Alternatives to Discontinued Heroku Free Tier

historical guide · 3 editor-verified alternatives · Heroku Free Tier overview →

source: tools.alternatives · stored order · active records only; review scores are annotations and never change membership or order

discontinued Heroku’s free product plans were phased out in 2022. Heroku’s own “Next Chapter” announcement said free dynos, free Heroku Postgres, and free Heroku Data for Redis would be discontinued, and current Heroku documentation/pricing routes hobby and production users to paid Eco dynos and paid data/app platform plans. Keep this page as a historical free-tier and migration guide, not as a live free-plan recommendation.

Netlify

83/100freemiumexplicit relation

Jamstack-focused cloud platform specializing in deploying static sites, serverless functions, and modern web applications with Git-based CI/CD. Features instant rollbacks, deploy previews for every PR, split testing, edge functions, form handling, identity/auth, and a global CDN with automatic HTTPS. Native support for Next.js, Nuxt, Gatsby, Hugo, Astro, and all major static site generators. Free $0 forever plan plus Personal and Pro credit-based tiers for growing traffic and team workflows.

Free $0 forever / Personal $9/mo / Pro $20/mo credit-based tiersReview →

Railway

84/100freemiumexplicit relation

Modern cloud platform for deploying full-stack apps, databases, and workers with instant provisioning and usage-based pricing. Deploy from GitHub or CLI with zero config for Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, and Docker. Built-in PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, and MongoDB with auto backups. Features private networking, environment management, cron jobs, TCP proxying, and real-time logs. Popular with indie hackers and startups for fast MVPs with a generous free trial including $5 monthly credits.

Free trial / Hobby $5 minimum usage / Pro $20 minimum usage / usage-basedReview →

Fly.io

freemiumexplicit relation

Global application hosting platform that runs full-stack apps, databases, and services close to users in 30+ regions using lightweight Firecracker micro-VMs. Deploy Docker containers or use built-in builders for Rails, Laravel, Django, Node.js, and Go. Features persistent volumes, private networking, auto-scaling, PostgreSQL/Redis managed databases, and a powerful CLI. Ideal for latency-sensitive apps needing multi-region presence. Generous free allowance with pay-as-you-go pricing.

Free allowance / Pay-as-you-go

Free Heroku Free Tier alternatives

Netlify, Railway, Fly.io offer a free plan or free tier.

FAQ

What is the best Heroku Free Tier alternative?

Netlify tops our editor-verified list of 3 Heroku Free Tier alternatives, scoring 83/100 in our hands-on review.

Are there free Heroku Free Tier alternatives?

Yes — Netlify, Railway, Fly.io offer a free plan or free tier.

What should I use instead of Heroku Free Tier?

Heroku Free Tier has been discontinued — Heroku’s free product plans were phased out in 2022. Heroku’s own “Next Chapter” announcement said free dynos, free Heroku Postgres, and free Heroku Data for Redis would be discontinued, and current Heroku documentation/pricing routes hobby and production users to paid Eco dynos and paid data/app platform plans. Keep this page as a historical free-tier and migration guide, not as a live free-plan recommendation. The closest editor-verified replacements are Netlify, Railway, Fly.io.