Heroku vs Render Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Heroku | Render | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $5/mo | $25/mo |
| Number of plans | 9 | 4 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Pricing model | usage-based | hybrid |
Price is one row. To weigh the features too, use our feature comparison template →
Eco
- Deploy with Git and Docker
- Custom domains
- Unified logs
- 2 process types
- Container orchestration
- Automatic OS patching
- Automated certificate management
- Personal accounts only
- Sleeps after 30 minutes of inactivity
Basic
- Includes all Eco features
- Free SSL
- 10 process types
- Always on
- 0.28 Dyno Units / Month
Standard-1X
- Includes all Basic features
- Simple horizontal scalability
- App metrics and threshold alerts
- Preboot and zero-downtime deploys
- Unlimited process types
- Unlimited background workers
- Can combine with Performance dynos
- 1 Dyno Units / Month
Standard-2X
- Includes all Basic features
- Simple horizontal scalability
- App metrics and threshold alerts
- Preboot and zero-downtime deploys
- Unlimited process types
- Unlimited background workers
- Can combine with Performance dynos
- 2 Dyno Units / Month
Performance-M
- Includes all Standard features
- Predictable performance for your highest traffic applications
- Dedicated compute resources
- Autoscaling
- Can mix with Standard dynos
- 8 Dyno Units / Month
Performance-L
- Includes all Standard features
- Predictable performance for your highest traffic applications
- Dedicated compute resources
- Autoscaling
- Can mix with Standard dynos
- 16 Dyno Units / Month
Performance-L-RAM
- Includes all Standard features
- Predictable performance for your highest traffic applications
- Dedicated compute resources
- Autoscaling
- Can mix with Standard dynos
- 16 Dyno Units / Month
Performance-XL
- Includes all Standard features
- Predictable performance for your highest traffic applications
- Dedicated compute resources
- Autoscaling
- Can mix with Standard dynos
- 30 Dyno Units / Month
Performance-2XL
- Includes all Standard features
- Predictable performance for your highest traffic applications
- Dedicated compute resources
- Autoscaling
- Can mix with Standard dynos
- 60 Dyno Units / Month
Hobby
- Connect your repo, and go
- Deploy up to 25 services
- 5 GB of bandwidth included
- Single-service previews
- Global regions & CDN
- Custom domains
- Firewall & DDoS mitigation
- Database PITR
- Chat support
Pro
- Unlimited seats & services
- 25 GB bandwidth included
- Full-stack previews
- Horizontal autoscaling
- Isolated environments
- OIDC authentication
- AWS Private Links
- Workspace audit logs
Scale
- Multiple workspaces
- 1 TB of bandwidth included
- Extended metrics retention
- Inbound IP rules
- HIPAA-compliant workspaces
- SAML SSO & SCIM
- Advanced RBAC roles
- Organization audit logs
Enterprise
Popular- Contractual uptime SLAs
- Technical account manager
- Support Slack channel
- Support response SLAs
Heroku vs Render FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Heroku starts lower at $5/mo, compared to $25/mo for Render.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Render has a free plan. Heroku doesn't — you'll need to pay from day one.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Heroku uses usage-based pricing, while Render goes with hybrid. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Heroku: Premium pricing in the PaaS space - they're 3-4x more expensive than alternatives like Railway or Render for equivalent resources. They're betting on developer experience and ecosystem maturity over cost competitiveness. Render: Render sits in the middle-to-premium band of the PaaS world — pricier and more structured than raw cloud (AWS/GCP) but positioned as the easier, more modern alternative to Heroku for teams that outgrew it. The free Hobby tier and $25 Pro plan are clearly aimed at winning developers away from Heroku's shrinking free tier and legacy pricing.
Still deciding? See the best Heroku alternatives or the best Render alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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