Render vs Heroku: Which Cloud Platform is Better in 2026?

Comparing Render and Heroku for cloud hosting. Render offers free static sites and competitive pricing, while Heroku charges $7/month minimum after retiring its Eco dynos. See which platform fits your deployment needs.

Updated 2026-09 · 2026

Render

Modern cloud platform with generous free tier for static sites and web services

0month

Strengths

+Free static sites with custom domains and SSL
+Free PostgreSQL databases (30 days)
+Automatic SSL certificates included

Weaknesses

-Smaller ecosystem than Heroku
-Fewer add-ons and integrations
-Less mature platform (founded 2019)

Best for

Developers wanting modern deployment workflows with generous free tiers and transparent pricing

Heroku

Veteran PaaS with extensive ecosystem, now requiring paid plans for all dynos

7month

Strengths

+Massive add-on marketplace (200+ services)
+Mature platform with 15+ years of development
+Excellent documentation and community

Weaknesses

-No free tier since November 2022
-Eco dynos retired in April 2025; Basic dynos ($7/month) are now the entry point
-Expensive at scale compared to alternatives

Best for

Teams needing extensive integrations and enterprise features, with budget for paid hosting

Feature Comparison

Feature	Render	Heroku
Free Tier	Free static sites, free web services (750 hrs/month), free PostgreSQL (30 days)	None - all dynos require paid plans since Nov 2022
Starting Price	$0 for static sites, $7/month for always-on web services	$7/month for Basic dynos (Eco dynos retired April 2025)
Database Hosting	Free PostgreSQL (30 days), then $7/month for 256MB	Essential-0 Postgres from $5/month, higher tiers scale by row count and storage
Custom Domains & SSL	Free on all plans including static sites	Free on all paid plans
Container Support	Native Docker support, Dockerfile deployment	Container Registry available, buildpacks primary
Auto-Scaling	Available on Standard plans ($25/month+)	Available on Standard plans ($25/month+)
Add-ons/Integrations	Limited native add-ons, manual integration required	200+ add-ons in marketplace (monitoring, caching, etc.)
Build Minutes	Unlimited build minutes on all plans	Unlimited on paid plans
Geographic Regions	US (Oregon, Ohio), Europe (Frankfurt)	US, Europe, Private Spaces in multiple regions
CI/CD Integration	GitHub auto-deploy, preview environments	GitHub, GitLab integration, review apps
Background Jobs	Included in web service pricing	Separate worker dynos required ($7/month each)
Static Site Hosting	Free with CDN, custom domains, auto-deploy	Not specialized for static sites, requires dyno

The Verdict

Render is the clear winner for cost-conscious developers and small teams, offering genuinely free static hosting and competitive pricing for dynamic apps. Heroku's retirement of Eco dynos and elimination of any free tier makes it hard to justify unless you specifically need its extensive add-on ecosystem or enterprise features. For most modern web apps, Render provides better value with transparent pricing and no surprise costs.

How to switch from Render to Heroku

1Export your database from Render by running pg_dump against your Render PostgreSQL connection string, or use the 'Export' option in the Render dashboard to download a .sql backup file before your free database expires.
2Create a new Heroku app and add the Heroku Postgres add-on, then restore your data using 'heroku pg:push' or pg_restore with the downloaded dump file.
3Copy over your environment variables and config settings from Render's dashboard into Heroku's Config Vars, since these are not migrated automatically.
4Reconnect your GitHub repository to Heroku for auto-deploys and recreate any build/release scripts that were defined in Render's render.yaml as a Procfile or app.json.
5Recreate integrations that relied on Render-specific add-ons (like Render's managed Redis) by installing the equivalent service from the Heroku Elements marketplace.
6Update your DNS records to point custom domains at Heroku, verify SSL certificates are issued, then decommission the Render services once traffic is confirmed stable on Heroku.

Render vs Heroku: common questions

How do I migrate a database from Render to Heroku?+

Use Render's PostgreSQL dashboard to run pg_dump and download a .sql or .dump file of your database. Then create a Heroku Postgres add-on on your new app and restore it with the Heroku CLI command 'heroku pg:push' or by importing the dump via pg_restore against the Heroku DATABASE_URL. Test the restored data on a staging app before pointing production traffic at it.

What do I lose by switching from Render to Heroku?+

You lose Render's free static site hosting with CDN and automatic SSL, since Heroku has no dedicated static site product and requires a dyno even for static content. You also lose Render's simpler, flatter pricing structure and gain Heroku's add-on marketplace, which is useful but adds line items to your monthly bill.

Is Heroku's free tier enough for a small team?+

No, Heroku has had no free tier since November 2022, and it also retired Eco dynos in April 2025. Every app now needs at least a $7/month Basic dyno, so a small team running a few apps and a database should budget at least $20-30/month minimum.

Will my existing integrations still work after moving to Heroku?+

Most CI/CD integrations like GitHub auto-deploy carry over easily since Heroku supports GitHub and GitLab connections with review apps. Custom integrations tied to Render-specific environment variables or webhooks need to be recreated manually, and any Render-specific add-ons will need Heroku Marketplace equivalents.

Is Heroku actually cheaper or more expensive than Render over a year?+

For a single small web app with a database, Heroku typically costs more since Basic dynos ($7/month) plus Postgres ($5-9/month) add up to $12-16/month minimum with no free option. Render can run the same setup for free initially and around $14/month once you add a paid web service and database, making it cheaper at low scale but the gap narrows as you add background workers and add-ons on either platform.