Choosing between Heroku and RailPush in 2026 comes down to maturity versus AI-native design. Heroku is the original git-push PaaS, with a deep add-on marketplace, battle-tested Postgres, and tight Salesforce integration, but it entered a "sustaining engineering" mode in February 2026 (no new features) and has no free tier. RailPush is best if you want a free tier with no credit card, native AI-agent deploys via 286 hosted MCP tools, and built-in MySQL, MongoDB, object storage, and GPU instances. Pick Heroku for ecosystem depth; pick RailPush for AI-first workflows and a generous free tier.
| Feature | Heroku | RailPush |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy surfaces | git push (buildpacks), Docker via Container Registry, heroku.yml | git push, Docker image, one-click button, AND AI agent via MCP |
| AI-agent deploy API | Remote MCP server (OAuth-gated) for platform ops + Managed Inference and Agents toolkit | 286 hosted MCP tools; agent-signup API needs no auth to start |
| Hosted MCP endpoint | mcp.heroku.com/mcp (OAuth) | mcp.railpush.com (Streamable HTTP + SSE) |
| Free tier | None (free dynos removed Nov 2022); Eco plan is the lowest-cost paid option | Yes — 1 service + 1 Postgres + 1 Redis, no credit card |
| Pricing model | Fixed monthly per-dyno tiers + separately-billed add-ons | Fixed monthly per resource, no per-minute compute metering |
| Managed databases | Postgres, Key-Value Store (Redis/Valkey), Apache Kafka | Postgres, MySQL 8.0, MongoDB 7.0, Redis, Meilisearch, S3-compatible storage, RabbitMQ |
| Postgres point-in-time recovery | Yes (continuous protection + HA failover) | Yes (PITR + daily backups) |
| GPU instances | No native GPU dynos | Yes (NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada, 20GB VRAM) |
| Deploy strategies | Pipelines, review apps, manual promote; preboot | Rolling, blue-green, canary; instant rollbacks; preview environments |
| Autoscaling | Horizontal autoscaling on Performance/Private/Shield-tier dynos | Horizontal autoscaling up to 50 instances; free-tier scale-to-zero |
| Regions | Common Runtime: US + EU; Private Spaces (enterprise): several regions across the US, EU, and Asia | EU |
| Infrastructure-as-code | app.json / heroku.yml + Pipelines | Blueprints (railpush.yaml) |
| Security controls | Private/Shield Spaces, ACM, OAuth; compliance certifications | WAF rules, network policies, gVisor sandboxing, audit logs, deploy approvals, scoped API keys |
| Platform investment status | Sustaining engineering since Feb 2026 (no new features; no new enterprise contracts for new customers) | Actively developed, AI-native roadmap |
Pick Heroku: Pick Heroku if you need its mature add-on ecosystem, deep Salesforce/Agentforce integration, or enterprise Private/Shield Spaces and are comfortable on a platform in sustaining-engineering mode.
Pick RailPush: Pick RailPush if you want an AI-native PaaS where agents deploy via MCP, a genuine free tier with no credit card, broader managed databases, and GPU instances on an actively-developed platform.
Moving from Heroku to RailPush is straightforward because both support git push and Docker-image deploys, so most apps deploy with little change. Recreate Heroku add-ons as RailPush managed services (Postgres, Redis, plus MySQL/MongoDB/object storage if you were using third-party add-ons), and replace app.json/heroku.yml with a railpush.yaml Blueprint. Postgres data migrates via a standard dump/restore, and RailPush's framework auto-detection covers 20+ stacks.
No. Heroku removed its free dyno and free data plans in November 2022 and has not reinstated them. The lowest-cost option is the Eco dyno plan (which sleeps after inactivity), so production apps require paid resources from day one. RailPush, by contrast, offers a free tier with no credit card: one service, one PostgreSQL, and one Redis.
Heroku's Remote MCP server (mcp.heroku.com/mcp) is OAuth-gated and focused on platform admin actions, alongside its Managed Inference and Agents toolkit for hosting your own agent tools. RailPush exposes 286 hosted MCP tools at mcp.railpush.com and an agent-signup API that needs no auth to start, so an AI agent can sign up, deploy, and operate infrastructure end-to-end as a first-class deploy surface.
In February 2026, Salesforce announced Heroku is entering a sustaining engineering model: security patches, stability fixes, and infrastructure maintenance continue, but there is no new feature development and no new enterprise contracts for new customers. Existing apps keep running and existing enterprise contracts can renew, but the platform is no longer actively evolving. RailPush is actively developed with an AI-native roadmap.
Heroku offers managed Postgres, a Key-Value Store (Redis/Valkey), and Apache Kafka directly; MySQL, MongoDB, search, and object storage come from third-party add-ons. RailPush offers managed PostgreSQL (with PITR), MySQL 8.0, MongoDB 7.0, Redis, Meilisearch, S3-compatible object storage, and RabbitMQ as first-party services.
Heroku has no native GPU dynos; its AI story centers on Managed Inference and Agents (model APIs and MCP) rather than raw GPU compute. RailPush offers native GPU instances (NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada with 20GB VRAM) plus hosted AI-agent products, making it a better fit for self-hosted inference and ML workloads.
It's typically low-friction. Both support git push and Docker-image deploys, so your build flow stays familiar, and RailPush auto-detects 20+ frameworks. You recreate Heroku add-ons as RailPush managed services, migrate Postgres with a dump/restore, and translate app.json or heroku.yml into a railpush.yaml Blueprint.
Heroku remains a mature, well-documented PaaS with an unmatched add-on ecosystem and strong Salesforce ties, but its move to sustaining engineering and lack of a free tier weaken it for new projects. RailPush is the stronger choice for teams that want AI-agent-native deploys, a real free tier, broader managed data, and GPU support on an actively-developed platform.
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