Cloudgate vs Heroku
Both turn a git push into a running app with logs, domains and a database beside it. The difference is whose machines it runs on and how you pay for them.
Where your app runs
- Your Server
- Your AWS
- Your Google Cloud
- Heroku’s platform
Cloudgate vs Heroku: the short answer
Choose Cloudgate if you want Heroku-style deploys on servers and cloud accounts you own, with a flat monthly price that does not grow with each app.
Choose Heroku if you never want to think about a server at all and are happy to pay per dyno and add-on for that.
Cloudgate even builds with Heroku buildpacks, so many apps move across without a Dockerfile.
Heroku is described here in general terms that rarely change. Check its own site for current plans and limits before you decide.
How do Cloudgate and Heroku compare?
The questions that decide it: whose machines, what it costs as you grow, and how far an AI agent can reach.
| Cloudgate | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your apps run | Your own Servers over SSH, your AWS or Google Cloud account, or a server bought from Cloudgate | Heroku’s own platform, on infrastructure Heroku runs |
| Who owns the servers | You do. Apps and data stay on your machines and in your cloud accounts | Heroku does. You rent capacity as dynos |
| What you can run | Long-running containers: web apps, workers, private services, cron jobs, static sites, Compose stacks and AI models | Web and worker processes, scheduled jobs through an add-on |
| Pricing model | Hosted: $15 or $35 a month, counting Servers and Cloud Environments, never members. Servers and cloud usage are billed by their provider | Pay per dyno and per add-on, by size and how many you run |
| AI agent access over MCP | Built in. Each Agent is a member with its own role, grant and keys; every call is audited, secrets are masked, and it gets 120 reads and 10 writes a minute | Has an MCP server of its own; see Heroku’s docs for what an agent can reach |
| Self-hosting | Yes, free under the Elastic License 2.0 (source-available) | No |
| Databases | PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Redis and libSQL on your Servers; RDS, Cloud SQL, ElastiCache and Memorystore in your cloud | Managed Postgres and key-value stores, plus a marketplace of third-party add-ons |
| Preview deployments | One per GitHub pull request, or a requested preview that expires on its own | Review apps for pull requests, through pipelines |
The Cloudgate column is checked against the product. See Cloudgate’s plans and prices, everything Cloudgate deploys and runs, and how AI agents connect over MCP.
When should you choose Heroku instead?
Honestly, sometimes you should. And sometimes Cloudgate fits better.
Choose Heroku if
- You want no servers in the picture at all, not even ones someone else sets up for you.
- You rely on add-ons from its marketplace and want them billed in one place.
- You want a platform with a long track record and a large company behind it.
Choose Cloudgate if
- You want the apps and the data on machines or cloud accounts you control.
- Your bill grows with each app and worker, and you would rather pay for servers once and fill them.
- You want an AI agent to deploy and read logs with its own role, grant and audit trail.
- You may want to self-host the platform itself later.
Worth knowing: Cloudgate is young. Its command-line tool is still a beta on npm, and the Servers you connect are yours to keep updated. Read what changed recently.
Cloudgate vs Heroku: questions people ask
Is Cloudgate a Heroku alternative?
Yes, for teams that want Heroku’s workflow on their own infrastructure. You push code or upload a folder, Cloudgate builds it and runs it with domains, TLS, logs and backups, on your own Servers, AWS or Google Cloud instead of on a shared platform.
Can Cloudgate build my Heroku app without changes?
Often. Cloudgate can build with Heroku buildpacks as well as Nixpacks, Railpack, Paketo buildpacks or a Dockerfile. Heroku add-ons do not come across: you run the database as a Cloudgate Service or in your cloud account instead.
How is Cloudgate priced compared with Heroku?
Cloudgate’s hosted plans are a flat $15 or $35 a month that counts Servers and Cloud Environments, not apps or members. You pay your server or cloud provider for the machines. See the hosted plans.
Do I have to manage servers with Cloudgate?
Cloudgate sets up each Server for you (Docker Swarm, Traefik and certificates), and you can buy one from Cloudgate in the console. You still own the machine, so operating-system updates are yours. If you would rather have no server at all, connect AWS or Google Cloud and Cloudgate deploys to their managed services.
Can an AI agent deploy to Cloudgate?
Yes. Give it an Agent: a member with its own role, a grant to the Projects it may reach and its own key, connected over MCP. Every call is in the audit log and stored secrets are masked out of results. Read how Agents work.
Other comparisons
- Cloudgate vs VercelA frontend cloud built around Next.js, serverless functions and a preview for every push.
- Cloudgate vs RenderA cloud platform for web services, workers, cron jobs and managed databases on its own cloud.
- Cloudgate vs CoolifyAn open-source, self-hostable platform that deploys apps and databases to your servers.
- All comparisonsCloudgate beside Heroku, Vercel, Render and Coolify in one table.
Try Cloudgate beside Heroku
Start the 30-day free trial, connect one server or cloud account, and deploy the same app to both. Or self-host Cloudgate for free.