StackBlaze vs Heroku
Heroku retired its free tier in 2022. StackBlaze Starter is $5/mo with $5 of usage credit. GitHub deploys, persistent disk, and add-ons. PR previews start on Pro.
StackBlaze
$5/mo
Starter · $5 usage credit
- Persistent disk
- GitHub deploys
- PR previews on Pro
Heroku
$25/mo
Basic · plus add-on Postgres and Redis
- Free tier retired
- Ephemeral disk
- No PR previews
git push → deploy · Procfile compatible
Why StackBlaze
Databases run by Kubernetes operators, not containers on a volume
StackBlaze is built on Kubernetes, and every database add-on is managed by a battle-tested operator: CloudNativePG for Postgres, the MariaDB operator for MySQL, Strimzi for Kafka. You get the deployment, backup, and failover automation platform teams build in-house, without ever touching kubectl.
Scheduled backups, your retention
Postgres, MariaDB, and Valkey add-ons back up to object storage on a schedule you set, with a retention policy (7d, 4w, 3m) enforced by the operator.
Point-in-time recovery
Postgres archives WAL continuously; MariaDB takes physical backups. Restore to a timestamp as a new instance while the original keeps serving traffic.
HA with automatic failover
Scale a database to a replicated cluster and the operator handles failover. MariaDB promotion even rebinds ProxySQL so apps reconnect to the new primary.
Next to your app, privately
Every database runs on the same private network as your services, reachable over cluster DNS. No public endpoints, no cross-vendor egress fees.
Heroku Postgres is a solid product, but continuous protection and rollback start on Standard-tier databases at $50/mo and up. StackBlaze Postgres archives WAL and restores to a point in time on the $5 Starter plan, because the operator does it, not a priced tier.
Postgres (CloudNativePG) · MySQL / MariaDB · Valkey (Redis) · MongoDB-compatible · Kafka (Strimzi) · RabbitMQ · ClickHouse · OpenSearch · CockroachDB · Cassandra · ScyllaDB · Milvus · Weaviate · S3-compatible storage
Feature comparison
| Feature | StackBlaze | Heroku |
|---|---|---|
| Public entry plan | Starter $5/mo | Eco $5 / Basic $7 |
| Usage model | Credits, then PAYG | Dyno + add-ons |
| Custom domains | Yes (all plans) | Yes (paid) |
| Persistent disk | Yes | No (ephemeral) |
| Managed Postgres | Yes | Yes (add-on) |
| Managed Redis | Yes | Yes (add-on) |
| DB point-in-time recovery | All plans | Standard tier+ |
| MongoDB-compatible | Yes | Third-party add-on |
| Private networking | Yes | Yes (Enterprise) |
| Autoscaling | Yes | Yes (paid) |
| Deploy from GitHub | Yes | Yes |
| Docker support | Yes | Yes |
| Preview environments | Pro and above | Yes (Review Apps) |
| Free tier | No (Starter $5) | Retired 2022 |
Pricing comparison
For a typical starter web application
StackBlaze
$5/mo
- ·$5 usage credit each month
- ·1 project, 5 apps, 5 GB disk
- ·Custom domain and TLS
- ·Community support
- ·PR previews on Pro ($20)
Heroku Basic + Postgres
$12/mo
- ·Basic dyno $7 + Essential-0 Postgres $5
- ·512 MB RAM, always-on
- ·Custom domain and TLS
- ·Ephemeral filesystem
- ·DB rollback needs Standard tier ($50+)
Why developers switch
A published $5 Starter
Heroku retired its free tier in 2022. StackBlaze Starter is $5/mo with $5 of usage credit. A card is required. Hobby is a hidden billing fallback, not a public plan.
Credits instead of dyno math
Heroku bills dynos plus add-ons. StackBlaze includes monthly credits, then list rates for compute, disk, and egress. Set a spend cap so usage cannot surprise you.
Phases and add-ons in one project
A project (pipeline) has phases (environments) and apps (workloads). Postgres, Valkey, and MariaDB are operator-managed add-ons with backups built in. You do not kubectl or edit CRs.
Migrating from Heroku
Most apps are fully running on StackBlaze in under an hour.
Connect the GitHub repo
Authorize StackBlaze on GitHub and pick the same repository. A Procfile still maps web and worker process types to apps. There is no git.stackblaze.cloud remote and no npm CLI.
# After connecting GitHub in the dashboard
git push origin main
Attach your databases
Create a managed PostgreSQL or Redis service from the StackBlaze dashboard in one click. StackBlaze automatically injects DATABASE_URL and REDIS_URL into your app, no manual copy-pasting of connection strings.
Import environment variables
Export your Heroku config vars as JSON with the Heroku CLI, then paste the JSON directly into StackBlaze. All variables are imported in bulk, no re-typing required.
# Export from Heroku
heroku config -a my-app --json > env.json
# Paste into StackBlaze dashboard → Environment → Import JSON
Point your custom domain
Update your DNS CNAME to the StackBlaze edge address shown in the Domains panel. StackBlaze provisions a TLS certificate automatically via cert-manager, no extra steps and no third-party certificate service needed.
Procfile compatibility
StackBlaze reads your existing Procfile. A web: process becomes a web app with HTTPS. A worker: process becomes a background worker. You do not edit Kubernetes objects.
Deploy your first app in minutes
Starter is $5/mo with $5 of usage credit. A card is required. Connect GitHub, push, and the app is live at a *.stackblaze.cloud URL.