# Heroku vs Railway

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Railway

| Attribute | Heroku | Railway |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 67.1 (73% (medium)) | 80.4 (60% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A cloud-based application platform that enables developers to build, run, and scale web applications using managed infrastructure and integrated deployment tools. Supports multiple programming languages and frameworks with Git-based deployment. It is indexed under PaaS & Hosting.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","question":"What is Heroku?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Heroku supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","question":"What platforms does Heroku support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Heroku, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","question":"Can Heroku be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 3 integrations for Heroku, including GitHub, Twilio and Salesforce. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","question":"What does Heroku integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for Heroku. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Heroku not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/security","question":"What security certifications does Heroku have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Heroku is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","question":"Where is Heroku available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"A cloud deployment service that connects to your code repository, automatically builds and deploys applications, provides integrated databases and monitoring, and handles scaling and traffic management. It is indexed under PaaS & Hosting.","source":"https://railway.com/changelog/2023-06-02-plans-and-pricing-changes","question":"What is Railway?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Railway offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $5 per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://railway.com/changelog/2023-06-02-plans-and-pricing-changes","question":"Is Railway free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Railway supports the web, iOS, Android and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://railway.com/changelog/2023-06-02-plans-and-pricing-changes","question":"What platforms does Railway support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Railway can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://railway.com/changelog/2023-06-02-plans-and-pricing-changes","question":"Can Railway be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 8 integrations for Railway, including GitHub, Docker, Slack, Discord, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://railway.com/changelog/2023-06-02-plans-and-pricing-changes","question":"What does Railway integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR for Railway. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Railway not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://railway.app/security","question":"What security certifications does Railway have?","confidence":0.6}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A cloud-based application platform that enables developers to build, run, and scale web applications using managed infrastructure and integrated deployment tools. Supports multiple programming languages and frameworks with Git-based deployment. | A cloud deployment service that connects to your code repository, automatically builds and deploys applications, provides integrated databases and monitoring, and handles scaling and traffic management. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"cloud","regions":"multi","runtimes":"Node.js, Python, Ruby, Java, Go, Scala, PHP","rollbacks":true,"autoscaling":"horizontal","cli_and_api":true,"env_secrets":true,"build_system":"buildpacks","git_push_deploy":true,"preview_deploys":true,"container_deploy":true,"managed_databases":true,"custom_domains_tls":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","regions":"multi","edge_cdn":true,"runtimes":"Multi-language support via Railpack auto-detection and templates","rollbacks":true,"autoscaling":"horizontal","cli_and_api":true,"env_secrets":true,"build_system":"dockerfile","git_push_deploy":true,"preview_deploys":true,"container_deploy":true,"managed_databases":true,"custom_domains_tls":true}` |
| integrations.count | 6 | 7 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Twilio"},{"name":"Salesforce"},{"name":"Travis CI","native":false,"category":"ci"},{"name":"RabbitMQ","native":false,"category":"messaging"},{"name":"Apigee","native":false,"category":"api"},{"name":"Heroku Postgres","native":true,"category":"database"}]` | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"Discord"},{"name":"PostgreSQL"},{"name":"MySQL"},{"name":"MongoDB"},{"name":"Redis"},{"name":"Email","native":true,"category":"notifications","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"ChatGPT","native":true,"category":"ai","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Grok","native":true,"category":"ai","direction":"bidirectional"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"ios":true,"web":true,"android":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"free","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Sleeping dynos with up to 18 hours of monthly activity, automatic sleep and recharge cycles"},{"free":false,"name":"hobby","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"dyno","amount":7,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"512MB RAM dyno with 24/7 uptime, single dyno per process type"},{"free":false,"name":"standard-1x","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"dyno","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"512MB RAM professional dyno with auto-scaling, metrics, preboot, and fast builds"},{"free":false,"name":"standard-2x","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"dyno","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"1GB RAM professional dyno with auto-scaling and all standard features"},{"free":false,"name":"performance","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":500,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Isolated dyno for high-traffic applications requiring dedicated resources and consistent performance"}],"summary":"From $7/month for hobby tier, with free tier available","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.heroku.com/blog/dynos-pricing-ga/","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T10:37:07.139Z","startingPrice":{"amount":500,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"$5 trial credit, then $1/month","features":["30-day free trial with $5 credits","Up to 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB RAM per service","Community support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":1,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"one_time","amount":5,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"For getting started with small apps","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Hobby","summary":"$5/month included credits","features":["Up to 48 vCPU / 48 GB RAM per service","Up to 5 replicas at 8 vCPU / 8 GB RAM","Single developer workspace","99.9% Availability Target","Global regions","Preview environments","GitHub repo deployment","Docker Image deployment","Custom Dockerfile support","Service variables and secrets management","One-click rollbacks","Deploy any open-source database","Built-in database and volume backups","Free Railway domains","Build/Deploy logs","Vertical autoscaling"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":5,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For hobbyist developers building side projects","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"max_replicas":"5","monthly_credits":"$5","ram_per_service":"48 GB","vcpu_per_service":"48"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$20/month included credits","features":["Up to 1,000 vCPU / 1 TB RAM per service","Up to 42 replicas at 24 vCPU / 24 GB RAM","Railway Support","99.99% Availability Target","Concurrent global regions"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For professional developers and teams shipping production applications","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"max_replicas":"42","monthly_credits":"$20","ram_per_service":"1 TB","vcpu_per_service":"1000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","features":["18-Month Audit Log Retention","Role-Based Access Control","HIPAA Business Associate Agreements","99.999% Availability Target","Isolated Linux VMs for agents, builds, and untrusted code","Enterprise Support with SLOs","Custom dedicated infrastructure","Cloud regions","Services with up to 48 vCPU / 48 GB RAM per replica"],"description":"For teams shipping at scale with compliance and support needs","contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"Sandbox Usage","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GB"},"kind":"metered","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"vCPU"},"kind":"metered","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GB"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.05,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free tier + Hobby ($5/month) + Pro ($20/month) + Enterprise (custom). Sandbox infrastructure metered at $50/GB RAM, $50/vCPU, $0.05/GB egress.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://railway.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-09-23T14:34:20.648Z","freeTrialDays":30,"startingPrice":{"amount":5,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | high | low |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":500,"currency":"USD"}` | `{"amount":5,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.certifications | - | `[{"name":"SOC 2","status":"active"},{"name":"HIPAA","status":"active"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | yes | yes |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |
| security.trust_center | https://www.heroku.com/blog/security-rails-active-storage/ | - |

## Capabilities (PaaS & Hosting)

| Capability | Heroku | Railway |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deploy** |  |  |
| Git-push auto-deploy | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deploy arbitrary container image | ✓ | ✓ |
| Per-PR preview environments | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Build** |  |  |
| Build system | Buildpacks | Dockerfile |
| Runtime / language breadth | Node.js, Python, Ruby, Java, Go, Scala, PHP | Multi-language support via Railpack auto-detection and templates |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Autoscaling | Horizontal | Horizontal |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Geographic reach | Multi-region | Multi-region |
| Hosting | Cloud only | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **Data** |  |  |
| Bundled managed data services | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Built-in global CDN / edge | - | ✓ |
| Custom domains + automatic TLS | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Env vars & secrets management | ✓ | ✓ |
| Instant rollbacks | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| CLI + deploy API | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:02:30.712Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*