AWS vs Heroku: Which Cloud Platform Is Right for You?

Compare AWS and Heroku for cloud hosting. AWS offers maximum flexibility and control at lower costs for experienced teams, while Heroku provides simplicity and speed with higher pricing for rapid deployment.

Updated 2026-09 · 2026

AWS

Comprehensive cloud infrastructure with pay-as-you-go pricing

New accounts get $200 in credits (6 months); then pay-as-you-go from ~$0.0104/hour for EC2 t3.microper resource

Strengths

+Massive service catalog (200+ services)
+Highly cost-effective at scale
+Maximum flexibility and control

Weaknesses

-Steep learning curve
-Complex pricing structure
-Requires DevOps expertise

Best for

Teams with DevOps resources who need maximum control, scalability, and cost optimization

Heroku

Platform-as-a-Service for rapid deployment without infrastructure management

No free tier; Eco dynos from $5/month, Basic dynos from $7/month per dynoper dyno

Strengths

+Deploy in minutes with git push
+Zero infrastructure management
+Excellent developer experience

Weaknesses

-Significantly more expensive than AWS
-Limited customization options
-Vendor lock-in concerns

Best for

Startups and small teams who prioritize speed and simplicity over cost optimization

Feature Comparison

Feature	AWS	Heroku
Setup Time	Hours to days (requires VPC, security groups, load balancers)	Minutes (git push heroku main)
Free Tier	$200 in credits for new accounts (6 months) plus select Always Free services	None. Eco dynos ($5/mo, shared 1000 hrs) still sleep after 30 min inactivity
Pricing Model	Pay-per-use for compute, storage, bandwidth (complex but cheap)	Fixed monthly per dyno ($5-$500+), simpler but expensive
Scaling	Auto Scaling Groups, manual configuration required	Slider-based scaling, automatic with Performance dynos
Database Options	RDS (Postgres, MySQL, etc.), DynamoDB, Aurora, and more	Heroku Postgres add-on ($5-$2500+/month)
DevOps Required	Yes - need to manage servers, networking, security	No - fully managed platform
Deployment	Multiple options: CodeDeploy, ECS, EKS, manual	Git-based deployment, GitHub integration, pipelines
Monitoring	CloudWatch (included), requires configuration	Built-in metrics, add-ons for advanced monitoring
SSL Certificates	Free with ACM, manual setup required	Automatic SSL for all apps
Add-ons/Extensions	200+ AWS services, third-party marketplace	180+ add-ons (Redis, Postgres, monitoring, etc.)
Container Support	ECS, EKS, Fargate - full Kubernetes support	Container Registry, limited Kubernetes support
Cost at Scale	$50-100/month for small production app	$200-500/month for equivalent setup

The Verdict

Choose Heroku if you're a small team or startup that needs to ship fast and doesn't have dedicated DevOps resources - the premium pricing is worth it for the time saved. Choose AWS if you have technical expertise and want maximum control and cost efficiency, especially as you scale beyond a few thousand users.

How to switch from AWS to Heroku

1Export your data out of AWS: use pg_dump or mysqldump to create a .sql file from RDS, or take an RDS snapshot and export it to S3, then use the AWS CLI (aws s3 sync) to pull files out of S3 buckets to local storage.
2Provision a new Heroku app (heroku create) and add a Heroku Postgres add-on that matches your database size and expected load.
3Import your exported SQL file into Heroku Postgres using pg:psql or the pg:backups:restore command, verifying row counts and indexes match the AWS source.
4Recreate any AWS-specific services (Lambda functions, SQS queues, CloudWatch alarms) using Heroku Scheduler, Heroku Redis, or third-party add-ons from the Heroku Elements marketplace.
5Point your DNS and SSL certificates to the new Heroku app, using Heroku's automatic SSL instead of your old ACM-issued certificates.
6Run both environments in parallel for a short cutover window, monitor error rates and response times on Heroku's built-in metrics, then decommission the AWS resources once traffic is fully migrated.

AWS vs Heroku: common questions

How do I export my data from AWS before migrating to Heroku?+

For RDS databases, use pg_dump (Postgres) or mysqldump (MySQL) to export a SQL file, or take a manual snapshot and export it to S3 as a .sql/.csv. For S3 buckets, use the AWS CLI (aws s3 sync) to copy files to local storage or directly to another provider before shutting down resources.

What features do I lose moving from AWS to Heroku?+

You lose fine-grained control over networking (VPCs, custom security groups), access to niche AWS services like Lambda, SQS, or SageMaker, and the ability to run full Kubernetes clusters (EKS). Heroku's container and scaling options are simpler but less customizable than ECS/EKS.

Is Heroku's paid tier enough for a small team, since there's no free tier anymore?+

For a small production app, a Basic or Standard-1X dyno ($7-$25/month) plus a Heroku Postgres Essential plan ($5-$9/month) is usually enough to get started. Budget roughly $20-50/month minimum once you add a database and SSL-backed custom domain, since Heroku no longer offers a free always-on option.

Will my AWS integrations (Lambda, SQS, IAM) still work after moving to Heroku?+

No, AWS-specific services like Lambda functions, SQS queues, and IAM roles don't run on Heroku and need to be rebuilt using Heroku add-ons or external services (e.g., Cloud Tasks, Redis-based queues via Heroku Redis). Third-party integrations that connect via API (Stripe, SendGrid, etc.) migrate easily since they're not tied to AWS infrastructure.

Does Heroku end up cheaper or more expensive than AWS over time?+

Heroku is almost always more expensive long-term because you pay a premium for managed simplicity - a setup costing $50-100/month on AWS often runs $200-500/month on Heroku. The gap widens as you scale, since Heroku's per-dyno pricing scales linearly while AWS lets you optimize with reserved instances, spot pricing, and right-sized resources.