🌐 Cloud

Best Free Alternatives to Heroku

Since Heroku removed its free tier in 2022, developers have been searching for free alternatives to host apps and APIs. These platforms offer free full-stack hosting for student and side projects.

16 alternatives · Updated March 2026

$120,000 credits

Alibaba Cloud

Startup credits up to $120K

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Apply at alibabacloud.com/startups

Free via GitHub Pack

Appwrite

Appwrite is an open-source, developer infrastructure platform for building web, mobile, and AI apps. It includes both a

🌐 CloudStudents

Step 1: Visit https://education.github.com/pack/offers

$100,000

AWS Activate

Up to $100K in AWS credits for startups

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Go to aws.amazon.com/activate

$240/year

Cloudflare

Free Pro plan and startup program

🌐 CloudStartupsOpen Source

Step 1: Apply at cloudflare.com/forstartups

$200+ credits

DigitalOcean

Free cloud credits via GitHub Education

🌐 CloudStudentsStartups

Step 1: Sign up via GitHub Student Developer Pack

$200,000

Google Cloud for Startups

Up to $200K in Google Cloud credits

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Apply at cloud.google.com/startup

$156 credits

Heroku

Platform credits via GitHub Education

🌐 CloudStudents

Step 1: Get GitHub Student Developer Pack

$100 credit

Linode (Akamai)

$100 free credit for new users

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Sign up at linode.com

Free via GitHub Pack

LocalStack

LocalStack emulates AWS services right on your laptop, so you can build and test cloud applications without connecting t

🌐 CloudStudents

Step 1: Visit https://education.github.com/pack/offers

$100 credits

Microsoft Azure for Students

$100 Azure credits without credit card

🌐 CloudStudents

Step 1: Go to azure.microsoft.com/free/students

$228/year

Netlify

Free Pro plan via GitHub Student Developer Pack

🌐 CloudStudents

Step 1: Get the GitHub Student Developer Pack

Free forever

Oracle Cloud

Always-free cloud tier — no credit card needed

🌐 CloudStudentsStartups

Step 1: Go to cloud.oracle.com/free

$60/year

Railway

Free hosting for open source projects

🌐 CloudOpen SourceStudents

Step 1: Sign up at railway.app

Startup credits

Scaleway

European cloud with startup program

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Apply at scaleway.com/startups

$240/year

Vercel

Free Pro plan for open source & startups

🌐 CloudStartupsOpen Source

Step 1: Apply at vercel.com/contact/sales

$250 credit

Vultr

$250 free credit for new accounts

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Sign up at vultr.com

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to Heroku's free tier?

Heroku discontinued all free dynos, databases, and add-ons in November 2022. The cheapest paid plan now starts at $5/month for an Eco dyno.

What are the best free Heroku alternatives?

Railway ($5 free credit/month), Render (free tier for static sites and web services), Fly.io (generous free allowance), and Vercel (frontend) are the top Heroku replacements.

Can students still deploy for free?

Yes! Railway, Render, and Fly.io all have free tiers. Students also get $200 in DigitalOcean credits via the GitHub Student Developer Pack, which covers hosting for over a year.

More Alternatives

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