AWS vs Heroku
Detailed comparison to help you choose the right tool for your needs
Quick Comparison
Rating
4.5
vs4.3
Starting Price
Free
vs$5
Pricing Model
paid
vspaid
Feature
AWS
Heroku
Compute EC2 Lambda
Storage S3 EBS
Databases RDS DynamoDB
AI/ML SageMaker
CDN CloudFront
200+ services
Git-based deployment
Managed Postgres
Add-ons marketplace
Auto-scaling
CI/CD pipelines
Review apps
AWS Pros
- Most comprehensive service catalog with 200+
- Largest global infrastructure with 30+ regions
- Mature and battle-tested at massive scale
- Extensive free tier for 12 months
- Deep partner and training ecosystem
- Dominant market share means broad talent pool
AWS Cons
- Pricing is complex and hard to predict
- Console UI is overwhelming and dated
- Easy to accidentally run up large bills
- Support requires paid plans
- Vendor lock-in is very real
- Learning curve is enormous
Heroku Pros
- Simplest deployment workflow with git push
- Mature add-ons ecosystem
- Good for prototyping and MVPs
- Managed Postgres is reliable
- Review apps for PR environments
- Well-documented with strong community
Heroku Cons
- No free tier since November 2022
- Expensive at scale compared to alternatives
- Performance concerns with shared dynos
- Limited regions US and EU only
- Salesforce ownership creates uncertainty
- Many developers have migrated to Railway or Render