--- title: "Best Heroku alternatives in 2026: 6 options compared" url: https://while.sh/en/comparisons/heroku-alternatives/ author: "Grégoire Mougeolle, co-founder of Nextmap" updated: 2026-11-02 --- # The best Heroku alternatives in 2026 In February 2026, Heroku announced it was betting on stability rather than new features. Here is where to take your app and its database, especially if your AI agent is the one deploying. ## The right choice depends on your app - **Do your apps handle health data, or do your customers require certifications?** Choose Scalingo: it is ISO 27001 certified and offers health data hosting (source 1). - **Do your apps need to stop dead at a spending limit, production included?** Choose Railway: at the limit you set, it stops your services (source 2). - **Would you rather keep your own servers?** Choose Coolify: it is open source and free, and it turns your servers into a PaaS (source 3). - **Is your AI agent the one deploying, and must your data stay in France?** Choose while: your agent deploys there over MCP, and each project has its budget. A change that would exceed it waits for your approval, an alert goes out at 80% and at 100%, and an app that is live is never cut off. ## The comparison | Host | Your AI agent | The database | In France | To get started | |---|---|---|---|---| | Scalingo | No official MCP server: the command line | Managed PostgreSQL, point-in-time recovery over 7 to 30 days (source 4) | Yes (source 5) | €7.20 for the container and €7.20 for the database, per month (source 6) | | Clever Cloud | Local MCP server, still young (source 7) | PostgreSQL free in DEV, then from €4.90 per month (source 8) | Yes, by default (source 9) | From €4.50 for the app (source 10), and the database free in DEV, then €4.90 (source 8), per month | | Railway | MCP server with OAuth, projects of your choice (source 11) | PostgreSQL in one request (source 11) | No, Amsterdam at best (source 12) | Hobby at $5 per month, with up to $5 of usage included (source 13) | | Render | Hosted MCP server that deletes nothing (source 14) | Managed PostgreSQL, from $6 per month (source 15) | No, Frankfurt at best (source 16) | $7 for the app and $6 for the database, per month (source 15) | | Coolify | Built-in MCP server, tokens with limited permissions (source 17) | On your server, with backups you set up yourself | If your server is there | Free, or $5 per month in Cloud, plus your servers (source 18) | | while | MCP server with OAuth: sensitive actions wait for your approval | PostgreSQL backed up every day, point-in-time recovery over 14 days (source 20) | Yes, with Nextmap, a French company | €0 to get started, then €13.75 per month for an app and its database | ## Scalingo, the closest to Heroku in France Like Heroku, Scalingo deploys your code without a Dockerfile, and runs it in France (source 5). Its PostgreSQL database goes back to a precise moment, over 7 to 30 days (source 4). ## Clever Cloud, a French PaaS with many languages Clever Cloud runs your apps in France by default (source 9), with many languages. ## Railway, the smoothest for an agent Railway is one of the smoothest for an agent: your database is created in one request, and your services stop dead at the spending limit you set (source 2). ## Render, prices that are easy to read Render has simple prices, and its MCP server doesn't let anything be deleted (source 14). ## Coolify, on your own servers Coolify is open source and free, and it turns any server into a PaaS (source 3). ## while, the Heroku alternative built for your agent Your agent connects to while over MCP and does the rest: it deploys the app and its PostgreSQL database, its jobs and its storage, follows the logs and fixes things. Sensitive actions, like deleting a production database, wait for your approval, and your agent never sees your keys. Your apps and their backups are hosted in France, by Nextmap. ## Next steps - [Leave Heroku without rewriting your app](/en/guides/migrate-from-heroku/) - [Deploy a Ruby on Rails app](/en/guides/deploy-rails/) ## Sources 1. [Scalingo, home page](https://scalingo.com/), 2026-11-02 2. [Railway, cost control](https://docs.railway.com/pricing/cost-control), 2026-11-02 3. [Coolify, home page](https://coolify.io/), 2026-11-02 4. [Scalingo, database backups](https://doc.scalingo.com/databases/about/backup-policies), 2026-11-02 5. [Scalingo, regions](https://doc.scalingo.com/platform/internals/regions), 2026-11-02 6. [Scalingo, pricing](https://scalingo.com/pricing), 2026-11-02 7. [Clever Cloud, the MCP server (mcp-simple-server)](https://github.com/CleverCloud/mcp-simple-server), 2026-11-02 8. [Clever Cloud, PostgreSQL pricing](https://www.clever.cloud/product/postgresql/), 2026-11-02 9. [Clever Cloud, application regions](https://www.clever.cloud/developers/doc/manage/cli/applications/), 2026-11-02 10. [Clever Cloud, Node.js application pricing](https://www.clever.cloud/product/node-js-applications/), 2026-11-02 11. [Railway, the MCP server](https://docs.railway.com/ai/mcp-server), 2026-11-02 12. [Railway, regions](https://docs.railway.com/deployments/regions), 2026-11-02 13. [Railway, plans](https://docs.railway.com/pricing/plans), 2026-11-02 14. [Render, the MCP server](https://render.com/docs/mcp-server), 2026-11-02 15. [Render, pricing](https://render.com/pricing), 2026-11-02 16. [Render, regions](https://render.com/docs/regions), 2026-11-02 17. [Coolify, the MCP server](https://coolify.io/docs/mcp/overview), 2026-11-02 18. [Coolify, pricing and FAQ](https://coolify.io/pricing), 2026-11-02 19. [Heroku, "An Update on Heroku" (February 6, 2026)](https://www.heroku.com/blog/an-update-on-heroku/), 2026-11-02 20. [while, tested backups](https://while.sh/fr/docs/briques/sauvegardes/), 2026-11-03 ## Questions ### Why leave Heroku? On February 6, 2026, Heroku announced it was betting on stability rather than new features (source 19). And for an app whose data must stay in France, Heroku has no French region. ### How do I get my database out of Heroku? With pg:backups or pg_dump, then your agent restores it at the new host. ### Which ones host in France? Scalingo, Clever Cloud and while.