Softwr

Cloud · head to head

Encore vs Qovery

Encore logo

Encore

Cloud

Automated infrastructure for humans and agents

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Qovery logo

Qovery

Cloud

Deployment platform that provisions and operates Kubernetes inside your own cloud account

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Encore has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Encore limited language support (TypeScript and Go only); Qovery no plan publishes a price, deployment minute overage rates are not disclosed, and there is a 14 day trial rather than a free tier, so you cannot budget or compare against alternatives without going through sales.
  • They diverge on capability: Encore covers Local development environment, Qovery covers Bring your own cloud.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Encore and Qovery actually diverge.

Attributes where Encore and Qovery differ
AttributeEncoreQovery
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIWeb, CLI, REST API, Kubernetes

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Encore

  • Local development environment
  • Infrastructure automation
  • Cloud deployment
  • Self-service operations
  • Distributed tracing

Only in Qovery

  • Bring your own cloud
  • Cluster lifecycle
  • Terraform provider
  • MCP server
  • Policy as code

Both cover

  • Preview environments

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Encore

  • Building microservices with database provisioningnot Qovery
  • Creating feature branch preview environmentsnot Qovery
  • Deploying TypeScript and Go backends to AWS/GCPnot Qovery

Qovery

  • A regulated business that must keep application data inside its own AWS account but has nobody to build a deployment platformnot Encore
  • Giving twenty engineers preview environments per pull request without writing and maintaining Terraform and Helm by handnot Encore
  • Standardising deployment across AWS and GCP when acquisitions have left the organisation on two cloudsnot Encore
  • Replacing a managed platform when data residency rules put every hosted option out of reachnot Encore

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Encore

  • Limited language support (TypeScript and Go only)
  • Pro tier requires per-member subscription pricing
  • Additional resource costs beyond subscription for AWS/GCP provisioning

Qovery

  • No plan publishes a price, deployment minute overage rates are not disclosed, and there is a 14 day trial rather than a free tier, so you cannot budget or compare against alternatives without going through sales.
  • The GPL-3.0 engine and console do not constitute a self-hostable product, because the control plane and API are closed and the self-hosted option is gated behind Enterprise, so the open licence gives you no exit if the company changes direction.
  • Qovery provisions managed Kubernetes into your account, which means the cloud bill sits on top of the licence and Qovery initiates control plane and ingress controller upgrades on infrastructure your team is accountable for.
  • The company repositioned to agentic infrastructure in June 2026 and now ships a deployment platform, a browser development portal and autonomous coding agents concurrently, so a buyer of the deployment product is not at the centre of the roadmap.
  • Team and Business are capped at two and three connected clusters with fixed 4 vCPU CI runners and no single sign-on on Team, which pushes teams of moderate size onto quoted Enterprise pricing earlier than the plan names imply.

Pricing, plan by plan

Encore

Free
  • StarterFree
    • 2 free dev environments
    • 1M distributed tracing events/month
    • 7-day log retention
  • Pro$49/month
    • Unlimited free dev environments
    • 20M tracing events/month
    • 30-day log retention
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Enterprise security and compliance
    • SSO/SAML
    • Custom RBAC

Qovery

On request
  • Team$undefined/year
    • Billed on usage with no published rate card
    • 10 users, up to 100 environments, 2 connected clusters
    • 5,000 deployment minutes and 7 day audit logs
  • Business$undefined/year
    • Billed on usage with no published rate card
    • 20 users, up to 250 environments, 3 connected clusters
    • 10,000 deployment minutes and 30 day audit logs
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom users, environments and clusters
    • Self-hosted or air-gapped control plane
    • On-premises and bring-your-own-Kubernetes

Which should you pick?

Choose Encore if

  • You need local development environment.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI.
  • You also want infrastructure automation.
Encore review

Choose Qovery if

  • You need bring your own cloud.
  • You work on Web, CLI, REST API, Kubernetes.
  • You also want cluster lifecycle.
Qovery review

Questions people ask

Is Encore or Qovery better?
Neither clearly leads. Encore starts at Free and Qovery at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Encore or Qovery?
Encore has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Encore and On request for Qovery.
Does Encore or Qovery run on more platforms?
Encore runs on Web, CLI. Qovery runs on Web, CLI, REST API, Kubernetes.
Can I use Encore for free?
Yes. Encore has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Qovery starts at On request.
What is Encore best used for?
Encore is most often used for building microservices with database provisioning, creating feature branch preview environments, deploying typescript and go backends to aws/gcp. Of those, building microservices with database provisioning and creating feature branch preview environments are not what Qovery is typically brought in for.
What can Encore do that Qovery cannot?
Encore covers Local development environment, Infrastructure automation, Cloud deployment, Self-service operations. Qovery covers Bring your own cloud, Cluster lifecycle, Terraform provider, MCP server. Both handle Preview environments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Encore: What happens after the free tier?

The Pro plan costs $49/member/month plus usage charges of $2.50 per resource and $99 per AWS/GCP environment.

Source
Qovery: Does Qovery run my applications on its own servers?

No. It provisions and operates Kubernetes inside your AWS, GCP, Azure or Scaleway account, so compute and data stay with your cloud provider and that bill is entirely separate from the Qovery licence.

Encore: Do I own my infrastructure?

Yes, Encore deploys infrastructure in your own AWS or GCP cloud account, so you maintain complete control and avoid vendor lock-in.

Source
Qovery: Can I self-host Qovery?

Only on Enterprise. The deployment engine and console are GPL-3.0, but the control plane is closed source and the self-hosted and air-gapped deployments are commercial Enterprise features.

Qovery: What does it cost?

Qovery does not publish a rate card. Team and Business are billed on usage and quoted through sales, and Enterprise is fully custom. There is a 14 day trial with no card required.

Qovery: What survives if I stop paying?

The Kubernetes cluster and the workloads keep running in your cloud account, but you lose the console, the deployment pipeline, preview environments and every process built on top of them.

Share

Related pages

More on Encore

More on Qovery

Keep looking

Other head to heads