DigitalOcean App Platform vs Heroku.
Prices checked
DigitalOcean App Platform is cheaper on 1 of the 2 shapes both sell, the widest gap 1 GB of memory at $10/mo against $50/mo, checked .
Where to start
DigitalOcean App Platformall 14 prices →It takes your code or an image and runs a container of it for you.
Starts at
$5/mo
apps-s-1vcpu-0.5gb · 1 shared vCPU · 512 MB
Herokuall 8 prices →It takes your code or an image and runs a container of it for you.
Starts at
$5/mo
Eco
Side by side
| Fact | DigitalOcean App Platform | Heroku |
|---|---|---|
| Kind of platform | App platform | App platform |
| Prices published | 14 | 8 |
| Entry price | $5/mo | $5/mo |
| Cheaper of the two | 1 of 2 | 0 of 2 |
| Free tier | none listed | none listed |
| Transfer per GB | 2¢ per GB | not published |
| One build minute | not published | not published |
| One extra member | not published | not published |
| A GB of disk a month | not published | not published |
Every shape both sell
2 shapes, sizes first, smallest first. Monthly prices.
| Shape | DigitalOcean App Platform | Heroku |
|---|---|---|
| 512 MB of memory | $5apps-s-1vcpu-0.5gbalways on | $5Ecosleeps when idle |
| 1 GB of memory | $10apps-s-1vcpu-1gb-fixedalways on | $50Standard-2Xalways on |
How we count
DigitalOcean App Platform is cheaper on 1 of the 2 shapes both sell, Heroku on 0, and 1 are level or have a free tier on one side. Both are the same kind of platform, so what a price buys is the same shape at each and the money is most of what separates them.
A shape is a runtime with the same stated memory at both, smallest first, or a subscription at the same step of both ladders. A seat and a gigabyte are never put in the same row.
Where one side of a row costs nothing, neither is marked as the cheaper: free is a limit rather than a price. What each platform meters on top is listed beside the prices and never folded into them, and a rate that is not published is not a rate of zero.
Frequently asked
- Is DigitalOcean App Platform cheaper than Heroku?
- On the 2 shapes both sell, DigitalOcean App Platform is cheaper on 1, Heroku on 0, and 1 are level or have a free tier on one side. Prices exclude tax and were read on 29 Sept 2026.
- What is the difference between DigitalOcean App Platform and Heroku?
- DigitalOcean App Platform: You push a repository or an image and the platform builds it, runs it and keeps it running. There is no operating system to look after and no root, which is the point: the container is replaced rather than repaired. What you size is memory and a share of a processor. Heroku: You push a repository or an image and the platform builds it, runs it and keeps it running. There is no operating system to look after and no root, which is the point: the container is replaced rather than repaired. What you size is memory and a share of a processor.
- Does DigitalOcean App Platform or Heroku stop your app when nothing calls it?
- DigitalOcean App Platform: it lists no free tier. Heroku: it lists no free tier.
- What does each one charge on top of the plan price?
- DigitalOcean App Platform: transfer 2¢ per GB, builds not published, members not published. Heroku: transfer not published, builds not published, members not published. A rate that is not published is not a rate of zero, and none of these is folded into the monthly figures above.
- How current are these prices?
- Both catalogues are read every day. DigitalOcean App Platform was last read 29 Sept 2026 and Heroku 29 Sept 2026; the whole index was refreshed 29 Sept 2026. Prices exclude tax, and a tier that costs nothing is listed here and is the cheaper of two nowhere.