Heroku · Managed platform

Last updated October 10, 2026 · Written by Temps, one of the products compared. Sources and method

Temps vs Heroku

Heroku bills per dyno and per add-on. Temps is free to self-host.

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Monthly cost at a glance

Temps

Heroku

Hobby / Eco

$5/mo

Always-on app + Postgres + Redis

$0+

$15/mo

Production app + Postgres + Redis

$0+

$37/mo

Production + observability

Free

~$248/mo

$curl -fsSL https://temps.sh/deploy.sh | bash

The short answer

Is Temps better than Heroku? It depends on what you need. Here is what each one is, and what Heroku has that Temps doesn't.

Heroku: Heroku is a managed platform billed per dyno and per add-on: the cheapest always-on app with Postgres and Key-Value Store is $15/month (Basic $7 + Essential-0 $5 + Mini $3), and a Standard-1X production app is about $37/month before observability. In February 2026 Heroku moved to a sustaining-engineering model and stopped offering Enterprise contracts to new customers; credit-card customers continue with no changes.
Temps: Temps runs the same git-push workflow on your own server, with managed Postgres, MariaDB, MongoDB and Redis plus error tracking, session replay, analytics and uptime monitoring included.
What Heroku has that Temps doesn't: A long production track record, a large add-on marketplace, Pipelines, and Salesforce integration, with no server to run. Migration is medium difficulty because each add-on has to be replaced individually.

Scored, dimension by dimension

Cost, always-on app + Postgres + Redis
Temps
Temps
Free + your server
Heroku
From $15/mo; ~$37/mo on Standard-1X
Cost with observability
Temps
Temps
Free (included)
Heroku
~$248/mo with Sentry, Plausible, LogRocket
Product direction
Temps
Temps
Actively developed (pre-1.0)
Heroku
Sustaining engineering since Feb 2026
Add-on ecosystem
Heroku
Temps
Built-in services only
Heroku
Large marketplace of add-ons
Operations burden
Heroku
Temps
You run the server
Heroku
Fully managed
Git-push deploy workflow
Tie
Temps
Yes
Heroku
Yes

Dimension	Temps	Heroku	Winner
Cost, always-on app + Postgres + Redis	Free + your server	From $15/mo; ~$37/mo on Standard-1X	Temps
Cost with observability	Free (included)	~$248/mo with Sentry, Plausible, LogRocket	Temps
Product direction	Actively developed (pre-1.0)	Sustaining engineering since Feb 2026	Temps
Add-on ecosystem	Built-in services only	Large marketplace of add-ons	Heroku
Operations burden	You run the server	Fully managed	Heroku
Git-push deploy workflow	Yes	Yes	Tie

Why teams switch from Heroku

Heroku's free tier ended in November 2022, and in February 2026 Heroku moved to a sustaining-engineering model: stability, security and support rather than new features. The cheapest always-on stack is a Basic dyno ($7/month), Postgres Essential-0 ($5/month) and Key-Value Store Mini ($3/month): $15/month before error tracking, analytics or session replay. Temps is free on your own server, with git-push deploys, managed PostgreSQL and Redis, Sentry-compatible error tracking, first-party analytics, session replay and uptime monitoring.

Heroku is in sustaining mode: On February 6, 2026 Heroku announced a move to a sustaining-engineering model focused on stability, security, reliability and support, and stopped offering Enterprise contracts to new customers. Credit-card customers continue with no changes to pricing or service. If you are choosing a platform for the next few years, that is worth weighing; Temps is under active development.
Observability built in, not added on: Heroku has no built-in error tracking, web analytics or session replay; they come from add-ons or SaaS such as Sentry Team ($26/month, billed annually), Plausible ($9/month) and LogRocket ($176/month at 25,000 sessions), about $211/month together. Temps ships Sentry-compatible error tracking, analytics, session replay and uptime monitoring in the same binary as the deployment engine.
No dyno sleeping, no per-process bill: Heroku Eco dynos ($5/month for a shared pool of 1,000 dyno hours) sleep after 30 minutes without traffic; Basic dynos ($7/month) stay on, and every extra process is another dyno. Temps services run continuously on your own server, however many you deploy.
Self-hostable: Heroku is closed-source and owned by Salesforce. Temps is MIT / Apache 2.0 and installs on any VPS, cloud VM or on-premises server, so your code and data do not depend on one vendor'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 (Essential-0)
Managed Redis
Temps
Yes
Included
Heroku
Yes
Key-Value Store from $3/mo
S3-compatible storage
Temps
Yes
Built-in (RustFS; legacy MinIO supported)
Heroku
No
Add-on or external
Error tracking
Temps
Yes
Sentry-compatible
Heroku
No
Add-on (e.g. Sentry Team $26/mo)
Web analytics
Temps
Yes
First-party, built-in
Heroku
No
Add-on or external
Session replay
Temps
Yes
rrweb-based, built-in
Heroku
No
External tool
Uptime monitoring
Temps
Yes
Built-in checks and alerts
Heroku
No
Add-on or external
Self-hosted option
Temps
Yes
Heroku
No
Horizontal scaling
Temps
Yes
Replicas and multi-node
Heroku
Yes
Standard-1X and up ($25+/mo per dyno)
Background workers
Temps
Yes
Deploy the worker as its own service
Heroku
Yes
Separate worker dyno (from $7/mo)
Pipelines (staged promotion)
Temps
No
Environments per project
Heroku
Yes
Heroku Pipelines

Feature	Temps	Heroku
Git push deployments	Yes	Yes
Docker support	Yes	Yes
Automatic SSL	Yes	Yes
Custom domains	Yes	Yes
Preview environments	Yes Per pull request	Yes Review Apps
Managed PostgreSQL	Yes Included	Yes From $5/mo (Essential-0)
Managed Redis	Yes Included	Yes Key-Value Store from $3/mo
S3-compatible storage	Yes Built-in (RustFS; legacy MinIO supported)	No Add-on or external
Error tracking	Yes Sentry-compatible	No Add-on (e.g. Sentry Team $26/mo)
Web analytics	Yes First-party, built-in	No Add-on or external
Session replay	Yes rrweb-based, built-in	No External tool
Uptime monitoring	Yes Built-in checks and alerts	No Add-on or external
Self-hosted option	Yes	No
Horizontal scaling	Yes Replicas and multi-node	Yes Standard-1X and up ($25+/mo per dyno)
Background workers	Yes Deploy the worker as its own service	Yes Separate worker dyno (from $7/mo)
Pipelines (staged promotion)	No Environments per project	Yes Heroku Pipelines
End of Heroku feature group

What it actually costs

Heroku bills dynos, databases, Key-Value Store and every observability tool separately. The cheapest always-on stack is $15/month; a Standard-1X production app with Postgres Essential-1 and Key-Value Store Mini is $37/month, and about $248/month once Sentry Team, Plausible and LogRocket are added. Self-hosted Temps is free on a server you provide, with those tools included.

Scenario	Temps	Heroku
Hobby / Eco	$0 (self-hosted)	$5/mo (sleeps after 30 min)
Always-on app + Postgres + Redis	$0 + your server	$15/mo (Basic $7 + Essential-0 $5 + Mini $3)
Production app + Postgres + Redis	$0 + your server	$37/mo (Standard-1X $25 + Essential-1 $9 + Mini $3)
Production + observability	Free (included)	~$248/mo ($37 + $211 of Sentry, Plausible, LogRocket)

Heroku prices as of October 2026, from its published pricing page. Temps prices from /pricing.

Heroku dyno and add-on prices

Item	Price	Sleeps?	Memory	Best for
Eco dyno	$5/mo (1,000 shared dyno hours)	Yes (30 min idle)	512 MB	Dev and test
Basic dyno	$7/mo per dyno	No	512 MB	Always-on side projects
Standard-1X dyno	$25/mo per dyno	No	512 MB	Production apps
Standard-2X dyno	$50/mo per dyno	No	1 GB	Memory-heavy apps
Performance-M dyno	$250/mo per dyno	No	2.5 GB	High-traffic apps
Postgres Essential-0 / -1	$5 / $9 per month	—	1 GB / 10 GB storage	Small databases
Key-Value Store Mini / Premium-0	$3 / $15 per month	—	25 MB / 50 MB	Caches and queues

Source: Heroku pricing page, as of October 2026.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Temps if you…

You want error tracking, analytics and monitoring without extra subscriptions
You want predictable costs rather than per-dyno and per-add-on billing
You want always-on apps without paying per process
You want a platform under active development rather than in sustaining mode
You want to keep data in a jurisdiction you choose (Temps holds no SOC 2 or HIPAA attestation of its own)
You want managed databases included, not billed separately

What Heroku does better than Temps

You want a fully managed platform with no server to maintain
You rely on Heroku's add-on marketplace
You need Heroku Pipelines and Review Apps exactly as they work today
You're already invested in the Salesforce ecosystem
You value Heroku's long production record: Temps is pre-1.0 (v0.1.0 prereleases), newer and smaller, which is also why it bundles the observability Heroku sells as add-ons

Migrating from Heroku

Medium difficulty

With a Dockerfile, your container deploys on Temps unchanged. Without one, Temps autodetects Next.js, Vite, Python, Go, Rust and Java apps (plain Node.js servers, Ruby and PHP use a preset you choose), and reads only the web: line of a Procfile as the start command; release: and worker: lines are ignored, so run migrations as a one-off step and deploy workers as their own service. The bigger effort is add-ons: Heroku Postgres and Key-Value Store map to Temps managed services (pg_dump and restore, Redis DUMP/RESTORE); SendGrid or Mailgun can stay as an SMTP relay behind Temps' transactional email. Import environment variables with `bunx @temps-sdk/cli environments vars import .env`. Plan half a day for a typical app.

Step-by-step: migrate from Heroku to Temps

Frequently asked questions

Is Heroku shutting down?

No. On February 6, 2026 Heroku announced a move to a sustaining-engineering model focused on stability, security, reliability and support, which means little new feature work, and said Enterprise Account contracts will no longer be offered to new customers. Customers paying by credit card, existing and new, continue with no changes to pricing, billing or service.

Does Heroku still have a free tier in 2026?

No. Heroku removed free dynos, free Postgres and free Redis in November 2022. The cheapest option is the Eco plan at $5/month (1,000 dyno hours shared across your Eco dynos, which sleep after 30 minutes idle). The cheapest always-on app is a Basic dyno at $7/month.

How much does Heroku cost in 2026?

Dynos: Eco $5/month (shared hours, sleeps), Basic $7, Standard-1X $25 (512 MB), Standard-2X $50 (1 GB), Performance-M $250 (2.5 GB). Postgres: Essential-0 $5, Essential-1 $9, Essential-2 $20. Key-Value Store (Redis): Mini $3, Premium-0 $15. The cheapest always-on app with Postgres and Key-Value Store is $15/month; a Standard-1X production stack is about $37/month before observability add-ons.

What is the cheapest Heroku alternative in 2026?

Self-hosted platforms such as Temps, Coolify and Dokploy are free to run on a server you rent, so the cost is the server. Temps is the one that includes error tracking (Sentry-compatible DSN), analytics, session replay and uptime monitoring. Managed alternatives include Render, Railway and Fly.io, each billed by plan and usage.

Does Heroku have built-in error tracking or analytics?

No. Heroku has no built-in error tracking, web analytics or session replay. They come from marketplace add-ons or SaaS, for example Sentry Team ($26/month, billed annually), Plausible ($9/month) and LogRocket ($176/month at 25,000 sessions). Temps includes Sentry-compatible error tracking, first-party analytics, rrweb session replay and 60-second uptime monitoring.

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

Yes. A Dockerfile app deploys unchanged; buildpack apps are autodetected or use a preset. Temps uses only the web: line of a Procfile, so run release-phase migrations as a one-off step and deploy workers as their own service. Export config vars and import them with the Temps CLI, move Postgres with pg_dump and restore, and move Key-Value Store data with DUMP/RESTORE. The Heroku migration guide covers each step.

Related comparisons

How we researched this comparison

Dyno, Heroku Postgres and Key-Value Store prices read from heroku.com/pricing on 2026-10-08; the sustaining-engineering change from Heroku's February 6, 2026 announcement. Third-party tool prices from each vendor's pricing page. Temps capabilities checked against the Temps source and docs.

Disclosure: Temps publishes this page and is one of the products being compared. Reviewed by David Viejo, founder of Temps.

Ready to switch from Heroku?

Self-host Temps for free, or run it with a Premium licence. Temps Cloud, a hosted control plane for your own servers, is $29/month in an invite-only beta, with your servers billed separately.

Read the quickstart guide See pricing