Is Heroku's Essential-2 the best deal?

Heroku Postgres · $20/mo (32 GB)

Better deals exist

Heroku Essential-2 at $20/mo is expensive for the specs and carries significant hidden reliability and upgrade-trap risks. Several providers offer comparable or better database tiers at 25-75% lower cost, though most require careful attention to storage overages and bandwidth limits.

Managed Database for PostgreSQL DB-DEV-S

$11/mosave 45%

45% cheaper at $11/mo with 2GB RAM, 1 vCPU, and 10GB SSD; 99.9-99.99% SLA covers most workloads.

Caveat: Development/prototyping tier only, no HA available; egress beyond 75GB/month charged at EUR 0.01/GB.

Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server Burstable B1ms

$12.41/mosave 38%

38% cheaper at $12.41/mo with 2GB RAM, 1 vCPU, and burstable CPU model; 99.99% SLA and no HA premium trap.

Caveat: Storage and backup billed separately at ~$0.115/GB/mo; outbound bandwidth charged above 100GB/month free tier.

Managed Databases MySQL CC-Reg 1vCPU/1GB

$15/mosave 25%

25% cheaper at $15/mo with 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB disk, and 100% network uptime SLA.

Caveat: MySQL only (not PostgreSQL); bandwidth overage rates vary by data center; no HA option listed.

Managed Databases 1GB Standard

$15/mosave 25%

25% cheaper at $15/mo with 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 40GB disk, and 100GB monthly transfer included.

Caveat: No data encryption; data transfer overage rates high ($0.09-$0.132/GB) and region-dependent; 99.9% SLA is lower than Heroku Essential.

Managed Databases Shared 1GB Standalone

$16/mosave 20%

20% cheaper at $16/mo with 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB SSD, and 99.99% SLA; backups included.

Caveat: Standalone (no HA); HA clusters cost 2-3x more; backups add-on is separate if you need more frequent snapshots.

Before you switch

Heroku Essential-2 lacks fork/follow and HA, and has only 99.5% SLA - verify this reliability cliff is acceptable for your workload before comparing price alone.
Heroku add-on overages (row/connection limits) can force unplanned tier upgrades; check your actual connection and row usage patterns against the 40 max connections limit.
Most cheaper alternatives have lower storage included (10-25GB vs 32GB); calculate your actual storage needs and factor in per-GB overage costs ($0.25-$0.30/GB/mo on Render, $0.01/GB on Scaleway).
Google Cloud, Azure, and AWS all charge for outbound bandwidth beyond free tiers; if you have high egress, request egress estimates from each provider before committing.
Verify whether you need HA/failover; if yes, Linode and UpCloud HA options cost 2-3x base price, which may close the gap to Heroku or exceed it.

This comparison is generated from publicly listed pricing and may contain errors or omissions. It is not financial or professional advice, and CloudHosting.io is not responsible for decisions made based on it. Pricing, promotions, and specs change frequently and may not reflect current terms, regional availability, taxes, or contract length. Always verify current pricing and terms directly on the provider's site before purchasing or switching.

Comparable plans across providers

Provider	Plan	Price	Specs
Google Cloud	Cloud SQL · HDD storage	$0.12/mo	$0.118/GB/month	Visit
IONOS	Managed Databases (MariaDB/PostgreSQL) · DB RAM - per GB (low end)	$5.76/mo	Per GB RAM per hour, low end of published range	Visit
Render	Render Postgres · Basic-256mb	$6/mo	256 MB RAM, 0 vCPU	Visit
Render	Render Key Value (Redis-compatible) · Starter	$10/mo	256 MB RAM	Visit
Scaleway	Managed Database for PostgreSQL and MySQL · DB-DEV-S	$11/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB SSD	Visit
Microsoft Azure	Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server · Burstable B1ms	$12.41/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
Vultr	Managed Databases · MySQL CC-Reg 1vCPU/1GB (0 rep)	$15/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB	Visit
DigitalOcean	Managed Databases · Valkey Basic 1GB	$15/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
AWS Lightsail	Managed Databases · 1GB Standard	$15/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 40 GB	Visit
Linode (Akamai)	Managed Databases · Shared 1 GB - Standalone	$16/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB SSD	Visit
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure	Autonomous Database (ATP/ADW) · Storage (all tiers)	$25.7/mo	1000 GB	Visit
UpCloud	Managed MySQL · Single-node 1x2GB	$30/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB	Visit
UpCloud	Managed PostgreSQL · Single-node 1x2GB	$30/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB	Visit

Visit Heroku

Comparing prices across every provider we track...

Is Heroku's Essential-2 the best deal?

Heroku Postgres · $20/mo (32 GB)

Better deals exist

Managed Database for PostgreSQL DB-DEV-S

$11/mosave 45%

45% cheaper at $11/mo with 2GB RAM, 1 vCPU, and 10GB SSD; 99.9-99.99% SLA covers most workloads.

Caveat: Development/prototyping tier only, no HA available; egress beyond 75GB/month charged at EUR 0.01/GB.

Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server Burstable B1ms

$12.41/mosave 38%

38% cheaper at $12.41/mo with 2GB RAM, 1 vCPU, and burstable CPU model; 99.99% SLA and no HA premium trap.

Caveat: Storage and backup billed separately at ~$0.115/GB/mo; outbound bandwidth charged above 100GB/month free tier.

Managed Databases MySQL CC-Reg 1vCPU/1GB

$15/mosave 25%

25% cheaper at $15/mo with 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB disk, and 100% network uptime SLA.

Caveat: MySQL only (not PostgreSQL); bandwidth overage rates vary by data center; no HA option listed.

Managed Databases 1GB Standard

$15/mosave 25%

25% cheaper at $15/mo with 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 40GB disk, and 100GB monthly transfer included.

Caveat: No data encryption; data transfer overage rates high ($0.09-$0.132/GB) and region-dependent; 99.9% SLA is lower than Heroku Essential.

Managed Databases Shared 1GB Standalone

$16/mosave 20%

20% cheaper at $16/mo with 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB SSD, and 99.99% SLA; backups included.

Caveat: Standalone (no HA); HA clusters cost 2-3x more; backups add-on is separate if you need more frequent snapshots.

Before you switch

Heroku Essential-2 lacks fork/follow and HA, and has only 99.5% SLA - verify this reliability cliff is acceptable for your workload before comparing price alone.
Heroku add-on overages (row/connection limits) can force unplanned tier upgrades; check your actual connection and row usage patterns against the 40 max connections limit.
Most cheaper alternatives have lower storage included (10-25GB vs 32GB); calculate your actual storage needs and factor in per-GB overage costs ($0.25-$0.30/GB/mo on Render, $0.01/GB on Scaleway).
Google Cloud, Azure, and AWS all charge for outbound bandwidth beyond free tiers; if you have high egress, request egress estimates from each provider before committing.
Verify whether you need HA/failover; if yes, Linode and UpCloud HA options cost 2-3x base price, which may close the gap to Heroku or exceed it.

Comparable plans across providers

Provider	Plan	Price	Specs
Google Cloud	Cloud SQL · HDD storage	$0.12/mo	$0.118/GB/month	Visit
IONOS	Managed Databases (MariaDB/PostgreSQL) · DB RAM - per GB (low end)	$5.76/mo	Per GB RAM per hour, low end of published range	Visit
Render	Render Postgres · Basic-256mb	$6/mo	256 MB RAM, 0 vCPU	Visit
Render	Render Key Value (Redis-compatible) · Starter	$10/mo	256 MB RAM	Visit
Scaleway	Managed Database for PostgreSQL and MySQL · DB-DEV-S	$11/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB SSD	Visit
Microsoft Azure	Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server · Burstable B1ms	$12.41/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
Vultr	Managed Databases · MySQL CC-Reg 1vCPU/1GB (0 rep)	$15/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB	Visit
DigitalOcean	Managed Databases · Valkey Basic 1GB	$15/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
AWS Lightsail	Managed Databases · 1GB Standard	$15/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 40 GB	Visit
Linode (Akamai)	Managed Databases · Shared 1 GB - Standalone	$16/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB SSD	Visit
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure	Autonomous Database (ATP/ADW) · Storage (all tiers)	$25.7/mo	1000 GB	Visit
UpCloud	Managed MySQL · Single-node 1x2GB	$30/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB	Visit
UpCloud	Managed PostgreSQL · Single-node 1x2GB	$30/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB	Visit

Visit Heroku