Which is cheaper, Heroku or Vercel?

Heroku is 4.0x cheaper than Vercel. Heroku starts at $5/mo, Vercel starts at $0/mo.

Does Heroku have a free tier?

No, Heroku does not have a free tier.

Heroku has moderate switching cost. Vercel has moderate switching cost. Both have similar switching complexity.

Hosting

Heroku

← More affordable

PaaS for deploying, managing, and scaling apps with managed dynos and add-ons

Switching Cost: moderate

Vercel

Frontend cloud platform for deploying and scaling web applications with serverless functions and edge network

Switching Cost: moderate

Price sensitivity favors Heroku, which costs about 4.0x less than Vercel.

The free tier advantage goes to Vercel, which offers a no-cost entry point that Heroku lacks.

Pricing philosophy differs — Heroku charges flat-rate, but Vercel takes a usage-based approach.

If budget is your primary constraint, Heroku is the clear winner with its more wallet-friendly pricing structure.

If budget is your primary constraint, Heroku is the clear winner with its more wallet-friendly pricing structure.

Price Difference

4.0x

Heroku is cheaper by $15/mo

Free Tier

Vercel

Has a free tier option

Pricing Model

Different

Tools charge using different pricing philosophies