Honest comparison
Pushify vs Heroku
Heroku's git-push workflow on servers you own, with flat server pricing.
| Feature | Pushify | Heroku |
|---|---|---|
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-host on your servers | Yes | No |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Git push deployments | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own servers | Yes | No |
| Managed databases | Yes | Yes |
| Flat-rate server pricing | Yes | No |
| Fully managed (zero server ops) | No | Yes |
| 10+ year add-on ecosystem | No | Yes |
| One-click app marketplace | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in AI assistant | Yes | No |
| No-code site builder | Yes | No |
When to pick which
Which one fits you?
Choose Pushify if…
- You want flat server pricing, not per-dyno and per-add-on billing.
- You want apps and data on servers you own.
- You want a real free option: self-host Pushify, or run it on a $5 VPS.
- You want an app marketplace, AI assistant, site builder and domain purchasing.
Choose Heroku if…
- You want zero server responsibility.
- You rely on 10+ years of add-ons, buildpacks and compliance options.
- Your team lives in Heroku pipelines and migrating costs more than it saves.
Differences
The three differences that matter
Where your app runs
Heroku can't be self-hosted. Pushify is MIT-licensed and deploys to any VPS or managed Hetzner server.
How the bill grows
Heroku bills per dyno and add-on. On Pushify, a fixed monthly plan covers the platform, and one server runs all your apps — your own, or a managed one at a fixed hourly rate from prepaid credits.
What happened to free
Heroku's free tier ended in 2022. Self-hosting Pushify is free, and scale-to-zero is a feature.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
In short: how do Pushify and Heroku differ?
Heroku is a fully managed platform: you never touch a server, and you pay per dyno — a Basic dyno is $7/mo, the smallest Postgres is $5/mo, so a small always-on app starts around $12/mo (the free tier was removed in November 2022; the $5 Eco plan sleeps after 30 minutes of inactivity). Pushify keeps Heroku's push-to-deploy feel but runs on infrastructure you control: self-host the whole platform for free, bring your own VPS, or let Pushify provision managed Hetzner servers billed at a fixed hourly rate from prepaid credits. If you want zero server responsibility and a decade-old add-on ecosystem, Heroku is still excellent. If you want ownership and predictable bills, that's Pushify.
Is Pushify a good Heroku alternative?
If you want the git-push workflow without giving up server ownership, yes: Pushify auto-detects 26 frameworks, builds in Docker and deploys with zero-downtime blue-green switches. You lose Heroku's managed add-on ecosystem; you gain flat pricing and root access.
How much cheaper is Pushify than Heroku, really?
A small always-on Heroku app with a database starts around $12/mo (Basic dyno $7 + Essential-0 Postgres $5). The same workload fits on one entry-level VPS: self-host Pushify on it for free, or use a managed server: your plan is a fixed monthly fee, and the server draws from prepaid credits at a fixed hourly rate — with room for several more apps on the same box.
Can I migrate an app from Heroku to Pushify?
Most Heroku apps are standard Node/Python/Ruby/PHP projects in git — connect the repo and Pushify detects the framework and builds it in Docker. Procfile-only setups may need a small start-command tweak, and add-ons map to Pushify databases or marketplace apps (Postgres, Redis, and more).
Does Pushify have Heroku-style preview apps and scheduled jobs?
Yes — pull-request preview deployments, cron jobs, persistent volumes, health checks and live log streaming are built in.
Explore more
Other comparisons and guides
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