Is Heroku or Vercel better?

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

Which is cheaper, Heroku or Vercel?

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

Does Heroku or Vercel run on more platforms?

Heroku runs on Web, Api, Workers. Vercel runs on Web, CLI.

Can I use Vercel for free?

Yes. Vercel 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 Vercel is typically brought in for.

What can Heroku do that Vercel cannot?

Heroku covers Git-based deployment, Buildpacks, Dynos (containers), Add-ons marketplace. Vercel covers Instant deployments, Preview deployments, Serverless functions, Edge network. Both handle GitHub.

Cloud · head to head

Heroku vs Vercel

Heroku

Cloud

Cloud Application Platform

From: $5/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Vercel

Technology

Develop. Preview. Ship.

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Vercel 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; Vercel usage-based pricing can spike unexpectedly during traffic surges or DDoS attacks
They diverge on capability: Heroku covers Git-based deployment, Vercel covers Instant deployments.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Heroku and Vercel actually diverge.

Attributes where Heroku and Vercel differ
Attribute	Heroku	Vercel
Starting price	$5/month	Free
Pricing model	subscription	Unknown
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web, Api, Workers	Web, CLI
Category	Cloud	Technology
Founded	2007	2015

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 Vercel

Instant deployments
Preview deployments
Serverless functions
Edge network
Automatic HTTPS
Custom domains
Git integration
Real-time collaboration

Both cover

GitHub

What people use each for

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

Heroku

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

Vercel

Static sitesnot Heroku
JAMstack applicationsnot Heroku
Serverless APIsnot Heroku
E-commerce sitesnot Heroku
Documentation sitesnot 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

Vercel

Usage-based pricing can spike unexpectedly during traffic surges or DDoS attacks
No spending limit controls or automatic shutoff mechanisms
Bandwidth costs ($0.15/GB) quickly accumulate for high-traffic applications

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

Vercel

Free

HobbyFree
- Non-commercial use only
- 100GB bandwidth
- Community support
Pro$20/user/month
- Commercial use
- 1TB bandwidth
- $20 usage credit
Enterprise$undefined/custom
- Custom infrastructure
- Premium support
- Compliance add-ons

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 Vercel if

You need instant deployments.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, CLI.
You also want preview deployments.

Vercel review

Questions people ask

Is Heroku or Vercel better?: Neither clearly leads. Heroku starts at $5/month and Vercel at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Heroku or Vercel?: Vercel has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $5/month for Heroku and Free for Vercel.
Does Heroku or Vercel run on more platforms?: Heroku runs on Web, Api, Workers. Vercel runs on Web, CLI.
Can I use Vercel for free?: Yes. Vercel 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 Vercel is typically brought in for.
What can Heroku do that Vercel cannot?: Heroku covers Git-based deployment, Buildpacks, Dynos (containers), Add-ons marketplace. Vercel covers Instant deployments, Preview deployments, Serverless functions, Edge network. Both handle GitHub.

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

Vercel: What are Vercel's main pricing tiers?

Vercel offers a free Hobby plan (non-commercial), Pro at $20/user/month with $20 usage credit, and Enterprise with custom pricing. Additional compliance add-ons cost $150-$350/month.

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

Vercel: How much do bandwidth overages cost on Vercel?

Bandwidth overages cost $0.15/GB after plan limits are exceeded. Hobby plan includes 100GB free bandwidth; Pro includes 1TB. Usage-based billing can cause unexpected bills.

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

Vercel: Is Vercel free for Next.js projects?

Yes, Vercel offers a free Hobby plan for non-commercial Next.js projects with automatic deployments from git. Commercial projects require Pro plan or higher.

Source

Vercel: Can I set spending limits on Vercel?

No, Vercel does not offer hard spending caps or automatic shutoff. High traffic, DDoS attacks, or misconfigured functions can result in unexpectedly large bills.

Source

Vercel: What is included in the Pro plan?

Pro ($20/user/month) includes $20 usage credit, 1TB bandwidth, support for commercial projects, git integration, and preview deployments.

Source

Heroku vs Vercel

Heroku

Vercel

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Heroku

Only in Vercel

Both cover

What people use each for

Heroku

Vercel

Where each one falls short

Heroku

Vercel

Pricing, plan by plan

Heroku

Vercel

Which should you pick?

Choose Heroku if

Choose Vercel if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Heroku

More on Vercel

Keep looking

Other head to heads