Render vs Heroku

The developer-friendly cloud that actually makes sense, if you can stomach the price meets the platform that made deploying apps as easy as 'git push', but now you're paying for the convenience. Here's our take.

Render

Nice Pick

The developer-friendly cloud that actually makes sense, if you can stomach the price.

Pros

• Predictable pricing
• Managed databases
• Background workers
• Dead-simple deployment from Git with zero config
• Automatic SSL and scaling that just works
• Clean, intuitive UI that doesn't make you want to scream

Cons

• Slower deploys
• Less innovation
• Basic DX
• Pricing can get steep fast for anything beyond hobby projects
• Limited customizability compared to AWS or Kubernetes

Heroku

The platform that made deploying apps as easy as 'git push', but now you're paying for the convenience.

Pros

• Dead-simple deployment with Git integration
• Built-in scaling and add-ons for databases and caching
• Great for prototyping and small projects

Cons

• Can get expensive quickly as your app scales
• Limited control over the underlying infrastructure

The Verdict

Use Render if: You want predictable pricing and can live with slower deploys.

Use Heroku if: You prioritize dead-simple deployment with git integration over what Render offers.

The Bottom Line

Render wins

The developer-friendly cloud that actually makes sense, if you can stomach the price.