TL;DR: Heroku charges per dyno, per worker, per database addon. Costs spiral fast. Miget gives you a fixed compute plan (CPU + RAM) and lets you run unlimited apps, workers, and databases inside it - one predictable monthly price.
Quick Comparison
Pricing as of April 2026. Check Heroku's pricing page for current rates.
| Miget | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Fixed-capacity, per-resource | Per-dyno + per-addon |
| Starting price | $0/month (free tier) | $5/month (Eco, shared hours) |
| Apps per plan | Unlimited | 1 dyno = 1 process |
| Managed PostgreSQL | Included (HA available) | Paid addon ($5-$750/month) |
| Managed Redis/Valkey | Included | Paid addon ($15-$750/month) |
| Isolation | MicroVM (CloudHypervisor) | Shared container |
| Team members | 5 free, then $5/user | Varies by plan |
| Free tier | Yes (256 MiB, always available) | No (killed November 2022) |
| Custom domains + SSL | Included (auto-TLS) | Included on paid dynos |
| Preview environments | Included (unlimited) | Review Apps (paid) |
| IPv6 support | Yes | No |
Pricing Breakdown: Real Numbers
This is where the difference becomes obvious. Heroku charges separately for every dyno and every addon. Miget charges once for compute - everything runs inside it.
All Heroku pricing as of April 2026. Miget pricing from miget.com/plans.
Scenario 1: Solo developer - 1 web app + PostgreSQL
| Miget | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Compute | $7/month (1 GiB RAM, 1 vCPU) | $7/month (Basic dyno, 512 MB) |
| Database | Included | $5/month (Essential-0, 1 GB, 20 connections) |
| Total | $7/month | $12/month |
Even at the smallest scale, Heroku costs 71% more because the database is a separate line item.
Scenario 2: Small team - 2 apps + PostgreSQL + Redis + 1 worker
| Miget | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Web app 1 | Included in plan | $25/month (Standard-1X) |
| Web app 2 | Included in plan | $25/month (Standard-1X) |
| Worker | Included in plan | $25/month (Standard-1X) |
| PostgreSQL | Included in plan | $50/month (Standard-0, 200 connections) |
| Redis | Included in plan | $15/month (Essential) |
| Compute plan | $25/month (4 GiB, 2 vCPU) | - |
| Total | $25/month | $140/month |
Miget is 82% cheaper. Same apps, same databases, same workers. The difference is the pricing model.
Scenario 3: Growing startup - 5 services + PostgreSQL + Redis + 2 workers
| Miget | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 web services | Included in plan | $125/month (5x Standard-1X) |
| 2 workers | Included in plan | $50/month (2x Standard-1X) |
| PostgreSQL | Included in plan | $50/month (Standard-0) |
| Redis | Included in plan | $15/month (Essential) |
| Compute plan | $49/month (8 GiB, 4 vCPU) | - |
| Total | $49/month | $240/month |
Miget saves $191/month - nearly 80%. And this gap only grows as you add more services.
Where Miget Wins
Unlimited Apps, One Price
This is the core difference. On Heroku, every process is a separate billable dyno. A typical production setup has a web server, a background worker, a scheduler, and maybe a second service. That is four dynos minimum - four separate charges.
On Miget, you choose a resource plan (CPU + RAM + storage) and deploy as many apps, workers, cron jobs, and services as you want inside it. Your bill does not change when you add another service. The Fair Scheduler distributes resources across everything running in your plan.
This is why Miget costs a fraction of Heroku for any real-world setup. You are not penalized for building your application the way it should be built.
Real Isolation with MicroVMs
Heroku runs your app in a shared Linux container. Your process shares kernel space with other tenants on the same physical machine. A noisy neighbor can degrade your performance.
Miget runs every app in its own CloudHypervisor MicroVM. Each VM has its own kernel, its own memory space, and hardware-level isolation. This is the same isolation model used by AWS Firecracker and Lambda - but you do not need to manage any of it.
The result: better security, predictable performance, and no noisy neighbors. At the price of a shared container on other platforms.
Managed Databases Included
On Heroku, PostgreSQL is a paid addon. The cheapest Essential-0 plan gives you 1 GB storage and 20 connections for $5/month. Need production-grade reliability? Standard-0 is $50/month. Need HA? Premium-0 is $350/month.
On Miget, managed PostgreSQL (versions 13-17) is included in your plan at no extra cost. Need high availability? HA clusters with 3, 5, or 7 instances are available - automatic replication, automatic failover, and your connection string stays the same. MySQL, Valkey (Redis-compatible), RabbitMQ, and Kafka are also included.
Your database is not a separate billing dimension. It runs in your plan like everything else.
No Free Tier Lock-in
Heroku killed its free tier in November 2022. The cheapest way to keep an app running 24/7 is a Basic dyno at $7/month plus a database addon.
Miget has a free tier: 256 MiB RAM, 0.1 vCPU, 1 GiB storage. It sleeps after 30 minutes of inactivity (similar to what Heroku's old free tier did), but it exists. You can prototype, test, and learn without entering a credit card.
Preview Environments for Every PR
On Heroku, Review Apps require a pipeline setup and cost the same as regular dynos - each review app spins up its own billable dyno.
On Miget, preview environments are included and unlimited. Every pull request can get its own isolated deployment. There is no extra charge because the previews run inside your existing resource plan.
What Developers Are Saying
These are common themes in developer discussions about Heroku on Reddit, Hacker News, and X:
"Heroku becomes absurdly expensive once you need more than one dyno." Most developers hit this wall when they add a background worker or a second service. On Miget, additional processes are free - they share your existing compute plan.
"A simple website with a database and Redis costs around $80/month." The addon model stacks up fast. Web dyno + Postgres addon + Redis addon + maybe a worker. Each is its own line item. On Miget, that same setup runs for $13-25/month depending on how much compute you need.
"Missing a payment can permanently delete your entire account." Multiple developers have reported that a failed payment - even an expired credit card - led to their Heroku account and all applications being permanently deleted with minimal warning. Miget suspends access on missed payments but does not delete your data.
Migrating from Heroku to Miget
The migration is straightforward. Miget deploys standard Docker containers, so there is no proprietary runtime lock-in to deal with.
- Create a Miget account - Sign up free (no credit card required)
- Choose a resource plan - Pick a plan that covers the total CPU and RAM your apps need. Remember: all your apps share one plan.
- Containerize your app - If you already have a Dockerfile, you are ready. If not, migetpacks can auto-detect and build your app with zero configuration.
- Deploy from Git or a registry - Push from GitHub, GitLab, or any Docker registry. Miget builds and deploys automatically.
- Migrate your database - For PostgreSQL, follow our zero-downtime migration guide using Bucardo. For smaller databases, a
pg_dump/pg_restoreworks fine. - Set environment variables - Copy your Heroku config vars to Miget via the dashboard or API.
- Update DNS - Point your custom domain to Miget. SSL certificates are provisioned automatically.
Your apps are live. No proprietary dyno runtime. No addon marketplace lock-in. Just Docker.
FAQ
Is Miget production-ready?
Yes. Miget runs apps in dedicated MicroVMs with the Fair Scheduler ensuring guaranteed resource allocation. Professional plans provide dedicated CPU cores for consistent performance. PostgreSQL HA clusters with automatic failover are available for databases that need to stay online.
Can I run multiple apps on one plan?
Yes - unlimited apps, workers, cron jobs, and services inside one resource plan. This is the core difference from Heroku. Your plan defines your compute capacity. What you run inside it is up to you.
How does Miget handle scaling?
You can scale vertically by upgrading your resource plan (more CPU, RAM, storage) or horizontally by adding instances of a service. The Fair Scheduler dynamically distributes CPU across all services in your plan, so idle apps do not waste resources that active apps could use.
What databases are available?
PostgreSQL (versions 13-17) with optional HA clusters, MySQL, Valkey (Redis-compatible), RabbitMQ, Kafka, and S3-compatible object storage. All managed, all included in your plan at no extra cost.
Do I need to write a Dockerfile?
No. Migetpacks auto-detect your language and build an optimized Docker image with zero configuration. Supports Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, Java, .NET, Rust, PHP, Elixir, and 10 more languages. You can also bring your own Dockerfile if you prefer.
What about team pricing?
First 5 team members are free on Hobby plans (25 on Professional). Additional members cost $5/month each. No per-seat multipliers on your compute costs - your resource plan price stays the same regardless of team size.
Try Miget Free
Heroku changed the game for developer deployment. But its pricing model - per-dyno, per-addon, per-everything - was designed for a time when most apps were single-process monoliths.
Modern apps run multiple services. Background workers. Scheduled jobs. Databases. Caches. Message queues. On Heroku, each one is another bill. On Miget, they all share one plan.
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