Cloud · head to head
Heroku vs Rev
Rev
AI
Human and AI transcription, captions and subtitles priced per minute
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Only Rev 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; Rev human transcription at 1.99 US dollars a minute means roughly 120 dollars an hour of audio, so a long-form interview series costs more in transcription than most teams assume before they run the arithmetic.
- They diverge on capability: Heroku covers Git-based deployment, Rev covers Human transcription.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Heroku and Rev 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 Rev
- Human transcription
- AI transcription
- Captions and subtitles
- Legal transcripts
- File analysis
- Clio integration
- Rev API
- Speaker identification
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Heroku
- Application hostingnot Rev
- Database as a servicenot Rev
- CI/CD pipelinesnot Rev
- API deploymentnot Rev
Rev
- A law firm that needs a deposition transcript in a court-acceptable page format with a fixed turnaround and a published per-page price it can bill to a matter.not Heroku
- A documentary or podcast producer costing a project in advance, because human transcription at a published per-minute rate makes the transcription line item a known number.not Heroku
- A broadcaster needing compliant human captions rather than machine captions, where accuracy is a regulatory requirement and not a convenience.not Heroku
- A team with high AI volume and occasional high-stakes files, using the subscription for the bulk and paying the discounted human rate only where accuracy matters.not 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
Rev
- Human transcription at 1.99 US dollars a minute means roughly 120 dollars an hour of audio, so a long-form interview series costs more in transcription than most teams assume before they run the arithmetic.
- AI minutes are allocated per seat per month and do not roll over, so bursty workloads, which is how most media production actually behaves, waste allowance in quiet months and run out in busy ones.
- The product direction has moved towards legal and investigative use, so a newsroom or media buyer is choosing a tool whose roadmap priority sits elsewhere.
- Foreign-language subtitles are priced from 6.49 to 15.99 US dollars per minute, an order of magnitude above transcription, which makes multi-language localisation of any volume of video expensive enough to change the plan.
- Human turnaround is stated in hours rather than guaranteed contractually on the published plans, so a hard broadcast or filing deadline needs an agreement beyond the standard terms.
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
Rev
Free- FreeFree
- 45 AI transcription and caption minutes per month
- Up to 5 files analysed
- No human transcription included
- Essentials$25.49/month
- 5,000 AI minutes per seat per month
- Up to 3 seats
- 10 per cent discount on human transcription, captions and subtitles
- Pro$47.99/month
- 10,000 AI minutes per seat per month
- Up to 5 seats
- 15 per cent discount on human work
- Unlimited$undefined/month
- Unlimited AI minutes
- Up to 500 files analysed at once
- Dedicated account specialist
Which should you pick?
Choose Heroku if
- You need git-based deployment.
- You work on Web, Api, Workers.
- You also want buildpacks.
Choose Rev if
- You need human transcription.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
- You also want ai transcription.
Questions people ask
- Is Heroku or Rev better?
- Neither clearly leads. Heroku starts at $5/month and Rev at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Heroku or Rev?
- Rev has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $5/month for Heroku and Free for Rev.
- Does Heroku or Rev run on more platforms?
- Heroku runs on Web, Api, Workers. Rev runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.
- Can I use Rev for free?
- Yes. Rev 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 Rev is typically brought in for.
- What can Heroku do that Rev cannot?
- Heroku covers Git-based deployment, Buildpacks, Dynos (containers), Add-ons marketplace. Rev covers Human transcription, AI transcription, Captions and subtitles, Legal transcripts.
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.
SourceRev: How much is human transcription?
1.99 US dollars per minute with a stated accuracy target above 99 per cent, typically returned within 12 hours. Subscribers get 10 to 15 per cent off.
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.
SourceRev: Is there a free tier?
Yes, 45 AI minutes per month and up to 5 files analysed, with no human transcription included.
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.
SourceRev: Do unused AI minutes roll over?
No. The allowance is per seat per month and resets, which penalises irregular workloads.
Rev: Can it do subtitles in other languages?
Yes, across seventeen languages, priced from 6.49 to 15.99 US dollars per minute, considerably more than transcription.
Rev: Is Rev still a good choice for newsrooms?
It works, but the subscription tiers are now positioned around legal and investigative workflows, so a newsroom should compare it against a tool built specifically for journalism.
Related pages
Other head to heads
- Heroku vs Coolify
- Heroku vs Neon
- Heroku vs Dokku
- Heroku vs AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Heroku vs DigitalOcean
- Heroku vs Grafana Cloud
- Heroku vs Render
- Heroku vs Porter
- Heroku vs SST
- Heroku vs Encore
- Heroku vs Zeabur
- Heroku vs Railway
- Heroku vs Rook
- Heroku vs Serverless Framework
- Heroku vs Vagrant
- Heroku vs VictoriaMetrics
- Heroku vs Vultr
- Heroku vs Verbit
- Heroku vs Cartesia
- Heroku vs Deepgram
- Heroku vs Lindy
- Heroku vs Copy.ai
- Heroku vs Ideogram
- Heroku vs Resemble AI
- Heroku vs Rytr
- Heroku vs Avathon
- Heroku vs DeepSeek
- Heroku vs Grok
- Heroku vs LatchBio
- Heroku vs Copilotly
- Heroku vs CoreWeave
- Heroku vs ElevenLabs
- Heroku vs Gumloop
- Rev vs Coolify
- Rev vs Neon
- Rev vs Dokku
- Rev vs AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Rev vs DigitalOcean
- Rev vs Grafana Cloud
- Rev vs Render
- Rev vs Porter
- Rev vs SST
- Rev vs Encore
- Rev vs Zeabur
- Rev vs Railway
- Rev vs Rook
- Rev vs Serverless Framework
- Rev vs Vagrant
- Rev vs VictoriaMetrics
- Rev vs Vultr
- Rev vs Verbit
- Rev vs Cartesia
- Rev vs Deepgram
- Rev vs Lindy
- Rev vs Copy.ai
- Rev vs Ideogram
- Rev vs Resemble AI
- Rev vs Rytr
- Rev vs Avathon
- Rev vs DeepSeek
- Rev vs Grok
- Rev vs LatchBio
- Rev vs Copilotly
- Rev vs CoreWeave
- Rev vs ElevenLabs
- Rev vs Gumloop