Heroku vs Render (2026)
Head-to-head on pricing, performance, support and features - based on our independent reviews of both hosts.
Score comparison
| Heroku | Render | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 7.4 | 8.6 | Render |
| Performance | 7.8 | 8.6 | Render |
| Support | 7.5 | 8.2 | Render |
| Value for money | 6.2 | 8.7 | Render |
| Ease of use | 8.8 | 9.0 | Render |
Side by side
| Heroku | Render | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $5/mo | $0/mo |
| Hosting types | App Platforms | App Platforms |
| Money-back guarantee | - | - |
| Uptime SLA | - | - |
| Support | tickets, knowledge-base | tickets, email, knowledge-base |
| Free migration | - | - |
| Website builder | - | - |
| Green hosting | - | - |
Which should you pick?
Choose Heroku if this fits: best for teams already invested in the heroku ecosystem. Heroku invented this category and still runs apps with grace, but a decade of Salesforce stewardship, the 2022 free-tier massacre and prices frozen in 2015 make it hard to recommend to anyone starting fresh.
Choose Render if this fits: best heroku replacement for full-stack apps. Render picked up the flag Heroku dropped: push code, get a running server, pay a fair sticker price. It is the platform to shortlist first for conventional full-stack apps that have outgrown free tiers but not hired a DevOps team.
Overall, our scores favor Render (8.6 vs 7.4) - but the right choice depends on which trade-offs matter to you. Read the full Heroku review and Render review.