## The short version

The best Heroku alternative depends on the app: Ample for apps a coding agent deploys and runs, with a free plan, a hard cap and databases created automatically; Render for fixed-price always-on services; Railway for usage-billed services with Docker and cron; Fly.io for Docker images in many regions.

WHO THIS IS FOR

## Before you choose

You run a Heroku app (a web process, maybe workers, Postgres and Redis) and want a platform that is still adding features after Heroku's February 2026 move to sustaining engineering, or that a coding agent can operate for you.

SIDE BY SIDE

## Heroku alternatives at a glance

| Platform | Best for | Watch out for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Ample](/content/compare/heroku/index.html) | Apps a coding agent deploys and runs. Free plan, no card, hard cap, managed Postgres, MySQL, Redis and MongoDB, volumes and buckets. | No Docker images, no region choice; no public price for paid plans. |
| [Render](/content/compare/render/index.html) | Always-on web services and workers at a fixed monthly price, Docker, cron, `render.yaml`. | Paid services never sleep; free services take about a minute to wake; no spend cap documented. |
| [Railway](/content/compare/railway/index.html) | Usage-billed services with Docker, cron and a template marketplace; 4 regions. | Free plan is $1 of credit a month after the trial; config files change on December 1, 2026. |
| [Fly.io](/content/compare/fly-io/index.html) | Docker images on microVMs in 17 regions with fine machine control. | No free tier and no spending cap; Postgres starts at $38 a month. |

Competitor facts come from that company's own pricing pages and documentation, checked on the date shown in the sources. Plans change; follow the source links for current numbers.

FIT CHECK

## Which one fits

### Choose Ample when

- You want a free plan and a hard cap instead of a bill in arrears.
- You want a coding agent to do the move and future deploys.
- You need files that survive restarts, or buckets, without add-ons.

### Stay on Heroku when

- You rely on add-ons, pipelines or review apps.
- You need Private Spaces or Heroku's compliance programs.
- The cost and effort of moving outweigh the savings.

STEP BY STEP

## Move a Heroku app (any target)

1. 1

### Inventory the app

List process types in the Procfile, add-ons, config vars, the release command and Scheduler jobs.

2. 2

### Export config and data

Export config vars, then capture and download a Postgres backup.

```
heroku config -s -a <app> > .env.production && heroku pg:backups:capture -a <app> && heroku pg:backups:download -a <app>
```

3. 3

### Deploy on the new platform

On Ample, an agent can run this from the repository; the [Heroku migration recipes](/content/discover/migration/heroku-app/index.html) list tested commands per framework.

```
ample deploy . --name <app-name> --public --start "<web command>" --env-file .env.production
```

4. 4

### Point your domain

Add the domain to the app, update DNS to the target Ample prints, and keep the old app running until the new one answers on the domain.

```
ample domain add <app-name> www.example.com
```

QUESTIONS

## Frequently asked questions

### Is there still a free Heroku alternative?

Yes. Ample's Free plan needs no card and includes managed databases. Render has free web services that spin down after 15 minutes and a free Postgres that is deleted after 30 days. Railway has a 30-day trial and then $1 of monthly credit.

### Which Heroku alternative is closest to Heroku?

Render and Railway are closest in workflow (git-based deploys, web and worker processes, managed Postgres). Ample is closest when the point is to stop managing the platform at all and let an agent do it.

SOURCES

## Where these facts come from

- [Ample pricing and plan limits](/content/pricing/index.html)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Ample agent instructions (AGENTS.md)](/content/AGENTS.md)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Heroku: an update on Heroku](https://www.heroku.com/blog/an-update-on-heroku/)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Render free tier](https://render.com/docs/free.md)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Render pricing](https://render.com/pricing)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Railway pricing](https://railway.com/pricing.md)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Railway Serverless](https://docs.railway.com/deployments/serverless.md)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Railway infrastructure as code](https://docs.railway.com/infrastructure-as-code.md)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Fly.io pricing](https://docs.fly.io/about/pricing)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Fly.io cost management](https://docs.fly.io/about/cost-management)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Fly Managed Postgres](https://docs.fly.io/mpg/)(checked October 14, 2026)