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Temps vs Heroku

Temps vs Heroku 2026: Same git-push DX, 90% less cost

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Monthly cost at a glance

Temps
Heroku
Hobby/Eco
$0
$5/mo
Always-on app
$0
$7/mo
App + DB + Redis
Free
$45–90/mo
Production + observability
Free
$80–190+/mo
$curl -fsSL https://temps.sh/deploy.sh | bash

The short answer

Heroku
Heroku is a managed platform where an always-on dyno is $7–25/month, an app with Postgres and Redis is $45–90/month, and adding observability through the marketplace brings it to $80–190+/month.
Temps
Temps runs the same git-push workflow on your own server, with managed Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis plus error tracking, session replay, analytics and uptime monitoring included.
What Heroku has that Temps doesn't
Two decades of platform maturity, a 200+ add-on marketplace, Pipelines, and Salesforce integration. Migration is medium difficulty because each add-on has to be replaced individually.

Scored, dimension by dimension

  • Cost, app + DB + Redis

    Temps

    Temps

    Free + your server

    Heroku

    $45–90/mo

  • Cost with observability

    Temps

    Temps

    Free (included)

    Heroku

    $80–190+/mo with add-ons

  • Add-on ecosystem

    Heroku

    Temps

    Built-in services only

    Heroku

    200+ marketplace add-ons

  • Platform maturity

    Heroku

    Temps

    Young project (v0.1.0)

    Heroku

    Two decades in production

  • Git-push deploy workflow

    Tie

    Temps

    Yes

    Heroku

    Yes

Why teams switch from Heroku

Heroku's free tier was removed in November 2022. The cheapest always-on Heroku stack — Basic dyno ($7/mo) + Heroku Postgres Mini ($5/mo) + Redis Mini ($15/mo) — costs $27+/mo before observability. Add Sentry ($26+/mo) and you're at $53+/mo with no analytics or session replay. Temps is free on your own VPS, with everything included: git-push deploys, managed PostgreSQL and Redis, Sentry-compatible error tracking, privacy-first analytics, session replay, and uptime monitoring.

No free tier since Nov 2022 — Temps self-hosts free
Heroku removed all free dynos, free Postgres, and free Redis in November 2022. The cheapest always-on option is a Basic dyno at $7/mo. Temps is MIT / Apache 2.0 — self-host free on any VPS you provide.
No add-on sprawl — observability built in
Every Heroku observability tool is a paid add-on. Sentry costs $26+/mo, Papertrail $7+/mo, New Relic $99+/mo, Pingdom $15+/mo. Temps ships Sentry-compatible error tracking, analytics, session replay, and uptime monitoring in the same binary as the deployment engine.
No dyno sleeping
Heroku Eco dynos ($5/mo) sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity — the first request after sleep takes 10–30 seconds. Basic dynos ($7/mo) are always-on. Temps services run 24/7 on your infrastructure with no sleep behavior.
Self-hostable, no Salesforce lock-in
Heroku is owned by Salesforce and closed-source. Temps is MIT / Apache 2.0 — install on any VPS, cloud, or on-premises server. Your code and data never depend on Salesforce's roadmap.

Feature comparison

What each platform includes out of the box, and what needs a separate subscription.

  • Git push deployments

    Temps

    Yes

    Heroku

    Yes

  • Docker support

    Temps

    Yes

    Heroku

    Yes

  • Automatic SSL

    Temps

    Yes

    Heroku

    Yes

  • Custom domains

    Temps

    Yes

    Heroku

    Yes

  • Preview environments

    Temps

    Yes
    Per pull request

    Heroku

    Yes
    Review Apps

  • Managed PostgreSQL

    Temps

    Yes
    Included

    Heroku

    Yes
    From $5/mo extra

  • Managed Redis

    Temps

    Yes
    Included

    Heroku

    Yes
    From $15/mo extra

  • S3-compatible storage

    Temps

    Yes
    Built-in (RustFS, MinIO supported)

    Heroku

    No

  • Error tracking

    Temps

    Yes
    Sentry-compatible

    Heroku

    No
    Sentry add-on ($26+/mo)

  • Analytics

    Temps

    Yes
    Privacy-first, unlimited

    Heroku

    No
    Add-on required

  • Session replay

    Temps

    Yes
    Built-in

    Heroku

    No

  • Uptime monitoring

    Temps

    Yes
    Built-in alerts

    Heroku

    No
    Pingdom add-on ($10+/mo)

  • Self-hosted option

    Temps

    Yes

    Heroku

    No

  • Horizontal scaling

    Temps

    Yes
    Multi-node cluster

    Heroku

    Yes
    Standard-1X+ only ($25+/mo)

  • Background workers

    Temps

    Yes
    Cron & queues

    Heroku

    Yes
    Separate worker dyno ($25+/mo)

  • Build minutes

    Temps

    Unlimited

    Heroku

    25 min timeout

What it actually costs

Heroku charges separately for dynos, databases, Redis, and every observability tool. A realistic production stack costs $80–190/mo. With Temps, you self-host for free on a modest VPS — with analytics, error tracking, and monitoring included.

ScenarioTempsHeroku
Hobby/Eco$0 (self-hosted)$5/mo (sleeps after 30 min)
Always-on app$0 (self-hosted)$7/mo (Basic) or $25/mo (Standard)
App + DB + RedisFree — your own VPS$45–90/mo
Production + observabilityFree — your own VPS$80–190+/mo (dyno + DB + add-ons)

Heroku Pricing Plans 2026

PlanPriceSleep?Dyno TypeBest For
Eco$5/mo (1000 dyno-hours/mo)Yes (30 min idle)SharedDev/test only
Basic$7/mo per dynoNoSharedAlways-on side projects
Standard-1X$25/mo per dynoNo512 MB RAMProduction apps
Standard-2X$50/mo per dynoNo1 GB RAMMemory-heavy apps
Performance-M$250/mo per dynoNo2.5 GB RAMHigh-traffic apps

Source: Heroku pricing page. Numbers current as of 2026.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Temps if you…

  • You want error tracking, analytics, and monitoring without extra subscriptions
  • You need predictable costs — not per-dyno, per-add-on billing
  • You want always-on apps without paying $25+/mo per process
  • You need self-hosting for compliance (HIPAA, SOC2, GDPR)
  • You want to escape Salesforce vendor lock-in
  • You want managed databases included, not billed separately

What Heroku does better than Temps

  • You want a fully managed platform with zero server maintenance
  • You rely on Heroku's mature add-on marketplace (200+ integrations)
  • You need Heroku Pipelines and advanced CI/CD workflows
  • You're already invested in the Salesforce ecosystem
  • You want two decades of platform maturity — Temps is young (v0.1.0)

Migrating from Heroku

Medium difficulty

If you already have a Dockerfile, migration is quick — your container works directly with Temps and your Procfile process types map to Temps service definitions. Without a Dockerfile, you'll need to write one (typically 30–60 minutes per app). The bigger effort is add-on substitution: Heroku Postgres and Redis map to Temps built-ins; SendGrid maps to Temps' built-in transactional email (SMTP, SES, or Scaleway providers). Migrate environment variables via `bunx @temps-sdk/cli environments vars set`. Plan half a day for a typical Heroku app.

Frequently asked questions

Does Heroku still have a free tier in 2026?

No. Heroku removed all free dynos, free Heroku Postgres, and free Heroku Redis in November 2022. The cheapest plan is the Eco dyno at $5/mo (1,000 shared dyno-hours per month, sleeps after 30 min of inactivity). The cheapest always-on single app is the Basic dyno at $7/mo. Source: heroku.com/pricing.

How much does Heroku cost in 2026?

Heroku's 2026 pricing: Eco $5/mo (sleeps), Basic $7/mo per dyno (always-on), Standard-1X $25/mo per dyno (512 MB), Standard-2X $50/mo per dyno (1 GB), Performance-M $250/mo per dyno (2.5 GB). Databases and Redis are billed separately: Heroku Postgres Mini $5/mo, Basic $9/mo; Redis Mini $15/mo. A realistic production stack (Standard-1X + Postgres Mini + Redis Mini) costs $45+/mo before any observability add-ons.

What is the cheapest Heroku alternative in 2026?

For teams who want Heroku's git-push workflow but lower cost, the top self-hosted alternatives are Temps, Coolify, and Dokploy — all free to self-host. Temps is the only one that includes built-in analytics, error tracking (Sentry-compatible DSN), session replay, and uptime monitoring. A Temps VPS costs only the server, with no per-seat fees and no add-on billing.

Does Heroku have built-in error tracking or analytics?

No. Heroku has no built-in error tracking, web analytics, or session replay in 2026. These require paid add-ons: Sentry ($26+/mo), Papertrail ($7+/mo), New Relic ($99+/mo), or external tools. Temps includes Sentry-compatible error tracking, privacy-first analytics, session replay (rrweb-based), and 60-second uptime monitoring — all in the same binary as the deployment engine, at no extra cost.

What is Temps' reverse proxy — is it production-ready?

Temps uses Pingora, the open-source Rust reverse proxy Cloudflare built to replace Nginx across its global network. Pingora handles over 1 trillion requests per day on Cloudflare's infrastructure. It's the same technology Cloudflare uses in production, now open-sourced and embedded in Temps as the routing layer.

Can I migrate from Heroku to a self-hosted alternative?

Yes. If you have a Dockerfile, your container deploys unchanged on Temps. Procfile apps need a Dockerfile (30–60 min). Export environment variables from the Heroku dashboard and import them via `bunx @temps-sdk/cli environments vars set`. Heroku Postgres data exports via pg:pull; Redis via DUMP/RESTORE. Most apps complete migration in under a day.

Ready to switch from Heroku?

Self-host Temps for free, or join Temps Cloud from $29/month for queryable managed telemetry, query compute, and offsite backups.

Read the quickstart guideSee pricing