Compare / Netlify vs Heroku
Netlify vs Heroku
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — Netlify checked 2026-08-01, Heroku checked 2026-08-01.
The short version
Netlify wins more of our comparison points, but Heroku still fits if teams that already know Heroku and value its mature workflow over price describes you.
Price Netlify
Netlify is cheaper at every stage we model — about $20/mo even for a growing project.
Ease Netlify
Netlify is easier to get running: connect the Git repo; pushes build and deploy automatically with previews for every pull request.
Control Heroku
Heroku gives you more control over the stack — the flip side of the convenience trade.
Free tier Netlify
Netlify has a free tier; Heroku doesn't.
Features Tie
Feature coverage is even: each wins 4 of the 15 rows we track.
What developers say about this matchup
We couldn't find a substantive first-person discussion comparing this exact pair. We leave the section empty instead of filling it with vendor marketing or generic SEO comparisons.
At a glance
| Netlify | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Static sites and frontend apps that deploy from Git and want a generous, mature workflow. | Teams that already know Heroku and value its mature workflow over price. |
| How deploys work | Connect the Git repo; pushes build and deploy automatically with previews for every pull request. | git push heroku main; buildpacks detect the stack and the platform handles the rest. |
| The tradeoff | The credit system makes bills hard to predict — traffic, deploys, and compute all drain one pool. | You pay a platform premium — comparable raw compute costs a third as much elsewhere. |
| Free tier | Free: 300 credits per month with a hard stop. Enough for a small personal site with few deploys. | None |
What you'd realistically pay
| Project stage | Netlify | Heroku | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | Free Free | ≈$7/mo Basic | Netlify |
| Steady traffic | ≈$9/mo Personal | ≈$25/mo Standard-1X | Netlify |
| Growing | ≈$20/mo Pro | ≈$50/mo Standard dynos + add-ons | Netlify |
Our ratings
Ease of use Netlify
Pricing clarity Heroku
Free tier Netlify
Scaling
Control Heroku
Feature by feature
Netlify wins 4, Heroku wins 4, with 7 even.
Deploy workflow
| Netlify | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | Yes Connect GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or Azure DevOps; pushes deploy. | Yes git push heroku main is the original deploy story; GitHub integration too. |
| Preview deploys | Yes Deploy previews per pull request and branch deploys, free of credit cost. | Yes Review Apps create a running app per pull request. |
| Official CLI | Yes The netlify CLI runs local dev, deploys, and manages functions. | Yes The heroku CLI covers deploys, logs, scaling, and add-ons. |
| Instant rollbacks | Yes Every deploy is kept; publish any previous one instantly. | Yes heroku releases:rollback reverts to any previous release instantly. |
Platform
| Netlify | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Custom domains with automatic TLS on all plans, including Free. | Yes Custom domains with automated certificate management on paid dynos. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | Yes Global edge CDN serves all sites by default. | No No built-in CDN — pair with Cloudflare or Fastly yourself. |
| Serverless functions | Yes Netlify Functions (AWS Lambda under the hood) plus edge functions. | No Dynos are long-running processes; there is no function product. |
| Docker containers | No No container deploys — builds run in Netlify’s build image. | Yes Deploy container images through the Heroku container registry. |
| SSH / shell access | No No shell access; logs are the debugging surface. | Partial heroku run bash gives a one-off shell in a fresh dyno, not the live one. |
| EU hosting region | Partial The CDN is global, but functions default to a US region; region choice needs higher tiers. | Yes Common Runtime offers a Europe region at the same prices. |
Runtime & operations
| Netlify | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | Yes CDN and functions scale automatically with traffic. | Partial Built-in autoscaling requires Performance-tier dynos; standard dynos scale manually. |
| Scale to zero | Yes Nothing runs (or bills) while the site has no traffic — apart from credits. | Partial Eco dynos sleep after 30 idle minutes; Basic and Standard run continuously. |
| Scheduled jobs | Yes Scheduled functions run on a cron expression. | Yes Heroku Scheduler (free add-on) runs tasks on a schedule. |
| Managed database | Partial Netlify DB (Neon Postgres) is in early access; most projects bring an external database. | Yes Heroku Postgres and Key-Value Store are fully managed add-ons. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Partial Function and deploy logs included; analytics is a paid add-on. | Partial Log stream and basic metrics included; serious monitoring means add-ons. |
Watch out for
Netlify
- Every production deploy costs 15 credits, so the 300-credit free tier covers only about 20 deploys a month even with zero traffic.
- The free tier has a hard stop: when credits run out, the site pauses until the next month.
- Bandwidth burns credits quickly — 1 GB costs 20 credits.
Heroku
- There is no free tier.
- Compute is expensive for what you get: Standard-1X costs $25/month for 512 MB of RAM.
- Databases and other add-ons bill separately and can dominate the total.
Read the full reviews: Netlify and Heroku. Or answer four questions to see what fits your project.