Pick Heroku if
app teams who will stay on Eco at $5 / month (1,000 shared dyno hours, sleeps after 30 minutes) while they open a first Datastores list, then buy Basic at $7 / dyno / month when they need always-on.
Read the Heroku pageHeroku vs Railway
Our take
Pick Heroku if app teams who will stay on Eco at $5 / month (1,000 shared dyno hours, sleeps after 30 minutes) while they open a first Datastores list, then buy Basic at $7 / dyno / month when they need always-on. Pick Railway if app teams who will stay on Free $0 during the 30-day $5-credit trial (then $1/month, 1 project, 3 services) while they ship a first GitHub service, then land on Hobby at $5 minimum / month
Railway
usage-metered deploy desk
Best for
Heroku Postgres rows you attach at a public $
Railway A service you start at $0 / $1
Free plan
Heroku No free plan
Railway No free plan
Lowest paid
Heroku Eco $5
Railway Usage (services) $0.00000386
Next step up
Heroku Basic $7/hour
Railway Sandboxes $0.00001929
Coding agent
Heroku
Railway Sandboxes
Runs where
Heroku Hosted
Railway Local; you host it
Watch out
Heroku There is no $0 dyno
Railway Free becomes $1/month after the 30-day $5-credit trial
Last checked
Heroku 2026-10-23 · heroku.com/pricing
Railway 2026-10-22 · railway.com/pricing
Which one, then?
Pick Railway if
app teams who will stay on Free $0 during the 30-day $5-credit trial (then $1/month, 1 project, 3 services) while they ship a first GitHub service, then land on Hobby at $5 minimum / month when they need 50 projects and 48 vCPU — or Pro at $20 minimum when they need 100 projects and 30-day logs.
Read the Railway page