Cloudways vs Heroku
Compare Cloudways and Heroku on features, pricing, and buyer fit using the same researched criteria.
Cloudways
Managed cloud hosting — Flexible from $11/mo DigitalOcean Standard; Autonomous WordPress autoscaling separate line.
Best for
- • Teams that want managed hosting on a chosen cloud VM without buying a panel licence
- • Agencies running WordPress plus other apps on one Cloudways account
- • Buyers who will actually use hourly Flexible billing and the $11 DigitalOcean Standard floor
Starting from $11.00/user/mo
No free plan
VS
Our verdict
No universal winner. Choose based on which criteria matter most for your team.
Heroku is better for
- ✓ Starting pricing
- ✓ Security & admin
Tie
- • Integrations
Choose Cloudways if: Teams that want managed hosting on a chosen cloud VM without buying a panel licence
Choose Heroku if: Teams that want Salesforce-backed Cedar dynos with a published Basic $7 always-on floor
Heroku
Cloud PaaS / Cedar dynos — Eco $5 (sleeps); Basic $7 always-on (research floor); Standard-1X $25; Standard-2X $50; Performance-M $250+. No forever-free dyno. Does not outrank Render 7.9.
Best for
- • Teams that want Salesforce-backed Cedar dynos with a published Basic $7 always-on floor
- • Buyers comparing Heroku Basic to Railway Hobby/Pro and Render Pro $25
- • Orgs that will not treat Eco sleep dynos as production always-on TCO
Starting from $7.00/user/mo
No free plan
Cloudways vs Heroku pricing
Cloudways researched starting price from $11/mo. Heroku researched starting price from $7/mo. Affiliate economics excluded.
Cloudways
From $11.00/user/mo
Heroku
From $7.00/user/mo
Cloudways
Starting from $11.00/user/mo
Free trial available
- Flexible (DigitalOcean Standard)Popular$11.00/mo
- $11/mo published Flexible floor on DigitalOcean Standard — billed hourly. Free trial without a card per first-party page.
- Autonomous WordPressCustom
- Separate WordPress autoscaling line — not the Flexible $11 DigitalOcean Standard floor. Confirm live packaging on cloudways.com/pricing.php.
Heroku
Starting from $7.00/user/mo
No free trial evidenced
- Eco$5.00/mo
- $5/mo Eco dyno — sleeps after 30 min inactivity; personal only. Not the always-on research floor.
- BasicPopular$7.00/mo
- $7/mo Basic always-on dyno — published always-on research floor on heroku.com/pricing.
- Standard-1X$25.00/mo
- $25/mo Standard-1X Cedar dyno.
- Standard-2X$50.00/mo
- $50/mo Standard-2X Cedar dyno.
- Performance-M$250.00/mo
- $250/mo Performance-M Cedar dyno — higher performance ladder.
Estimate your team cost
Monthly estimate from verified per-seat list pricing. Confirm on the vendor site before purchasing.
Cloudways
$165.00/mo
Heroku
$105.00/mo
+$60.00/mo — Cloudways costs more
Verified monthly unit prices · Aug 18, 2026
Prices in USD
Shown per user / month from verified list pricing.
Plans can change
Confirm live vendor rates before purchasing.
Add-ons may apply
Calling, SMS, or usage fees can add cost.
Independence
Affiliate status never changes pricing outcomes.
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