Is Heroku or Keycloak better?

Neither clearly leads. Heroku starts at $5/month and Keycloak at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Heroku or Keycloak?

Keycloak has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $5/month for Heroku and Free for Keycloak.

Does Heroku or Keycloak run on more platforms?

Heroku runs on Web, Api, Workers. Keycloak runs on Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, API.

Can I use Keycloak for free?

Yes. Keycloak has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Heroku starts at $5/month.

What is Heroku best used for?

Heroku is most often used for application hosting, database as a service, ci/cd pipelines, api deployment. Of those, application hosting and database as a service are not what Keycloak is typically brought in for.

What can Heroku do that Keycloak cannot?

Heroku covers Git-based deployment, Buildpacks, Dynos (containers), Add-ons marketplace.

Cloud · head to head

Heroku vs Keycloak

Heroku

Cloud

Cloud Application Platform

From: $5/month
Free plan: No

Full review Website

Keycloak

Developer Tools

Open-source identity and access management server.

From: Free
Free plan: Yes

Full review Website

The short version

Only Keycloak has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Heroku there is no free dyno tier; the cheapest Eco dyno is $5 per month; Keycloak requires self-hosted deployment and operational expertise to install, configure and maintain
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Heroku and Keycloak actually diverge.

Attributes where Heroku and Keycloak differ
Attribute	Heroku	Keycloak
Starting price	$5/month	Free
Pricing model	subscription	open-source
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web, Api, Workers	Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, API
Category	Cloud	Developer Tools
Founded	2007	Unknown

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

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 Heroku

Git-based deployment
Buildpacks
Dynos (containers)
Add-ons marketplace
Postgres database
Environment variables
Logging
API

Only in Keycloak

Nothing recorded that Heroku does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Heroku

Application hostingnot Keycloak
Database as a servicenot Keycloak
CI/CD pipelinesnot Keycloak
API deploymentnot Keycloak

Keycloak

Organisations requiring self-hosted identity infrastructure for compliance or data residencynot Heroku
Companies with existing LDAP/Active Directory systems needing federated authenticationnot Heroku
Open-source projects and communities requiring free IAM without licensing costsnot Heroku
Enterprises building custom identity workflows requiring fine-grained authorisationnot Heroku
Teams with sufficient operational expertise to manage infrastructurenot Heroku

Where each one falls short

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

Heroku

There is no free dyno tier; the cheapest Eco dyno is $5 per month
Eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity, are restricted to personal accounts and allow only 2 process types
Free SSL and 10 process types start at the Basic dyno at $7 per month
Private and Shield dyno types require a Private Space, which is billed on top of the dynos
Private Space dynos start at $250 per month for Private-M and $500 per month for Private-L
Dyno prices are per dyno per month, so an app with several process types multiplies the bill

Keycloak

Requires self-hosted deployment and operational expertise to install, configure and maintain
No managed cloud option provided by Red Hat; organisations must operate infrastructure themselves or use third-party distributions
Clustering and high-availability configurations require additional operational knowledge
Community support only; commercial support requires third-party vendors or distributions

Pricing, plan by plan

Heroku

$5/month

Eco Dyno$5/month
- 0.5 GB RAM
- Git/Docker deploy
- Custom domains
Basic Dyno$7/month
- 0.5 GB RAM
- Always-on
- Free SSL
Standard-1X Dyno$25/month
- 0.5 GB RAM
- Horizontal scaling
- App metrics
Standard-2X Dyno$50/month
- 1 GB RAM
- Horizontal scaling
- App metrics

Keycloak

Free

Open-sourceFree
- Full platform functionality
- Self-hosted deployment
- Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose Heroku if

You need git-based deployment.
You work on Web, Api, Workers.
You also want buildpacks.

Heroku review

Choose Keycloak if

You want to start without paying.
You work on Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, API.

Keycloak review

Questions people ask

Is Heroku or Keycloak better?: Neither clearly leads. Heroku starts at $5/month and Keycloak at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Heroku or Keycloak?: Keycloak has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $5/month for Heroku and Free for Keycloak.
Does Heroku or Keycloak run on more platforms?: Heroku runs on Web, Api, Workers. Keycloak runs on Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, API.
Can I use Keycloak for free?: Yes. Keycloak has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Heroku starts at $5/month.
What is Heroku best used for?: Heroku is most often used for application hosting, database as a service, ci/cd pipelines, api deployment. Of those, application hosting and database as a service are not what Keycloak is typically brought in for.
What can Heroku do that Keycloak cannot?: Heroku covers Git-based deployment, Buildpacks, Dynos (containers), Add-ons marketplace.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Heroku: How much does Heroku cost?

Heroku dyno pricing starts at $5 per month USD for the Eco tier (with 30-minute inactivity sleep), $7 per month for Basic (always-on), and scales up to $1,500 per month for Performance-2XL with 126 GB RAM.

Source

Keycloak: What protocols does Keycloak support?

Keycloak supports OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0 and SAML 2.0 protocols for authentication and authorisation.

Source

Heroku: What is the cheapest always-on Heroku plan?

The Basic Dyno at $7 per month USD is Heroku's cheapest always-on container option. It provides 0.5 GB RAM, free SSL, and support for 10 process types.

Source

Keycloak: Can Keycloak integrate with existing user directories?

Yes. Keycloak supports user federation with LDAP and Active Directory systems, allowing organisations to leverage existing user directories.

Source

Heroku: How is Heroku Postgres priced?

Heroku Postgres Essential tier (shared resources) starts at $5-$20 per month for 1-32 GB disk. Standard tier (dedicated) ranges $50-$12,000 per month. Premium, Private, Shield, and Advanced tiers offer higher performance at corresponding prices.

Source

Keycloak: Is Keycloak free?

Yes. Keycloak is fully open-source and free to deploy and use. No licensing fees are required.

Source

Heroku vs Keycloak

Heroku

Keycloak

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Heroku

Only in Keycloak

What people use each for

Heroku

Keycloak

Where each one falls short

Heroku

Keycloak

Pricing, plan by plan

Heroku

Keycloak

Which should you pick?

Choose Heroku if

Choose Keycloak if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Heroku

More on Keycloak

Keep looking

Other head to heads