Heroku vs Immich
Detailed comparison to help you choose the right tool for your needs
I
Immich
Self-hosted Google Photos alternative with AI-powered features
4.6
Editorial RatingQuick Comparison
Rating
4.3
vs4.6
Starting Price
$5
vsFree
Pricing Model
paid
vsfree
Feature
Heroku
Immich
Git-based deployment
Managed Postgres
Add-ons marketplace
Auto-scaling
CI/CD pipelines
Review apps
Auto backup from mobile
Facial recognition
Smart search
Shared albums
Map view
Machine learning features
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
Immich Pros
- Feature-rich Google Photos replacement
- AI-powered search and recognition
- Excellent mobile apps
- Active development (weekly releases)
Immich Cons
- Requires beefy server for ML features
- Still in active development (breaking changes)
- No cloud-hosted option