We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes a score or a ranking. How we make money
It's a split decision.
Heroku is a managed application platform built around dynos, with fixed monthly tiers, managed databases, GitHub deployments, and Review Apps. Railway is a cloud platform that deploys from connected repositories and combines infrastructure controls, networking, monitoring, and preview environments. Choose Heroku when per-dyno prices and managed data services fit your stack. Choose Railway when usage-based billing, a visual infrastructure canvas, and scaling CPU, RAM, or replicas suit your deployment workflow.
01Side by side
| Heroku | Railway | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Fixed monthly dyno tiers, from $5/month. | Usage-based billing with monthly credits; Hobby price unlisted. |
| Free tier | No free plan; Eco starts at $5/month. | $5 trial credits; then $1/month plus usage. |
| Integrations | GitHub, Salesforce, identity providers, add-ons, buildpacks. | GitHub repositories; Slack, Discord, email alerts. |
| Deployment model | Dynos; GitHub deploys, Review Apps, git push. | Repository deploys, auto-configuration, previews, Docker support. |
| Platforms | Web platform with managed runtime and data services. | Web cloud platform for deploying and running software. |
| Limits and scaling | Up to 126 GB RAM and 100x compute per dyno. | Pro allows up to 1,000 vCPU and 1 TB RAM per service. |
| CLI and docs | Homepage shows git push deployment; CLI details aren't published. | Visual canvas; YAML optional; CLI details aren't published. |
| Lock-in and data export | Hosted dynos, add-ons, and data services; assess portability. | Hosted services and environments; confirm export paths. |
Heroku Choose Heroku if
- Choose Heroku if fixed monthly dyno prices help forecast spend.
- Choose Heroku if managed Postgres and Redis-based storage fit your app.
- Choose Heroku if GitHub Review Apps and buildpacks match your workflow.
Railway Choose Railway if
- Choose Railway if you want repository-based deploys with automatic configuration.
- Choose Railway if usage-based billing and monthly credits fit your workload.
- Choose Railway if you need built-in networking, monitoring, and preview environments.
02Pricing at real usage
Heroku has no free plan. Eco starts at $5 per month and sleeps after 30 minutes of inactivity; Basic costs $7 per month and stays on. Standard-1X is $25 per month, while larger dyno tiers reach $1,500 per month. These are per-dyno prices, so running multiple dynos increases the bill; managed data-service prices are separate.
Railway offers $5 in trial credits for 30 days, then lists a $1 monthly charge. Its Free plan includes $5 trial credits, then 1 vCPU and 0.5 GB RAM per service. Hobby includes $5 monthly usage credits, and Pro includes $20, but neither has a listed base price. Beyond credits, Railway bills for CPU, memory, volumes, and egress. For example, the listed rates are $0.00000772 per vCPU-second and $0.05 per GB of egress. Costs therefore depend on runtime and traffic.
03API, SDKs and integration
Heroku runs applications in dynos on a managed runtime. Its homepage shows a git push heroku main deployment workflow and describes GitHub branch deployments and disposable Review Apps. Heroku Postgres, its Redis-based key-value store, add-ons, and buildpacks extend the platform. The listed integrations include GitHub, Salesforce, identity providers, third-party add-ons, and community buildpacks.
Railway deploys from connected code repositories, with automatic configuration, previews, and Docker support. Its visual canvas lets teams view infrastructure and change settings in context; YAML is optional. The platform describes private connections, public endpoints, SSL, load balancing, and automatic handling of HTTP, TCP, gRPC, and WebSockets. Logs, metrics, and traces are available alongside alerts through Slack, Discord, or email. Neither vendor publishes API or SDK details on its homepage, so check current vendor documentation before choosing an integration approach. Railway's homepage doesn't specify a CLI workflow.
04Open source, self-hosting and lock-in
Heroku and Railway are hosted platforms. Their product pages don't publish open-source licences or self-hosting options, so teams requiring either should confirm those terms with the vendors. The Heroku review flags hosted-platform lock-in as a consideration. Heroku's dynos, buildpacks, add-ons, and managed data services are platform-specific choices; Railway organizes deployments as services and environments within its cloud platform. Moving an application may require replacing deployment configuration and checking how its databases, storage, networking, and operational workflows transfer. Neither product page describes a platform-wide data-export path. Before adopting either, ask how to export application data and service configuration, and test a migration plan for the particular data services your application uses.
Questions people ask
What is meant by Heroku?
Heroku is a managed cloud platform for building, deploying, and scaling applications. Apps run in dynos on Heroku's managed runtime. The platform also offers managed Heroku Postgres, a Redis-based key-value store, deployment tools, add-ons, buildpacks, and scaling options.
Is Railway free to use?
Railway offers $5 in trial credits for 30 days. Its pricing page lists a $1 monthly charge after the trial, with 1 vCPU and 0.5 GB RAM per service. Hobby includes $5 in monthly usage credits; usage beyond credits is billed at listed resource rates.
Who are Heroku's main competitors?
Railway is one alternative for deploying and running applications in the cloud. It offers repository-based deployments, scaling controls, networking, monitoring, and preview environments. The better fit depends on whether your application needs Heroku's dyno and managed-data model or Railway's usage-based cloud services.
Is Railway similar to AWS?
Railway is a cloud platform for deploying, connecting, scaling, and monitoring applications, so it overlaps with cloud infrastructure providers such as AWS. Its product emphasizes repository deployments, automatic configuration, and a visual canvas. The published product pages don't establish feature or service parity with AWS.