Heroku vs Railway Comparison
Detailed comparison of features, pricing, and capabilities
Overview
Compare key metrics and features at a glance
Heroku
https://www.heroku.com
Heroku is a cloud platform as a service (PaaS) that enables companies to build, deliver, monitor and scale applications. The platform supports several programming languages and allows developers to deploy, manage, and scale modern apps without having to manage the underlying infrastructure. Heroku was acquired by Salesforce in 2010 and has since become one of the most popular PaaS solutions for web application deployment.
Railway
https://railway.com
Railway is a cloud platform that provides infrastructure and deployment solutions for developers. It offers a modern platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that allows developers to instantly deploy their code and databases without dealing with complex infrastructure configuration. The platform automates DevOps tasks and provides integrated services like databases, environment management, and monitoring tools.
Quick Comparison
| Detail | Heroku | Railway |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Platform as a Service (PaaS) | Platform as a Service (PaaS) |
| Starting Price | Contact Sales | Free |
| Plans Available | 0 | 4 |
| Features Tracked | 17 | 20 |
| Founded | 2007 | 2020 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, USA | San Francisco, USA |
Features
Detailed feature-by-feature comparison
Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| api | ||
| CLI Access | ||
| CLI Tooling | ||
| GraphQL API | ||
| core | ||
| Application Metrics | ||
| Automated Service Discovery | ||
| Autoscaling | ||
| Built-in Databases | ||
| Dynos | ||
| Global Scaling | ||
| Heroku Dashboard | ||
| Heroku Key-Value Store | ||
| Heroku Pipelines | ||
| Heroku Postgres | ||
| Horizontal Scaling | ||
| Managed Inference and Agents | ||
| Multi-language Support | ||
| Observability | ||
| Private Networking | ||
| Railpack Builds | ||
| Templates Marketplace | ||
| Vertical Scaling | ||
| Visual Canvas | ||
| custom | ||
| Bring Your Own Cloud | Add-on | |
| Buildpacks | ||
| Dedicated VMs | Add-on | |
| integration | ||
| Add-ons Marketplace | ||
| Apache Kafka on Heroku | ||
| Heroku AppLink | Add-on | |
| Model Context Protocol (MCP) | ||
| security | ||
| Audit Logs | Add-on | |
| SSO | Add-on | |
| Security Patches | ||
| TLS Termination | ||
| Zero-Trust Networking | ||
| support | ||
| 24/7 Support | Add-on | |
| Real-time Collaboration | ||
| Team Collaboration | ||
Pricing
Compare pricing plans and value for money
Heroku
Contact Sales
No pricing data available yet
Best For
Developers and startups needing quick Git-based deploys and managed scaling for modern web apps without infrastructure management.
Railway
From $0/mo
Price Components
- base_fee: $1/month (5 included)
- RAM: $0.00000386/GB/sec
- vCPU: $0.00000772/vCPU/sec
- Volume Storage: $6e-8/GB/sec
- Egress: $0.05/GB
Best For
Indie hackers, small teams, and professional developers deploying full-stack apps with databases needing simple auto-scaling and $5 trial to Pro at $20/month.
Integrations
See which third-party services are supported
Supported Integrations
Coming Soon
Integration comparison data for Heroku, Railway is being collected and will be available soon.
Strengths & Limitations
Key strengths and limitations of each service
Heroku
Developers and startups needing quick Git-based deploys and managed scaling for modern web apps without infrastructure management.
- Git push deployment and dyno autoscaling enable instant scaling for web apps, unlike more complex setups on AWS or Azure.
- Managed data services like Heroku Postgres and Redis handle backups and HA, freeing developers from infra tasks.
- Native buildpacks for Node.js, Python, Java, and others simplify multi-language deploys versus custom configs elsewhere.
- Doubled 1GB slug limit supports AI/ML frameworks, boosting complex app compatibility.
- Transitioning to sustaining engineering mode limits new features, lagging behind innovative PaaS like Upsun.
- Runs atop AWS EC2 with dyno-based pricing that can escalate costs for high-traffic apps versus granular cloud options.
- Enterprise feature freeze pushes users toward Salesforce alternatives like Agentforce.
Railway
Indie hackers, small teams, and professional developers deploying full-stack apps with databases needing simple auto-scaling and $5 trial to Pro at $20/month.
- Zero-config Railpack builds and Visual Canvas enable instant Git deploys and full-stack app assembly without infrastructure hassle.
- Built-in PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB provisioning with automatic service discovery and private 100 Gbps networking.
- Auto vertical scaling to 48 vCPU/48GB and horizontal to 50 replicas across 4 global regions with integrated observability.
- Templates Marketplace and Instant Previews streamline PR testing and quick service setups like Next.js.
- Limited to 4 deployment regions, potentially increasing latency for users outside US/Europe/Southeast Asia.
- Enterprise plan required for SLA, compliance, and large instances, lacking details on custom support.
- Small team of 11-50 may limit rapid feature development compared to larger PaaS incumbents.
Company Info
Company details and background
Heroku
Railway
Comparison FAQ
Common questions about comparing Heroku and Railway
No FAQs available yet