Cloud · head to head
Heroku vs Okteto
Okteto
Developer Tools
Runs production-like development environments on your own Kubernetes cluster
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Only Okteto 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; Okteto two of the three plans publish no price at all, with no currency and no billing period stated anywhere, so any budget above five seats requires a sales conversation before you can even compare it with an alternative.
- They diverge on capability: Heroku covers Git-based deployment, Okteto covers Cluster development environments.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Heroku and Okteto actually diverge.
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 Okteto
- Cluster development environments
- File synchronisation
- Development containers
- Environment catalogue
- Preview environments
- Bring your own cloud
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Heroku
- Application hostingnot Okteto
- Database as a servicenot Okteto
- CI/CD pipelinesnot Okteto
- API deploymentnot Okteto
Okteto
- A microservices estate where no developer can run the full dependency graph on a laptopnot Heroku
- Giving each pull request a working environment reviewers can click rather than describenot Heroku
- Letting coding agents build and test against real databases and queues instead of mocksnot Heroku
- Removing a fleet of local Kubernetes installations that drift from production and produce false test resultsnot 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
Okteto
- Two of the three plans publish no price at all, with no currency and no billing period stated anywhere, so any budget above five seats requires a sales conversation before you can even compare it with an alternative.
- The Apache-2.0 CLI is restricted to the development section of the manifest, so build services, user management and observability all require the commercial platform and the open licence provides very little continuity insurance.
- The last disclosed funding round is a 15 million US dollar Series A from February 2022 with nothing announced since, and the contributor base is dominated by company employees, which is concentrated risk for something embedded in every developer daily loop.
- You must bring and pay for the Kubernetes cluster, so node cost, capacity planning and version upgrades stay with your platform team on top of the licence fee.
- The 2026 repositioning towards AI agents means the classic developer inner loop is no longer what the marketing leads with, so a buyer purchasing that use case should confirm roadmap commitment rather than assume it.
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$50/month
- 1 GB RAM
- Horizontal scaling
- App metrics
Okteto
Free- StarterFree
- 5 seats included
- Self-hosted deployment into your own cluster
- Community support
- Scale$undefined/year
- Contact sales, no price, currency or billing period published
- More seats and environments than Starter
- Self-hosted deployment
- Enterprise$undefined/year
- Contact sales, no price published
- Bring your own cloud deployment
- Available through Google Cloud and AWS marketplaces
Which should you pick?
Choose Heroku if
- You need git-based deployment.
- You work on Web, Api, Workers.
- You also want buildpacks.
Choose Okteto if
- You need cluster development environments.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, CLI, Kubernetes, Web.
- You also want file synchronisation.
Questions people ask
- Is Heroku or Okteto better?
- Neither clearly leads. Heroku starts at $5/month and Okteto at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Heroku or Okteto?
- Okteto has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $5/month for Heroku and Free for Okteto.
- Does Heroku or Okteto run on more platforms?
- Heroku runs on Web, Api, Workers. Okteto runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, CLI, Kubernetes, Web.
- Can I use Okteto for free?
- Yes. Okteto 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 Okteto is typically brought in for.
- What can Heroku do that Okteto cannot?
- Heroku covers Git-based deployment, Buildpacks, Dynos (containers), Add-ons marketplace. Okteto covers Cluster development environments, File synchronisation, Development containers, Environment catalogue.
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.
SourceOkteto: Is Okteto open source?
The CLI is Apache-2.0, but the README states it supports only the development section of the manifest. Everything operationally interesting, including builds, user management and observability, is in the commercial platform.
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.
SourceOkteto: What does it cost?
Only the free Starter tier with five seats is published. Scale and Enterprise are both contact sales, with no price, currency or billing period disclosed on the pricing page.
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.
SourceOkteto: Do I need my own Kubernetes cluster?
Yes. Okteto installs into a cluster you provide and pay for, so capacity, upgrades and node costs remain your responsibility in addition to the licence.
Okteto: How is this different from running Kubernetes locally?
Environments run against the same managed databases, queues and service mesh as production, so a class of failures that only appears in a real cluster is caught before merge rather than after deploy.
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