mo

Pros:

• Free static hosting
• Automatic SSL
• Private networking
• Built-in Redis/PostgreSQL

Cons:

• No free compute
• Free tier spins down
• Can get expensive

Migration:

# Connect GitHub repo
# Add render.yaml to project:
services:
  - type: web
    name: my-app
    runtime: node
    buildCommand: npm install
    startCommand: npm start

3. Fly.io (Best Performance)

Fly.io runs your apps at the edge:

Pricing:

• 3 free shared VMs
• 160GB free bandwidth
• Pay as you go

Pros:

• Global edge deployment
• Persistent volumes
• PostgreSQL included
• Docker-native
• Generous free tier

Cons:

• Steeper learning curve
• Complex pricing
• CLI-focused

Migration:

fly launch
fly deploy

4. Koyeb

Serverless platform with free tier:

Pricing:

• 1 free nano app
• $5/mo for more

Pros:

• Actual free tier (2 nano services)
• Git deployments
• Multiple regions
• Docker support

Cons:

• Nano instances are tiny
• Limited customization

5. Vercel/Netlify

For frontend and serverless:

Best for:

• Next.js, React, Vue
• Serverless functions
• Static sites

Not good for:

• Long-running processes
• Databases
• Background jobs

Self-Hosted Alternatives

Option A: VPS + Docker

The DIY approach. Full control, lowest cost.

Cost: $4.99-15/mo

Setup:

# On any VPS
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

# Run your app
docker compose up -d

Pros:

• Complete control
• No vendor lock-in
• Cheapest option
• Unlimited apps

Cons:

• You manage everything
• No auto-scaling
• Learning curve

Option B: Coolify

Self-hosted PaaS with Heroku-like UX:

Cost: VPS only (~$5/mo)

Features:

• Git deployments
• Automatic SSL
• Database templates
• Docker support

curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | bash

Option C: Dokploy

Another self-hosted PaaS:

Cost: VPS only (~$5/mo)

curl -sSL https://dokploy.com/install.sh | sh

Option D: CapRover

Docker-based PaaS:

Cost: VPS only (~$5/mo)

docker run -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -p 3000:3000 \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  caprover/caprover

Cost Comparison

Running a simple Node.js app with PostgreSQL:

Platform	Monthly Cost
Heroku Eco + Mini Postgres	$12/mo
Railway	~$7/mo
Render	$14/mo
Fly.io	~$5/mo
Hostinger VPS + Docker	$4.99/mo
Hetzner + Coolify	€5.39/mo

Self-hosting wins on cost. Every time.

Migration Guide

From Heroku to Railway

Railway understands Heroku's Procfile:

# Keep your existing Procfile
web: npm start
worker: node worker.js

# Deploy
railway init
railway up

Environment variables copy over easily.

From Heroku to VPS

1. Export your data:

heroku pg:backups:capture
heroku pg:backups:download

2. Set up VPS:

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

# Import database
cat latest.dump | docker exec -i postgres psql -U user dbname

3. Deploy with Docker Compose:

version: '3.8'
services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://postgres:password@db:5432/app
  
  db:
    image: postgres:15
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: password

volumes:
  postgres_data:

From Heroku to Fly.io

# Install flyctl
curl -L https://fly.io/install.sh | sh

# Launch (auto-detects Heroku apps)
fly launch

# Deploy
fly deploy

# Import database
fly postgres import pg://old-database

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Railway if:

• You want Heroku-like experience
• You're okay paying ~$5-10/mo
• You value simplicity

Choose Fly.io if:

• You need global edge deployment
• You want the free tier
• You're comfortable with CLI

Choose Self-Hosted if:

• Budget is priority
• You want full control
• You're running multiple apps
• You have basic DevOps skills

Recommended Path

For most Heroku refugees:

1. Immediate: Move to Fly.io (free tier)
2. Long-term: Set up Coolify/Dokploy on VPS

Best VPS for self-hosting:

Provider	Plan	Price
Hostinger	KVM1	$4.99/mo
Hetzner	CX21	€5.39/mo

$5/month gets you:

• Unlimited apps
• Your own databases
• No cold starts
• Full control

That's less than Heroku's minimum for infinitely more.

FAQ

Is Railway really free?

$5 credit/month. Small apps stay free, but it's easy to exceed.

Can I use Heroku buildpacks elsewhere?

Railway and Render support them. For VPS, use Docker instead.

What about Heroku addons?

Most have standalone alternatives:

• Papertrail → Loki/Grafana
• Redis Cloud → Self-hosted Redis
• Mailgun → Resend, Postmark
• Scheduler → Cron jobs

Is self-hosting hard?

With Coolify/Dokploy, it's basically Heroku with a 5-minute setup. Raw Docker has a learning curve but isn't rocket science.

What if I need to scale?

• Railway/Fly.io scale automatically
• VPS: Add more instances behind a load balancer
• Or graduate to Kubernetes

Summary

Heroku's era is over. The alternatives are better and cheaper:

Need	Best Choice
Drop-in replacement	Railway
Free tier	Fly.io
Full control	Coolify on VPS
Maximum value	Hostinger + Docker

Stop paying Heroku tax. A $5 VPS does more than a $25 dyno.