Alternatives
10 best Heroku alternatives
Tools that cover the same task as Heroku (cloud platform), ranked by how completely their pricing, free tier and API access are documented. Checked Oct 4, 2026.
- Heroku starts at
- $5/mo
- Free plan
- No free plan
- API
- API available
- 01
Netlify
Netlify is an AI-native cloud platform for building, deploying, and scaling modern web apps from Git, APIs, or AI agents. It bundles hosting, serverless functions, edge features, databases, and observability for frontend and full-stack teams.
Best for: Developers and teams shipping Jamstack or agent-assisted web apps who want integrated deploy and runtime services.
- 02
Cloud 66
Cloud 66 is a DevOps platform for building, deploying, and scaling applications on any cloud or your own servers without vendor lock-in. It bundles deployment pipelines, monitoring, security, and scaling tools for stacks ranging from a single server to large fleets.
Best for: Development teams who want Heroku-style workflows on their own cloud accounts or bare metal.
- 03
Zeabur
Zeabur is a deployment platform that acts as an AI DevOps assistant for shipping applications from code to running infrastructure. It provides dashboards, CI build specs, logging, backups, domain tooling, and Zeabur Agent capabilities for teams that want managed hosting without manual DevOps setup.
Best for: Developers and small teams deploying web services who want AI-assisted infrastructure management on Zeabur or connected servers.
- 04
Axiom
Axiom is a cloud machine-data platform for high-volume logs, events, and telemetry with schema-less ingest and APL querying. Teams use it for observability and analytics at petabyte scale without operating their own event store infrastructure.
Best for: Developers and platform teams ingesting large event volumes who want managed storage, APL analytics, and usage-based cloud scaling.
- 05
Chroma
Chroma provides open-source and cloud search infrastructure for AI with vector, full-text, regex, and metadata search backed by object storage. Chroma Cloud adds serverless scaling, SOC 2 controls, and usage-based billing for production workloads.
Best for: Developers building RAG or agent apps who want Apache 2.0 local development with optional managed cloud scaling.
- 06
Defang
Defang helps engineering teams become AI-native while keeping sovereignty over cloud, models, data, and deployment. Its product line includes Defang Station for running agents, Defang Deploy for shipping to your own cloud accounts, and Defang Forge for building capability, framed around an AI-Native Maturity Model and ROI workflow.
Best for: Engineering leaders and platform teams who want to run and deploy AI agents and apps in AWS accounts they control rather than a black-box vendor runtime.
- 07
Aiven
Aiven is a managed open-source data platform spanning PostgreSQL, Kafka, OpenSearch, ClickHouse, Grafana, and related services. It targets teams that want cloud-hosted databases and streaming infrastructure with transparent plan-based pricing across major hyperscalers.
Best for: Platform engineers who need managed OSS data services without operating their own Kubernetes database operators.
- 08
Pangolin
Pangolin is an open-source secure access and networking platform connecting workforces, AI agents, and infrastructure with identity-aware controls. Cloud plans add SSO, RBAC, audit logging, device posture, and an AI Gateway for identity-aware access to AI providers without sharing API keys.
Best for: Teams securing remote access to private apps, infrastructure, and AI workloads who want open-source software with optional managed cloud tiers.
- 09
Nhost
Nhost is a managed backend platform built on Postgres with GraphQL, authentication, file storage, and serverless functions. The homepage promises launch-in-minutes hosting for full-stack apps, emphasizing predictable scaling, built-in auth providers, and a unified control plane instead of stitching separate database, auth, and storage vendors.
Best for: Teams building Postgres-backed web or mobile apps who want managed GraphQL, auth, and storage without operating their own backend stack.
- 10
Prisma Postgres
Prisma Postgres is a managed, serverless PostgreSQL service aimed at TypeScript applications. It advertises production-ready Postgres with branchable databases per pull request, autoscaling for traffic spikes, spend limits, and integrated Prisma Studio and query insights so teams can ship without running their own database infrastructure.
Best for: TypeScript teams that want managed Postgres aligned with Prisma tooling instead of self-hosting or wiring a separate cloud database.
Heroku alternatives: common questions
What is the best free alternative to Heroku?
Netlify has an ongoing free plan. Free plan is $0 forever with 300 monthly credits, deploy previews, custom domains, and core platform features listed on pricing. Free plans change, so check the vendor before relying on one.
What is the cheapest Heroku alternative?
Pangolin has the lowest listed starting price at $4/mo, compared with $5/mo for Heroku.
Which Heroku alternatives have an API?
Zeabur, Axiom, Chroma, Aiven, Pangolin mention API or developer access.