The closest thing to free Heroku in 2026
Heroku removed free dynos in November 2022 and the cheapest paid dyno with Postgres is now around $32/mo. Cheaploy recreates the Heroku-style workflow — one command deploy, managed Postgres, web + worker + scheduler — on your own Oracle Cloud VM. Free forever, no dyno sleeping, no add-on markup.
Side-by-side
| Feature | Heroku Basic (post-2022) | Cheaploy + Oracle Always Free |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | ~$32 (dyno + Mini pg) | $0 |
| Free tier | None (removed 2022) | Yes, no expiry |
| Git-push deploy | Yes | Yes |
| Buildpacks | Yes | Yes (compatible) |
| Postgres | 10K row Mini tier | 20 GB Autonomous DB |
| Worker dynos | $7+ each | Included |
| Scheduler | Add-on | systemd timers |
| Dyno sleep | N/A on Basic | Never sleeps |
Why the ex-Heroku crowd picked Cheaploy
- Zero migration friction — Procfile + buildpacks work as-is.
- Actually free — not "free trial", not "free with credit-card auth-hold that expires in 30 days".
- Own your infra — the VM sits in your Oracle tenancy, so if Cheaploy disappears tomorrow your app keeps running.
When Heroku (or Salesforce Heroku) still wins
- Your team already lives inside the Salesforce ecosystem and Heroku is the path of least resistance.
- You want a fully managed PaaS with 24/7 support and are OK with the bill.
Frequently asked
Does Cheaploy support Heroku buildpacks?+
Yes, most of them. Cheaploy runs Heroku-compatible buildpacks (Node, Python, Ruby, Go, Java, PHP) inside its build pipeline, so apps that deployed on Heroku typically deploy on Cheaploy with zero changes.
What about Procfile web + worker + release phases?+
Fully supported. Cheaploy parses your Procfile and provisions web, worker, and release processes as systemd units on the free VM. Heroku Scheduler equivalent is a systemd timer.
Can I migrate my Heroku Postgres database?+
Yes. Cheaploy ships a one-command migrator that pg_dumps from Heroku and restores into Oracle Autonomous Database (or self-hosted Postgres on the VM). Downtime is typically under a minute for small dbs.
Is this really free forever?+
Yes, on Oracle's Always Free tier. Oracle has committed to keeping the ARM Ampere resources (2 CPUs, 12 GB RAM, 200 GB block storage, 10 TB egress) always free, no credit card charge, no expiry.
Deploy your project for $0
No credit card. No Oracle sales call. Ship to your own cloud in under 10 minutes.
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