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Best Heroku alternatives (2026)

Heroku has no free plan, and since February 2026 it runs on a sustaining engineering model: stable and supported, but no longer focused on new features. If you want a git-push host with a free tier, lower prices or active development, these are the platforms that take a Heroku app with the least rework. Each one maps Procfile processes, release commands and scheduled jobs to its own equivalents, and each has a managed or one-click Postgres. Ranked by our evidence-based score.

Editorial picks for this use case. See each tool page for its score breakdown. Last updated 2026-10-25.

#1
R
Railway
Deploy apps, databases and services
Verified
80
/ 100
 #2
R
Render
Cloud hosting for apps, databases and workers
Verified
79
/ 100
 #3
C
Coolify open source
Open-source, self-hostable Heroku/Vercel alternative for your own servers
Verified
78
/ 100
 #4
D
Dokploy open source
Open-source, self-hostable Vercel/Heroku alternative with Docker Compose and multi-server deploys
Verified
77
/ 100
 #5
D
DigitalOcean App Platform
DigitalOcean's managed PaaS for apps, static sites and workers
Verified
75
/ 100
 #6
N
Northflank
Container platform for apps, databases, jobs and GPUs, on its cloud or yours
Verified
72
/ 100
 #7
F
Fly.io
Run apps close to users on Fly Machines
Verified
68
/ 100

The short version

Railway (80) is the closest feel to Heroku: push code, it builds and runs it, and it reads your Procfile out of the box. Render (79) is the best like-for-like swap, with web services, background workers, cron jobs and Postgres, plus a free tier for trying it. Coolify (78) is the pick if you want Heroku-style deploys on your own server for one flat bill, and Dokploy (77) does the same with native Docker Compose and Heroku buildpacks. DigitalOcean App Platform (75) has the most complete Heroku migration guide and uses buildpacks, so many Heroku apps build unchanged. Northflank (72) has a free tier that never sleeps, and Fly.io (68) runs your app close to users in many regions.

Why people are leaving Heroku

Heroku is not shutting down. In February 2026 it moved to a sustaining engineering model focused on stability, security, reliability and support, and pricing stayed the same for card-paying customers. But there has been no free plan since 2022: Eco is $5/mo for a shared pool of 1,000 dyno hours, Eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes idle and are for personal apps only, an always-on Basic dyno is $7/mo and Standard-1X is $25/mo. If your app runs fine there, there is no forced move. If you want a free tier, lower prices or a platform that is still adding features, the hosts below are the usual next step.

Railway: the closest to the Heroku experience

Railway’s docs say it supports Procfiles out of the box (one process per service for now): create a project, push your code and copy over your environment variables. Postgres, MySQL, Redis and MongoDB are one click each. Hobby is a $5/mo minimum that includes $5 of usage, so a small app often costs exactly $5. The Free plan starts with a 30-day trial with $5 of credit, then $1/mo of credit.

Render: a like-for-like swap with a free tier

Render’s Heroku migration guide maps each piece directly: Procfile web and worker processes become web services and background workers, the release phase becomes a pre-deploy command, Heroku Scheduler becomes cron jobs, and config vars become environment variables. Heroku Postgres moves to Render Postgres. Free web services sleep after 15 minutes idle (750 hours a month), and the smallest always-on instance is $7/mo with 512 MB RAM, the same price as a Heroku Basic dyno. A Pro workspace is $25/mo plus compute.

Coolify: Heroku-style deploys on your own server

Coolify is free, open-source software that gives a server you rent (from Hetzner, DigitalOcean or anyone else) git-push deploys, automatic HTTPS and one-click databases. It builds with Nixpacks, Railpack, a Dockerfile or Docker Compose. Coolify itself needs 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM and 10 GB disk, and many apps can share that one server bill. You take on server updates and backups; Coolify Cloud runs the dashboard for you at $5/mo for 2 servers.

Dokploy: self-hosted, with Heroku buildpacks

Dokploy is another free, open-source platform for your own server. One of its build types is Heroku buildpacks (heroku-24 by default), alongside Nixpacks, Railpack, a Dockerfile and Paketo buildpacks, and it deploys Docker Compose stacks natively, so a Heroku app can often build the way it did before. It needs at least 2 GB RAM and 30 GB disk. Dokploy Cloud runs the control panel for you from $4.50/mo per server, with your apps still on your own machines.

DigitalOcean App Platform: the most detailed migration map

DigitalOcean publishes a full Heroku-to-App-Platform guide with a concept table: Procfile processes become service and worker components, the release phase becomes a pre-deploy job, Heroku Scheduler becomes a scheduled job with a cron expression, and Heroku Postgres becomes DigitalOcean Managed PostgreSQL. It detects your language and builds with Cloud Native Buildpacks, or from your Dockerfile. Containers start at $5/mo (1 shared vCPU, 512 MiB), a dev database is $7/mo, and up to 3 static sites are free.

Northflank and Fly.io: free that never sleeps, or global

Northflank’s Sandbox tier gives you 2 free services, 1 free database and 2 free cron jobs that don’t sleep; after that it is pay as you go, with plans from $2.70/mo (0.1 vCPU, 256 MB). Fly.io has no free plan and no monthly platform fee: you pay for the Machines you run, and the smallest always-on Machine is about $2.19 per 30 days. Its Managed Postgres starts at $38/mo, so pair Fly with an outside database such as Neon or Supabase if you want to keep the bill small.

Moving your database

The app is usually the easy part; Heroku Postgres is what takes planning. Every host here can restore a standard pg_dump backup, so the usual path is: put the Heroku app in maintenance mode, take a backup, restore it on the new host, update DATABASE_URL and switch your domain. If you would rather not run Postgres on your app host at all, Supabase, Neon and Nhost all have free tiers; see our database guide for what each costs after that.

Side-by-side comparison

ToolScoreFree tierPricingBest for
Railway80Partial: one-time $5 trial credit (30 days), then a Free plan with $1/mo creditHobby $5/mo (includes $5 usage)Full-stack apps with a database and workers, deployed in minutes
Render79Yes: free web services (sleep after 15 min idle, 750 hrs/mo)Paid instances from $7/mo; Pro workspace $25/moHeroku-style hosting for backends and full-stack apps
Coolify78Yes: the self-hosted edition is free with all features (bring your own server)Self-hosted free forever (you pay for your own server; Coolify needs 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, 10 GB disk); Coolify Cloud $5/mo for 2 servers + $3/mo per extra server (annual saves 20%)Builders who want Heroku-style git deploys for several apps on one cheap VPS, with no per-app or per-seat fees
Dokploy77Yes: the open-source self-hosted edition is free to use (you pay for your own server)Self-hosted free (Apache-2.0 outside the /proprietary directory; needs a server with at least 2 GB RAM and 30 GB disk). Dokploy Cloud (managed control panel, you bring the servers): Hobby $4.50/mo per server; Startup from $15/mo with 3 servers included, extra servers $4.50/mo; Enterprise custom. Yearly billing saves 20%; 7-day free trial, no card requiredBuilders who want Vercel-style git deploys and Compose stacks on one cheap VPS without per-app fees
DigitalOcean App Platform75Partial: up to 3 static sites free (1 GiB transfer each); apps with a server start at $5/moContainers from $5/mo (1 shared vCPU, 512 MiB, 50 GiB transfer); $12/mo for 1 GiB with scaling; dedicated CPU from $29/mo; dev database $7/mo; extra transfer $0.02/GiBPredictable flat-price hosting for a full-stack app plus database, especially if you already use DigitalOcean
Northflank72Yes: Sandbox tier with 2 free services, 1 free database and 2 free cron jobs, always on (no sleeping)Pay as you go: $0.01667/vCPU-hr + $0.00833/GB-hr; plans from $2.70/mo (0.1 vCPU, 256 MB), $12/mo (0.5 vCPU, 1 GB); egress $0.06/GB; GPUs from $0.80/hrApps that need always-on free services, preview environments or GPUs, and teams that may move to their own cloud account later
Fly.io68No: trial only (2 Machine hours or 7 days)Pay as you go; smallest always-on Machine ~$2.19 per 30 daysContainerized apps that need multi-region placement

FAQ

What is the best Heroku alternatives in 2026?
Our top pick is Railway (score 80/100): Deploy apps, databases and services. Runners-up: Render, Coolify, Dokploy, DigitalOcean App Platform, Northflank, Fly.io.
Is Railway free?
Railway has a partial free tier: Partial: one-time $5 trial credit (30 days), then a Free plan with $1/mo credit. Pricing: Hobby $5/mo (includes $5 usage).
Is Render free?
Render free tier: Yes: free web services (sleep after 15 min idle, 750 hrs/mo). Paid pricing: Paid instances from $7/mo; Pro workspace $25/mo.
Is Coolify free?
Coolify free tier: Yes: the self-hosted edition is free with all features (bring your own server). Paid pricing: Self-hosted free forever (you pay for your own server; Coolify needs 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, 10 GB disk); Coolify Cloud $5/mo for 2 servers + $3/mo per extra server (annual saves 20%).
How are these tools ranked?
Each tool is scored out of 100 on fit, vibe-coder friendliness, output quality, pricing, ecosystem, momentum and code ownership, using desk research of official docs and pricing pages. Affiliate status never affects scores.
What is the best alternative to Heroku?
Railway scores highest at 80: it reads your Procfile, builds on push and costs $5/mo on Hobby including $5 of usage. Render (79) is the closest one-to-one replacement, with workers, cron jobs and Postgres, and it adds a free tier.
Is there a free Heroku alternative?
Yes. Render has free web services (they sleep after 15 minutes idle) and a free Postgres. Northflank’s Sandbox tier runs 2 services and 1 database for free without sleeping. Coolify and Dokploy are free open-source software, but you pay for the server they run on.
Is Heroku shutting down?
No. In February 2026 Heroku moved to a sustaining engineering model focused on stability, security, reliability and support. Pricing and service stayed the same for customers who pay by card; only new Enterprise contracts stopped.
Can I keep my Procfile?
On Railway, yes: its docs say Procfiles work out of the box, with one process per service. Render and DigitalOcean App Platform map each Procfile process to their own services and workers, and their migration guides show the equivalent for each line.
How much does it cost to move a small Heroku app?
For a single always-on web app, about $5 to $7 a month: Railway Hobby is $5/mo including $5 of usage, a DigitalOcean App Platform container is $5/mo, and Render’s smallest always-on instance is $7/mo. A Heroku Basic dyno is also $7/mo, but its Postgres Essential-0 adds $5/mo.

Sources (checked Oct 17, 2026)

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