Google App Engine vs Heroku vs Microsoft Azure comparison

Read 29 Heroku reviews

2,188 Views
1,969 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure

Read 323 Microsoft Azure reviews

20,175 Views
11,500 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Google App Engine

Microsoft Azure

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Google App Engine, Heroku, and Microsoft Azure based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Red Hat and others in PaaS Clouds.

To learn more, read our detailed PaaS Clouds Report (Updated: March 2026).

PaaS Clouds

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Helped 885,444 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Google App Engine is 2.5%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Heroku is 3.5%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure is 14.5%, down from 20.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

PaaS Clouds Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure	14.5%
Google App Engine	2.5%
Heroku	3.5%
Other	79.5%

PaaS Clouds

Featured Reviews

Rajesh Kadyan

Senior Engineer at Brillio

Have managed resources seamlessly thanks to robust platform capabilities

The areas of Google App Engine that I would to improve or enhance include its allowance for complete end-to-end deployment and scalability; however, it is manageable only for a few languages. For instance, it doesn't support languages C and C++, only basic support for Node.js, Java, and Ruby. It's not a comprehensive solution for all scenarios. Moreover, the security feature is based on IAM roles, but it should ideally be based on Active Directory (AD) roles. For IAM-based roles, we need to add the proper users and provide all security permissions manually. In an AD-based model, we would simply add users to a specific group, and all permissions would be inherited.

Used for server deployment and provides auto maintenance of databases

Faizan Haider

Senior Software Engineer at Aldaim Solutions

Heroku is deployed on the cloud. We can deploy our private and public projects over at Heroku. Most of the time, when we are starting any new project from scratch, we have to implement our MVP for that project or the core idea. We are unsure how our traffic flow will go or the actual production environment requirements. We don't want to spend the most on the server sites, so then we can use it with our go-to plan for Heroku, and all the resources are available in the basic plan with the minimum expenses. So, it helps us to deploy and make our features available online at the minimum cost. Once we know our needs, we can add the professional add-ons and shift it to another platform. Heroku supports any resource listed in the marketplace. We just have to deploy our AI solutions, and Heroku can also support AI projects. I would recommend the solution to other users. I advise users not to purchase extra add-ons but to make scalable resources so that they can use all the resources efficiently. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Versatile integrations and reliable customer satisfaction elevate cloud service experience

Syed Abid

Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra

For Microsoft Azure improvement, they need to enhance their support system. The first level of support should be improved in terms of quality and response time. They need more technical support at the first level, as there are currently only one or two technical people among five to ten staff members at this level. They should ensure that the first level support is more technical because we normally provide services to technical users ourselves. When an issue arises, it usually escalates to the second or third level. When facing first level support, they may have limited knowledge and only collect screenshots to forward to their seniors. They should ensure that the first level support is aligned with L2 and L3 to better assist us, especially since we mention in the ticket that our issues are related to specific problems and require that sort of support.

More Google App Engine pros

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Administering App Engine from a user's perspective is simple with their very intuitive dashboards."

"The auto-scaling feature helped us significantly in our fast-paced environment where the number of users was increasing rapidly."

"The solution allows you to create apps right on Google."

"Easy to upload from IDE."

"I have found it useful in my work and life."

"Its ability to integrate with most devices helps users who have different or old devices."

"The customer service is excellent and very responsive."

"This solution is very efficient and easy to use."

"It is easy to deploy applications, and we don't need to bother about software updates on the server. We don't need to bother about machines, servers, and hardware. We only need to care about the system and functionality that we need or want to develop. They take care of everything else. It provides high availability. It is a pretty good solution that provides everything that we need. It has everything that we need to run our applications. We have many different applications, and we generate three million bills for a company in Brazil. We see more than a billion requests per day in another application. Everything works just fine, and it is very good."

"Easy, fast, fun, and extendable."

"We, as a startup, can use Heroku and the plenty of possible configurations to scale from the very beginning to a medium-sized company."

"The solution's most valuable feature is the auto maintenance of databases."

"The platform is very Node.js-friendly, which is something that is important to us."

"They solve most of our problems and we don't experience many issues with them."

"I like the operations of the product because it makes it easy to push a change and to deploy new things."

"One of the best things about Heroku is that it is very easy and straightforward to deploy an application."

More Heroku pros

"The product has helped in managing laptops during COVID, it is very useful to work from home, and due to the fact that it's all on the cloud, we don't have to be in the office to access and manage everything."

"We can easily access and integrate data sources from other platforms."

"It's easy to use, and it's scalable. If we want to grow our product more, we can do it."

"But for prediction/classification this is a fantastic tool."

"Azure has improved my organization because it is a new technology and so the customers who don't have enough knowledge about the cloud delegate the administration of their cloud infrastructure to us. We incorporate and add a new service to our product lineup about how to manage their Azure. It impacts our business because we're able to incorporate this new service."

"The solution is cloud-based, we feel the monitoring tools to be sufficient, and the interface, monitoring and dashboard features are good."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the value for money and flexibility."

"The most valuable feature is cloud-based storage."

More Microsoft Azure pros

Cons

"The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"Once you think of migrating out of the AppEngine world, you'll face a lot of problems."

"One drawback is that the app needs to be written to be compatible with Google App Engine, making it not cloud agnostic, hindering straightforward migration to other platforms such as AWS."

"There is limited customization because the sandbox environment restricts it."

"There needs to be more directions in terms of how to use the solution."

"The conclusion I took after these searches was this API was not easy to use."

"I am limited to sending a photo to five people. I want to be able to send a photo to many people, not just five."

"The areas of Google App Engine I would to see improved or enhanced in the future include expanding inbuilt support for more programming languages than the current limited options such as Python, Go, and Node, ideally adding support for languages such as Java."

More Google App Engine cons

"Slow restart on servers"

"We have to do daily restarts of some processes, which is annoying, and the support for custom CI could be better."

"I improved the application performance by monitoring and adjusting the cleaner configuration to help set better lightweight limits on containers that run the app instances."

"Their support is good, but they can improve their response time."

"I had an issue recently where my site was down intermittently for unknown reasons. I posted a ticket and 5 days have gone by without any resolution."

"Heroku should increase its slug size limits."

"It's pricing is a little high and could be lowered."

"There is an issue because Heroku supports Docker container images, but not if you're using the continuous integration infrastructure."

More Heroku cons

"More expensive than other solutions without justification."

"Azure calculator could be improved, there are issues with login synchronization."

"Technical support could be better. They need to be more responsive."

"Dashboards and reporting could be improved."

"There are many bugs in the solutions and we already have a ticket to Microsoft."

"We like that they have the new capabilities, but sometimes they're deprecating capabilities faster than we can handle. If we had to improve it, we would want to stay on some of these older capabilities a bit longer."

"Specifically, I would like to see better Azure Data Analytics and monitoring RF."

"We would like it to be cheaper. As a customer, we always want to pay less."

More Microsoft Azure cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay the license yearly. It's about $6 a month, which is $72 a year per person, so it's about $500."

"If we don't know how to work with the tool, we might have some spikes in price."

"I would like to have more free application with it. Some of the applications, I am paying more for them. I think that they must be free."

"The tool is free."

"Its price is very good."

"There is a standard fee for a processing unit, they call them "dynos," and then you pay for add-ons."

"I rate the tool's pricing a three out of ten."

"The price of Heroku could be less expensive."

"All cloud services are expensive."

"Price could always be cheaper. Its licensing and usage aren't always cheap. We pay monthly."

"The pricing is better than AWS."

"The product is expensive."

"Microsoft Azure is a cost-effective solution where you use it as per your requirement and pay for it."

"It’s necessary to use third party products or to use good self-management economic tools"

"Microsoft Azure overall is an expensive solution."

"The cost of the solution could be reduced. However, I am using the free version."

More Microsoft Azure pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user8586

Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Aug 14, 2013

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What do you like most about Google App Engine?

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

University

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

10%

University

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	13

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	140
Midsize Enterprise	54
Large Enterprise	149

Questions from the Community

The product's setup and deployment phases are easy.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google App Engine?

I believe it is reasonably priced. I've never heard anyone express that the licenses are too expensive.

What needs improvement with Google App Engine?

The error logging system in Google App Engine could be enhanced. While there are troubleshooting documents with Googl...

What needs improvement with Heroku?

I don't like that the web server crashes every day, every 24 hours. The pricing could be improved because scaling the...

What is your primary use case for Heroku?

We use the solution for web applications and web APIs.

What advice do you have for others considering Heroku?

The integration capabilities are great because of the quick integration and the management features. We don't need a ...

Which is preferable - IBM Public Cloud or Microsoft Azure?

IBM Public Cloud is IBM’s Platform-as-a-Service. It aims to provide organizations with a secure cloud environment to ...

Which is better - SAP Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure?

One of the best features of SAP Cloud Platform is that it is web-based and you can log in from anywhere in the world....

How does Microsoft Azure compare to Google Firebase?

I would recommend Google Firebase instead of Microsoft Azure, simply for the array of features that it has to offer. ...

Amazon AWS vs Google App Engine

Comparisons

Compared 16% of the time

VMware Tanzu Platform vs Google App Engine

Compared 9% of the time

Amazon Lightsail vs Google App Engine

Compared 6% of the time

Acquia Cloud vs Google App Engine

Compared 4% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Google App Engine

Compared 4% of the time

More Google App Engine Competitors

Amazon AWS vs Heroku

Compared 13% of the time

Render vs Heroku

Compared 11% of the time

Engine Yard Cloud vs Heroku

Compared 7% of the time

AWS Fargate vs Heroku

Compared 6% of the time

Google Cloud vs Heroku

Compared 6% of the time

More Heroku Competitors

Amazon AWS vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 9% of the time

Google Firebase vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 8% of the time

Alibaba Cloud vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 8% of the time

Pivotal Cloud Foundry vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 6% of the time

More Microsoft Azure Competitors

Product Reports

Google App Engine

Download Google App Engine product report

Download Heroku product report

Microsoft Azure

Download Microsoft Azure product report

Also Known As

No data available

Windows Azure, Azure, MS Azure

Overview

Google App Engine is a Platform-as-a-Service (Paas) provider that equips web application developers with all the resources and tools that they need to develop, test, and run their applications on Google's infrastructure. Everything is built into the kit, so with one download of the SDK, you'll be well on your way to first-rate apps.

Google

Established in 2007, Heroku is a cloud application platform providing a streamlined, efficient place for web app developers to create and deploy their applications. Heroku is designed to maximize developer productivity. With the entire web application development process available on the Herokucloud, creating and rolling out web apps has been made more efficient, convenient, and cost-effective than ever before.