pioneer PaaS

Heroku

Heroku is the pioneering cloud platform-as-a-service that defined modern containerized web application deployment.

What the product actually does

Heroku operates on the Dyno model: isolated Linux containers provisioned in a managed fleet. Developers git push to Heroku, where Slug Compiler buildpacks transform source code into run-ready artifacts.

It pioneered the add-on ecosystem, allowing developers to provision managed databases, log aggregators, and monitoring suites with one click.

How pricing works once you are inside

All dynos and add-on services are billed on monthly tiers (Eco, Basic, Standard, Performance). Dyno scaling costs scale linearly with container headcount.

Where it breaks down

Performance dynos and managed add-ons are substantially more expensive on a raw hardware basis than modern infrastructure providers like Railway or Render.

What switching costs

Low to moderate. Heroku established the industry-standard Twelve-Factor App methodology; modern PaaS alternatives specifically design their workflows for painless Heroku migration.

Sources

Salesforce Heroku documentation and Dyno architectural specifications, October 2026.