What is the difference between Heroku and Netlify?

Heroku: A platform-as-a-service that builds and runs apps from a git push, with managed Postgres, Redis and add-ons. Netlify: Hosts static and JAMstack sites with git deploys, preview builds, serverless functions, forms and identity.

When should I choose Heroku?

You want the simplest managed hosting for a standard web app and value stability over price.

When should I choose Netlify?

You run static or framework-built sites and want simple deploys with built-in forms and previews.

Heroku vs Netlify

Heroku and Netlify are both paas and app hosting software. Heroku is a commercial product from Salesforce, Inc. Netlify is a commercial product from Netlify.

Which to pick

Pick Heroku when: You want the simplest managed hosting for a standard web app and value stability over price.
Pick Netlify when: You run static or framework-built sites and want simple deploys with built-in forms and previews.

Side by side

Heroku Netlify

What it does

A platform-as-a-service that builds and runs apps from a git push, with managed Postgres, Redis and add-ons.

Hosts static and JAMstack sites with git deploys, preview builds, serverless functions, forms and identity.

Watch out

Expensive for the resources you get, there is no free tier any more, and it has seen little new development under Salesforce.

Usage-based charges for bandwidth and builds can surprise you on traffic spikes.

Ready for

Production-ready (both)

Runs as

Cloud service (both)

Built with

Not published (both)

Source code

Closed source, sold by Salesforce, Inc.

Closed source, sold by Netlify

What the license allows

Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code. (both)

How widely known

603 Wikipedia readers a month on phones

2.9k Wikipedia readers a month on phones

Other comparisons

Netlify vs Vercel Heroku vs Vercel Coolify vs Netlify Dokku vs Netlify Netlify vs Piku Coolify vs Heroku Dokku vs Heroku Heroku vs Piku

More PaaS and app hosting platforms

Every paas and app hosting product and project, ranked

Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from makers' descriptions, Wikipedia, READMEs and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.