Compare · Heroku

Deploy ON vs Heroku

Heroku invented this shape of PaaS. You still buy dynos and add-ons. Deploy ON sells a Kubernetes quota and bills in GEL.

Price for the same app

Shop API. A small always-on Node.js API plus PostgreSQL. One custom domain, HTTPS, about 512 MB of RAM for the app, a small Postgres instance, and low traffic. Not a serverless frontend-only site.

Deploy ON

50 ₾ / month

~$18.5

Application plan. Managed Postgres is a separate package — we do not pretend it is free inside the 50 ₾.

Heroku

$12 / month

$12

Basic is $7 and stays up. Mini / Essential-0 Postgres is $5. Eco is $5 but sleeps after inactivity — we do not use Eco for this app.

One Basic dyno is $7/month for 512 MB, always on. Mini Postgres is $5/month. Total $12. Standard-1X is $25 if you want metrics and no-downtime deploys. Larger Heroku Postgres plans jump fast (Essential and Standard tiers). Eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes and are the wrong SKU for this comparison.

List prices as of October 2026. Deploy ON in ₾; others in USD. FX used only as a hint: 1 USD ≈ 2.7 GEL. Sources: Heroku pricing, Deploy ON plans.

Side by side

Topic Deploy ON Heroku
Billing Fixed GEL package for a team quota. Dynos + add-ons, prorated to the second, USD.
Runtime Kubernetes containers, rolling updates, health checks. Dynos on Cedar or Fir. Mature process model, add-on marketplace.
Databases Managed Postgres, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB as a separate package. Heroku Postgres and Key-Value Store. Mini is small; production plans cost more.
Sleep / idle Paid plans stay up. You already paid the month. Eco sleeps. Basic and above stay up and keep billing.
Build Railpack / Nixpacks / Dockerfile. Buildpacks and containers. Huge historical ecosystem.
Regions Georgia. Several Common Runtime regions. Private Spaces cost much more.
Add-ons Short template list. No Heroku-style marketplace. Large add-on marketplace.
Compliance ISO 27001 and ISO 27017 via Proservice. Heroku Shield / Enterprise for regulated workloads.

Pick Heroku when

  • You already have Heroku pipelines, review apps, or a stack of add-ons.
  • You want the oldest, most documented PaaS workflow in this set.
  • A $12 Basic + Mini pair is enough and you are fine in USD.

Pick Deploy ON when

  • You want GEL billing and a Georgian operator.
  • You outgrew Eco sleep and do not want to climb Standard / Performance dynos.
  • You want MySQL or Mongo next to the app without a third-party add-on.

What we are not claiming

Heroku is a real product with more regions, a larger ecosystem, and (in several cases) a lower sticker at the smallest size. Deploy ON wins when you want a GEL quota, a Georgian operator, ISO 27001 / 27017 via Proservice, and a process that stays up next to a database. It does not win at global edge, preview URLs, or a public template marketplace.

Open the console · See GEL plans · Plan details