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Head-to-head · Platform as a Service

Heroku vs Cloud Foundry

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Heroku #3 in Platform as a Service 9.1/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 5 features Visit Heroku
Cloud Foundry #6 in Platform as a Service 8.8/10 Open source ✓ 3 of 5 features Visit Cloud Foundry

Heroku leads on 0 checks, Cloud Foundry on 0, and 5 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreHeroku · 9.1/10
  • Most featuresCloud Foundry · 3 of 5

Heroku scores higher on our rubric for platform as a service: 9.1 against 8.8 out of 10; our editors rank them #3 and #6.

Heroku is the better fit for mature teams using conventional PaaS workflows. Cloud Foundry is the better fit for organizations operating their own PaaS.

  • Heroku fits best

    Mature teams using conventional PaaS workflows

  • Cloud Foundry fits best

    Organizations operating their own PaaS

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Side by side

Feature Heroku 9.1/10 Visit ↗ Cloud Foundry 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.1 8.8
Ranking #3 in Platform as a Service #6 in Platform as a Service
Best for Mature teams using conventional PaaS workflows Organizations operating their own PaaS
Pricing model Paid Free
Starting price $5/unit/mo Open source
Free plan — Not checked yet
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud Self-hosted
Integrations 200+ integrations 8 integrations
Features Heroku 0/5 · Cloud Foundry 3/5
Managed databases Not checked yet —
Autoscaling Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Private networking Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Preview environments Not checked yet Not checked yet
Container deployments Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Specs
Deployment regions Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Deploy with Git, GitHub or Docker and organize releases with pipelines.
  • Review Apps, release history and rollback support application delivery.
  • Dyno tiers add always-on service, scaling and dedicated compute options.
  • Deploy across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OpenStack, and vSphere
  • Supports buildpacks, Docker images, and HTTP or TCP routes
  • Includes internal networking, scaling, logs, and metrics
Cons
  • There is no free plan; Eco starts at $5 per dyno per month.
  • Eco sleeps after 30 minutes of inactivity.
  • 24/7 support is not listed among its support options.
  • Organizations operate the platform or use a commercial provider's distribution
  • Database services depend on operator-integrated service brokers
  • Automatic scaling uses an optional extension or provider service
Our verdict

Heroku is a managed, container-based cloud Platform as a Service for developers and teams deploying applications on managed dynos. Git, GitHub and Docker deployments, pipelines, Review Apps and release management suit teams with…

Read the review →

Cloud Foundry is an open-source platform as a service for deploying and operating cloud-native applications. It suits organizations that want to operate their own application platform across infrastructure providers, with support for…

Read the review →
  1. HerokuPlatform as a Service 9.1Paid
  2. Cloud FoundryPlatform as a Service 8.8Open source

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Heroku — where it wins

    • Deploy with Git, GitHub or Docker and organize releases with pipelines.
    • Review Apps, release history and rollback support application delivery.
    • Dyno tiers add always-on service, scaling and dedicated compute options.

    Where it doesn't

    • There is no free plan; Eco starts at $5 per dyno per month.
    • Eco sleeps after 30 minutes of inactivity.
    • 24/7 support is not listed among its support options.

  • Cloud Foundry — where it wins

    • Deploy across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OpenStack, and vSphere
    • Supports buildpacks, Docker images, and HTTP or TCP routes
    • Includes internal networking, scaling, logs, and metrics

    Where it doesn't

    • Organizations operate the platform or use a commercial provider's distribution
    • Database services depend on operator-integrated service brokers
    • Automatic scaling uses an optional extension or provider service

More comparisons

All platform as a service comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update