{"slug":"heroku-vs-render","title":"Render vs Heroku","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/heroku-vs-render","faqCount":5,"faqs":[{"question":"Is Render cheaper than Heroku?","answer":"Yes, significantly. Render starts at $7/month with included PostgreSQL at $9/month, while Heroku's minimum is $50/month for entry-level dynos without a database. For the same features, Render costs approximately 85% less than Heroku. A typical small app costs $16/month on Render vs $100+/month on Heroku."},{"question":"Why is Heroku still popular if Render is cheaper?","answer":"Heroku maintains popularity due to 20+ years of ecosystem development, 180+ marketplace integrations, enterprise-grade support with 99.95% SLA, and organizational team management features. Large enterprises and established companies prioritize stability and extensive tooling over cost. Heroku's acquisition by Salesforce ($2.3B) also signals enterprise backing that some organizations prefer."},{"question":"Does Render have a free tier like old Heroku?","answer":"Yes, Render offers a limited free tier with automatic sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity, making it suitable for development and low-traffic projects. Heroku discontinued its free tier in November 2022, making Render the better choice for hobbyists and students today."},{"question":"Which has better performance—Render or Heroku?","answer":"Render generally performs better with cold start times of 500-800ms compared to Heroku's 1,500-3,000ms on standard dynos. Render also offers 13 global regions vs Heroku's 6 regions. However, Heroku's performance is more predictable for always-on applications with enterprise SLA guarantees. For variable workloads with cold starts, Render wins by 3-4x speed."},{"question":"Can I migrate from Heroku to Render easily?","answer":"Migration is straightforward for most apps. Both support Procfiles, GitHub integration, and PostgreSQL. The process typically involves: (1) exporting your Heroku PostgreSQL database, (2) importing to Render, (3) connecting your GitHub repository to Render, and (4) setting environment variables. Most migrations take 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on app complexity."}],"faqPageSchema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/heroku-vs-render#faq","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/heroku-vs-render","inLanguage":"en-US","name":"Render vs Heroku — FAQ","description":"Frequently asked questions about Render vs Heroku","dateModified":"2026-06-29T18:05:01.731Z","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.aversusb.net/#organization","name":"A Versus B"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.aversusb.net/#organization","name":"A Versus B"},"isPartOf":{"@type":"Article","@id":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/heroku-vs-render#article"},"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":["#faq",".faq-item"]},"mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Is Render cheaper than Heroku?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, significantly. Render starts at $7/month with included PostgreSQL at $9/month, while Heroku's minimum is $50/month for entry-level dynos without a database. For the same features, Render costs approximately 85% less than Heroku. A typical small app costs $16/month on Render vs $100+/month on Heroku.","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/heroku-vs-render"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why is Heroku still popular if Render is cheaper?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Heroku maintains popularity due to 20+ years of ecosystem development, 180+ marketplace integrations, enterprise-grade support with 99.95% SLA, and organizational team management features. Large enterprises and established companies prioritize stability and extensive tooling over cost. Heroku's acquisition by Salesforce ($2.3B) also signals enterprise backing that some organizations prefer.","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/heroku-vs-render"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does Render have a free tier like old Heroku?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, Render offers a limited free tier with automatic sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity, making it suitable for development and low-traffic projects. Heroku discontinued its free tier in November 2022, making Render the better choice for hobbyists and students today.","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/heroku-vs-render"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which has better performance—Render or Heroku?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Render generally performs better with cold start times of 500-800ms compared to Heroku's 1,500-3,000ms on standard dynos. Render also offers 13 global regions vs Heroku's 6 regions. However, Heroku's performance is more predictable for always-on applications with enterprise SLA guarantees. For variable workloads with cold starts, Render wins by 3-4x speed.","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/heroku-vs-render"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Can I migrate from Heroku to Render easily?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Migration is straightforward for most apps. Both support Procfiles, GitHub integration, and PostgreSQL. The process typically involves: (1) exporting your Heroku PostgreSQL database, (2) importing to Render, (3) connecting your GitHub repository to Render, and (4) setting environment variables. Most migrations take 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on app complexity.","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/heroku-vs-render"}}]}}