Compare / Heroku
Peter van Doorn
A Heroku alternative built only for Django
Heroku made deploying easy, and for the smallest apps it is still hard to beat on price. Where it stops fitting is when you grow: dyno prices climb steeply, the cheap tier sleeps, and the platform is theirs, not yours.
The short answer. Pick Heroku for a tiny hobby app or if you rely on its add-on marketplace. Pick Django Cloud when you want an always-on Django app at a lower price per gigabyte of memory, running in an AWS account of its own.
Why choose Django Cloud over Heroku
- Run it in your own AWS account, or let us run it. On Self-hosted your app runs in your own AWS account: you pay AWS its list price directly and us $10 a month, with no markup on compute. On Fully managed we run a dedicated AWS account for you: $29 a month with a server and a database, and a bigger server or database adds the difference.
- Your own isolated environment, without cold starts. Your app is not squeezed onto servers shared with other customers' apps. It runs in an AWS environment of its own and stays on, so the first visitor after a quiet hour does not wait for a machine to wake up.
- Focused on Django, and nothing else. Static files, migrations before every release, encrypted secrets, rollbacks that warn about database changes and Postgres that connects itself. A generic platform asks you to work these out; we only do Django.
Heroku and Django Cloud at a glance
| Heroku | Django Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your app runs | Heroku's platform | Your own AWS account (Self-hosted) or a dedicated AWS account we run (Fully managed) |
| Cheapest tier sleeps? | Yes: Eco dynos ($5) sleep after 30 minutes without traffic | No. Your app stays on, always |
| 1 GB of memory | $50 a month (Standard-2X) | $15 AWS list price (Small) plus the $10 fee on Self-hosted, or $24 on Fully managed |
| Postgres with 4 GB RAM | $50 a month (Standard-0) | $60 at AWS list price, no markup on databases |
| Django knowledge | Generic buildpacks; static files, migrations and settings are yours to configure | Built in: static files, migrations before release, rollbacks, encrypted secrets |
| Leaving | Move to another platform | Your servers and data sit in an AWS account you own |
What it costs to run a typical Django app
| Heroku | Django Cloud Self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby app: smallest server and database | $12 (Basic $7 + Essential-0 Postgres $5) | $29 Fully managed, or $32 Self-hosted (Nano $7 + 1 GB database $15 + $10) |
| Production app: 1 GB server and 4 GB Postgres | $100 (Standard-2X $50 + Standard-0 $50) | $84 Fully managed, or $85 Self-hosted (Small $15 + 4 GB database $60 + $10) |
Heroku is cheaper for the very smallest setup, though Essential Postgres shares RAM and allows 20 connections. The gap flips as you grow, because Heroku's price per gigabyte of memory is much higher.
Start for free with AWS Activate credits
On the Self-hosted plan your app runs in your own AWS account, so AWS credits can pay for it. New AWS accounts can get up to $200 in credits, which is the amount most side projects can count on. Startups can also apply for up to $1,000 through AWS Activate, but AWS decides who qualifies and can change the terms.
Apply for AWS Activate creditsOpen an AWS account
When Heroku is the better choice
- The cheapest possible hobby app, with $5 or $7 dyno plans
- A large marketplace of third-party add-ons
- A very mature, familiar workflow if your team already knows it
Questions
Is there a cheaper alternative to Heroku for Django?
For production-sized apps, yes. A server with 1 GB of memory costs $50 a month on Heroku (Standard-2X) and $24 on Django Cloud Fully managed, or $25 on Self-hosted, where you pay AWS its list price plus $10.
Does Django Cloud have cold starts like Heroku's Eco dynos?
No. Heroku's Eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity. Your Django Cloud app is always running.
How do I move a Django app from Heroku?
Install the CLI and run one deploy command from your project. Bring your requirements.txt, pyproject.toml or uv.lock as they are, add a Postgres database and paste your settings once.
Can AWS credits pay for my Django hosting?
On the Self-hosted plan your app runs in your own AWS account, so AWS credits can cover the AWS bill. New AWS accounts can get up to $200 in credits, and startups can apply for up to $1,000 through AWS Activate. AWS decides who qualifies and can change the terms. You still pay Django Cloud $10 a month, unless we sponsor you: students, open source maintainers, non-profit and scientific projects and AWS Activate startups can apply.
Get your Django project live, the easy way
One command or a git push. We host it for you on AWS, or you keep it in your own AWS account, where AWS credits can cover the AWS bill.
Prices and features were checked in October 2026 against the vendors' own pages (Heroku pricing), and may have changed since. Heroku is a trademark of its owner; Django Cloud is not affiliated with it. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.