Google Cloud vs Heroku comparison

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Google Cloud

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

Heroku and Google Cloud are competing products in the platform-as-a-service and cloud computing markets. Google Cloud has the advantage in scalability and features, aligning it with enterprises needing advanced solutions, whereas Heroku is favored by startups for its simplicity and affordability.

Features: Heroku's features include seamless integration with multiple programming languages, an app-centric approach, and continuous integration capabilities. In contrast, Google Cloud provides robust infrastructure capabilities, advanced machine learning tools, and a comprehensive global network.

Room for Improvement: Heroku could enhance its scalability and offer more detailed customization options to attract more extensive user bases. Additionally, expanding its enterprise-level features would better cater to larger organizations. Google Cloud could improve its user complexity by simplifying deployment processes. Lowering pricing complexity and offering more beginner-friendly resources would be beneficial. Further enhancements in customer support could also help.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Heroku simplifies deployment with its automated model and responsive customer support ideal for rapid launches. Google Cloud offers a complex deployment model with multiple custom options, supported by detailed documentation and extensive advanced support plans.

Pricing and ROI: Heroku offers competitive and predictable pricing, advantageous for budget-conscious teams which results in satisfactory ROI for smaller projects. Google Cloud features a complex pricing structure with scalable options that deliver high ROI for larger organizations, thanks to its comprehensive service offerings. The key difference lies in Heroku's predictable, lower-cost model versus Google Cloud's flexible pricing tailored for extensive use.

To learn more, read our detailed Google Cloud vs. Heroku Report (Updated: September 2026).

Google Cloud vs. Heroku

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Google Cloud

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

4th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (3rd)

Heroku

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Google Cloud is 5.9%, up from 5.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Heroku is 2.8%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

PaaS Clouds Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Google Cloud	5.9%
Heroku	2.8%
Other	91.3%

PaaS Clouds

Featured Reviews

AnjaneyaVara Prasad

Solution Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Cloud services have reduced on‑prem hardware costs and now support flexible microservices workloads

Regarding potential areas of improvement for Google Cloud, considering that they are providing 300 plus services, some services could be improved. For example, if I am facing some network troubleshooting issue in GKE in Google Cloud, I have to dig deeply and enable some special logs, such as flow logs. To enable that, it is chargeable. At least for basic services, they should give end-to-end support. In terms of end-to-end support, if I am purchasing one firewall from Google and using that firewall, all firewall-related services should be free. If I want to troubleshoot something deep and perform deep troubleshooting, you have to enable some additional logs. That is not that good. If I have to enable additional logs and want to store them into Google Cloud storage, which is similar to an S3 bucket, it is again chargeable. Those kinds of things should be given as part of the package. If you take firewall, all firewall-related logs, activities, and diagnostics everything should come as one package. If you want to do some deep analysis, you have to enable these logs, and for that you have to store them in the cloud storage, which is again chargeable. We should not have those kinds of things.Regarding additional costs, it can vary case by case. If I want to do deep analysis, I have to enable some logs, and for those logs, Google is charging. I am already paying for my virtual firewall from Google, and I am paying the cost for that. If I want to do some further troubleshooting and enable some low-level logs, they are charging for that. So these are the kinds of things I am talking about. To do very deep-level troubleshooting and enable additional logs, they will be charging. Not only Google, but all clouds are charging for this. Functionality-wise, Google Cloud is fine. In terms of virtual machine deployment or VM instance, the functionality is good.

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Cristian-Molina

Senior Developer at Go Coeupas

Has a quick development cycle and continuous integration

The initial setup is straightforward. Heroku integrates well. You only have to push the code, and it automatically deploys the new version. Whether you have permission depends on the application. Currently, I have one application that I deploy myself. I rate the initial setup a nine out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is simple to use on the web, and makes things easy for a software developer."

"This is a solution that's so easy to expand when you need it to. It's the best I've ever seen. It's much better than Azure."

"The stability is good with Google Cloud."

"It's robust, and it has a wide reach in terms of office applications including storage."

"The storage is good and I think it's a good cloud source."

"What I like most about Google Cloud is its stability. I also like that its GUI works fine for my company."

"We use Google Cloud for storage, infrastructure, and services, providing file storage and infrastructure for deploying virtual machines, Kubernetes, or Dockers, as well as Google services that can be accessed by other software."

"It's easy to deploy Google Cloud."

More Google Cloud pros

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

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

"Deploying with git, npm install git hook ... basically, they got it right for nodejs servers hosting."

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

"Valuable for us was the fast deployment. This means the time to market is improved without pain for developers."

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

"Lots of integrations"

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

More Heroku pros

Cons

"Lower pricing would make Google Cloud better."

"Their tech support is not so great. It takes more than 48 hours to get a response from the Google team."

"They could integrate artificial intelligence into the applications."

"To do very deep-level troubleshooting and enable additional logs, they will be charging."

"I would like to see some improvement in the accessibility features of this solution."

"The solution could be a bit cheaper."

"An area of improvement could be the release of products prior to general availability not being performant, as releasing to private preview occurs too soon before products are ready."

"Google Cloud lacks some tools for database migration. I've only used MySQL and AWS in my career, so those are the only ones I can compare. AWS has a database migration tool that you can integrate with a cloud backup, so can take that backup and restore it in the AWS public cloud, but it's not the same with Google Cloud."

More Google Cloud cons

"Heroku doesn't support Docker images on the CI infrastructure."

"Heroku is pretty stable. We experience the occasional outages."

"The tool's configuration is complex."

"We would like to be notified when something goes wrong in the process. When something is not working, we should get an alert."

"But I recently got my account suspended because someone abused one of my apps."

"They could flesh out some of their analytics a little more."

"I have an issue with the session server in terms of how it can scale, and where I can put my sessions."

"Slow restart on servers"

More Heroku cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is cheaper than AWS."

"We use the NGO version so the cloud reasonably priced at $2 to $3 per month."

"I am not familiar with the pricing, but I would guess that it is probably cheaper than Microsoft Suite"

"The biggest problem with Google Cloud is price."

"The price of Google Cloud is affordable compared to others services. I pay monthly for the service."

"The price of the solution could be better."

"The pricing is rated a six out of ten."

"The licensing cost is based on the capacity we use."

More Google Cloud pricing and cost advice

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

"Its price is very good."

"The price of Heroku could be less expensive."

"The tool is free."

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

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which PaaS Clouds solutions are best for your needs.

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914,109 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Outsourcing Company

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	42
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	38

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

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Google Cloud?

I think perhaps the usability of Google Cloud could be one of the things that might get improved. In terms of not having to type the whole instruction I need to input to the system, just maybe some...

What is your primary use case for Google Cloud?

My main use case for Google Cloud would be using the functions and the Vertex AI functionality, so mostly AI research and AI deployment. For my AI research and deployment, I use Vertex AI to extrac...

What advice do you have for others considering Google Cloud?

On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate Google Cloud a nine. I choose nine because it combines a unique set of tools that are actually helpful and impactful on my daily work. Regarding Google Cloud's AI capa...

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 database becomes costly. The Docker features are not great. You cannot use any ...

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 lot of expertise and all external DevOps people. Heroku is the easiest platform ...

Alibaba Cloud vs Google Cloud

Comparisons

Compared 24% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Google Cloud

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs Google Cloud

Compared 6% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Google Cloud

Compared 5% of the time

Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) vs Google Cloud

Compared 5% of the time

More Google Cloud Competitors

Microsoft Azure vs Heroku

Compared 10% of the time

Google App Engine vs Heroku

Compared 9% of the time

Render vs Heroku

Compared 7% of the time

Engine Yard Cloud vs Heroku

Compared 7% of the time

Salesforce Platform vs Heroku

Compared 4% of the time

More Heroku Competitors

Product Reports

Google Cloud

Download Google Cloud product report

Download Heroku product report

Also Known As

GCP

No data available

Overview

Google Cloud offers a comprehensive platform renowned for cost-effectiveness, scalability, robust security, and seamless integration with tools such as Kubernetes, making it suitable for various business functions.

Google Cloud stands out for its ease of setup, stable infrastructure, and user-friendly interface. It provides essential features for AI, data analytics, and reliable storage, supporting multi-regional deployments for diverse applications. While maintaining minimal operational costs, it ensures simplified deployment and comprehensive application capabilities. However, improvements are needed in monitoring tools, customer support, documentation, and pricing options. Enhancements in stability, integration, and workload management are also required.

What are the essential features of Google Cloud?

Cost-effectiveness: Enables budget-friendly operations and reduced operational costs.
Easy Setup: Offers a straightforward and quick setup process.
Scalability: Supports growing business needs with vast resources and infrastructure.
Robust Security: Provides strong protection and compliance measures.
Seamless Integration: Effective integration with tools like Kubernetes and other applications.

What benefits and ROI can be observed?

Reduction in Operational Costs: Minimizes infrastructure and maintenance expenses.
Global Reach: Allows businesses to expand operations across multiple regions.
Flexibility: Adapts to different business models and rapid scaling needs.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Facilitates integration with existing tools and platforms.

Industries leverage Google Cloud for infrastructure management, analytics, application hosting, and development environments. Entities utilize its cloud network, machine learning support, disaster recovery solutions, and big data handling. Many rely on Workspace tools for communication and virtual machine applications for efficient IT infrastructure deployment.

Google

Heroku offers fast deployment with ease of use and seamless integration capabilities, making it a preferred platform for developers needing reliable continuous integration and scalability.

Heroku is known for handling server-related tasks, allowing developers to concentrate on building application functionality. Its automatic database maintenance and powerful performance are key for projects using Node.js and Ruby on Rails. Users appreciate its simple application deployment and maintenance, supported by a diverse range of plugins. Beyond efficiency, its CLI and dashboards enable a straightforward user experience, essential for developers focused on production, staging, and development environments.

What are Heroku's key features?

Fast Deployment: Offers rapid application deployment with minimal setup.
Continuous Integration: Supports streamlined integration processes for development cycles.
Scalability: Easily scales applications to meet growing demand.
High Availability: Ensures applications remain online and responsive.
Automatic Database Maintenance: Provides hands-off management of database tasks.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Ease of Use: Simplifies complex tasks, allowing developers to focus on coding.
Integration Capabilities: Connects seamlessly with tools like GitHub for updates.
Performance: Delivers consistent, reliable application performance.
Development Flexibility: Supports Node.js, Ruby on Rails, and Docker environments.

Organizations use Heroku to deploy production servers and stage development environments. Educational apps and offsite backends benefit from its Docker support. E-commerce, mobile app development, and web apps leverage Heroku's ability to maintain rapid development cycles and manage server deployment efficiently.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Facebook, UrbanDictionary, Code for America, Mailchimp, Rapportive, GitHub, TED, and Lyft.

Google Cloud vs. Heroku