DigitalOcean App Platform vs Heroku
Pricing data as of 2026-10-12 · refreshed weekly
DigitalOcean App Platform (paas) and Heroku (paas) overlap on 14 stacks. The table below shows the cheapest fitting plan on each for a typical startup workload (~50,000 visits/month) — list prices, no promos.
DigitalOcean App Platformpaas
| Static site (free tier) | $0/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB | $5/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed) | $10/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB | $12/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB | $25/mo |
| Shared 2 vCPU / 4GB | $50/mo |
Herokupaas
| Eco | $5/mo |
| Basic | $7/mo |
| Standard-1X | $25/mo |
| Standard-2X | $50/mo |
| Performance-M | $250/mo |
Cheapest fitting plan per stack (startup traffic)
| Stack | DigitalOcean App Platform | Heroku | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next.js | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) | Heroku |
| Nuxt | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) | Heroku |
| Astro | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) | Heroku |
| SvelteKit | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) | Heroku |
| Remix / React Router | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) | Heroku |
| Node.js API | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) | Heroku |
| Django | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | $50 (Standard-2X) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| FastAPI | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) | Heroku |
| Laravel | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | $50 (Standard-2X) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Ruby on Rails | $25 (Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB) | $250 (Performance-M) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Spring Boot | $25 (Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB) | $250 (Performance-M) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Ghost | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | $50 (Standard-2X) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Strapi | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | $50 (Standard-2X) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Static site | $1.46 (Static site (free tier)) | $5 (Eco) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
Next.js by traffic level
| Traffic | DigitalOcean App Platform | Heroku |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby / side project (~5,000/mo) | $5 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) |
| Startup / small business (~50,000/mo) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) |
| E-commerce (~200,000/mo) | $19.64 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) |
| High traffic (~1,000,000/mo) | $33.3 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 (Eco) |
"+" = even the largest plan may not cover that traffic. Full breakdowns: Next.js on DigitalOcean App Platform · Next.js on Heroku
FAQ
Is DigitalOcean App Platform or Heroku cheaper?
Neither is consistently cheaper: at startup traffic (~50,000 visits/month) DigitalOcean App Platform wins on 7 of 14 shared stacks, Heroku on 7. Both are PaaS offerings, so compare what each bundles (below) as well as price.
What does a Next.js app cost on DigitalOcean App Platform vs Heroku?
Cheapest fitting plan by traffic level — hobby / side project: DigitalOcean App Platform $5/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) vs Heroku $5/month (Eco); startup / small business: DigitalOcean App Platform $5.48/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) vs Heroku $5/month (Eco); e-commerce: DigitalOcean App Platform $19.64/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) vs Heroku $5/month (Eco); high traffic: DigitalOcean App Platform $33.30/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) vs Heroku $5/month (Eco).
What is included with DigitalOcean App Platform and Heroku?
DigitalOcean App Platform bundles CDN, SSL, Auto-deploy; not included: Image opt, Edge, Previews. Heroku bundles SSL, Previews, Auto-deploy; not included: CDN, Image opt, Edge.
How current are these prices?
They are official list prices as of 2026-10-12, re-checked against each provider's pricing page on a weekly cycle. Intro promos and coupons are not used in totals; taxes are not included unless a plan note says so.