Heroku vs IBM Code Engine

Heroku9.0Visit IBM Code Engine8.8Visit

Higher score Heroku #4 in Platform As A Service Paas Software 9.0/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 3 features Visit Heroku

vs

IBM Code Engine #6 in Platform As A Service Paas Software 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 3 features Visit IBM Cloud

• Heroku fits best

  Teams wanting an integrated managed app platform

• IBM Code Engine fits best

  IBM Cloud users deploying containers and jobs

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Side by side

Feature	Heroku 9.0/10 Visit ↗	IBM Code Engine 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.8
Ranking	#4 in Platform As A Service Paas Software	#6 in Platform As A Service Paas Software
Best for	Teams wanting an integrated managed app platform	IBM Cloud users deploying containers and jobs
Pricing model	Paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	$5/unit/mo	—
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web, Linux, Windows, macOS
Support	Email, Tickets, Community, Docs	Community, Tickets, Docs
Compliance	SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS	GDPR
Integrations	200+ integrations	10 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Heroku 0/3 · IBM Code Engine 0/3
Autoscaling	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Managed databases	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Custom domains	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Deployment methods	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Runtime support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Deployment regions	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Pipelines, review apps, release history, and rollback support delivery workflows Managed dynos support Git, GitHub, and Docker deployments Private Spaces and regional deployment options extend deployment choices	Runs container apps, source builds, batch jobs, and event-triggered functions. Scales workloads automatically, including to zero when idle. Connects workloads to IBM Cloud services through service bindings.
Cons	No free plan; paid pricing starts at $5 per dyno monthly Eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity 24/7 support is not listed among its support channels	Charges apply when usage exceeds the free tier's allocations. Pay-as-you-go costs vary with consumed resources and HTTP calls. It is managed serverless compute, not conventional website hosting.
Our verdict	Heroku is a managed, container-based Platform as a Service for developers and teams deploying applications in the cloud. Applications run on managed dynos, with deployment options spanning Git, GitHub, and Docker. Development, review,… Read the review →	IBM Cloud Code Engine is managed serverless compute for developers and teams that want to run container images, source-built applications, batch jobs, event-triggered functions, or parallel fleets without managing container clusters… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Heroku — where it wins

  • Pipelines, review apps, release history, and rollback support delivery workflows
  • Managed dynos support Git, GitHub, and Docker deployments
  • Private Spaces and regional deployment options extend deployment choices

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan; paid pricing starts at $5 per dyno monthly
  • Eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity
  • 24/7 support is not listed among its support channels

• IBM Code Engine — where it wins

  • Runs container apps, source builds, batch jobs, and event-triggered functions.
  • Scales workloads automatically, including to zero when idle.
  • Connects workloads to IBM Cloud services through service bindings.

  Where it doesn't

  • Charges apply when usage exceeds the free tier's allocations.
  • Pay-as-you-go costs vary with consumed resources and HTTP calls.
  • It is managed serverless compute, not conventional website hosting.

• Heroku9.0/10 · Paid

  Heroku pairs managed runtimes with deployment workflows, from $5 per dyno monthly.

  Visit HerokuFull verdict →
• IBM Code Engine8.8/10 · Free plan

  A flexible serverless option for IBM Cloud teams running containers, jobs, and event-driven workloads.

  Visit IBM CloudFull verdict →