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Heroku vs Mendix comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Heroku
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
PaaS Clouds (14th)
Mendix
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Development Platforms (3rd), Rapid Application Development Software (6th), Low-Code Development Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Heroku and Mendix aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Heroku is designed for PaaS Clouds and holds a mindshare of 3.4%, up 2.2% compared to last year.
Mendix, on the other hand, focuses on Mobile Development Platforms, holds 16.7% mindshare, down 22.7% since last year.
PaaS Clouds Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Heroku3.4%
Microsoft Azure18.4%
Amazon AWS13.0%
Other65.2%
PaaS Clouds
Mobile Development Platforms Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Mendix16.7%
OutSystems17.5%
Salesforce Platform7.8%
Other58.0%
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Cristian-Molina - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Richard Van Den Akker - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud-based, helps fill gaps and that seamlessly integrates with existing systems
Mendix provides the ability to create solutions that fill gaps that I would otherwise be unable to address with standard software. It integrates seamlessly with my existing ERP systems, enabling me to build attractive and user-specific solutions. Its cloud-based platform supports agile methods and enhances my development speed. These features enable me to better meet my organizational needs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the tool's scalability, CLI, and dashboards."
"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."
"The platform is very Node.js-friendly, which is something that is important to us."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the auto maintenance of databases."
"The product is stable."
"The most valuable feature of Heroku is the continuous integration and applications it provides."
"It's easy to push a change and to deploy new things."
"Thanks to Heroku, we don't need to do as much direct management in AWS."
"The most valuable features of Mendix are the drag and drop functions, the data entities, domain models, and all the related features."
"There is a free version of the solution you can use."
"Excellent support is offered for Mendix"
"The integrated security saves a lot of time, especially when it comes to setting up user-roles and security. Also, database updates work automatically. There is no need to write queries to update the database, once you make an update."
"Enables us to rapidly create a complex application. We are also able to customize features that stakeholders in the corporation want to see, something that could not be done with other software. Our workflows and processes have evolved and improved. The fast iterations allow us to be nimble, get feedback from users, and do rapid updates."
"The user experience is great."
"It is a brilliant solution."
"We find it intuitive and easy to use."
 

Cons

"I think this solution would be improved if free demos were available indefinitely."
"Heroku had an authentication problem a few months ago, but they solved it."
"The tool's configuration is complex."
"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."
"We would like to be notified when something goes wrong in the process. When something is not working, we should get an alert."
"We have to do daily restarts of some processes, which is annoying, and the support for custom CI could be better."
"Heroku doesn't support Docker images on the CI infrastructure."
"My understanding is that, if you are not using the free version, it is very expensive."
"Mendix is quite expensive, and its pricing model makes it inaccessible for startups. The app license costs between $13,000 to $14,000, which is prohibitive for startups."
"There is always a layer of custom code required."
"One area for improvement is its integration capabilities. Creating a pluggable widget or integrating it with other systems is challenging. In terms of features, it would be great to see advancements such as AI services and the integration of third-party services. Additionally, connecting external devices to the application requires multiple steps. Improving this will make it easier for the developers."
"You need experienced programmers and developers to understand this solution."
"There are not enough developers who are using Mendix. The knowledge base available online and in the market is not as rich as other competitors."
"The vendor should focus more on the opinion of the users and make improvements"
"An improvement I would like to see is the ability to version manage independent modules. Their version management for software repositories must be better. It's good and you can do it, but it needs work."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price is very good."
"I rate the tool's pricing a three out of ten."
"There is a standard fee for a processing unit, they call them "dynos," and then you pay for add-ons."
"The tool is free."
"The price of Heroku could be less expensive."
"Mendix licensing cost is based on the number of apps you have on the server. At the basic level, it is free of charge, so that seems reasonable, but once you go beyond that, and when it comes to the number of users on the app, that basic structure doesn't work, and the pricing tends to get a little bit steep."
"Its cost is higher than competitors. The cost mostly includes licensing. It is charged per user. The cost model could be better. When you have a big company, what does per user mean? If I have a company where I have 40,000 people who will go to access it but only 200 do, how do you license it and who do you pay for? If they hit it once, do you pay for it? The licensing is complex for a big company. It is easy for us to buy all we can eat, get an enterprise license agreement, and call it good."
"Mendix seems a bit expensive. But in terms of wanting to have less developers and higher velocity, the total cost of ownership is fine. It's not cheap, though."
"Initially, we started with a year for approximately $25,000, and if we need to expand the number of seats then we will increase it."
"The solution is a bit expensive compared to others"
"Mendix is not open source, but its license cost is cheap, particularly when compared to the Appian license. The license model would depend on how many users you have and how many applications you are creating. If you are creating a single app, you just need to have a single app license, so it's free. If you want a multiple app license to cover two thousand or three thousand users, for example, internal users or external users, then you need to pay for the license. There's also a license model for above three thousand or four thousand, or five thousand internal and external users."
"I would not recommend the solution to small and medium-sized businesses because it’s expensive. It’s great for big organizations. I rate the pricing as a three out of ten."
"From a commercial point of view, we would like them to change that they currently sell it as a platform, but as a customer you have to decide upfront the usage of the platform. We would like to have Mendix sell it as a pay as you go model: You pay for what you use, and you don't pay for what you don't use."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Educational Organization
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Heroku?
I like the tool's scalability, CLI, and dashboards.
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 do you like most about Mendix?
We also use Mendix Enterprise Integration for complex business logic. It's a low-code platform, so we run Mendix in the Mendix Cloud.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mendix?
I have some idea about the licensing part, and it depends on the person and the number of applications.
What needs improvement with Mendix?
Currently, I do not see any improvements needed in Mendix. However, I have not used Mendix for the last few months, so I lack insight into any new features that might have been added.
 

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Sample Customers

Facebook, UrbanDictionary, Code for America, Mailchimp, Rapportive, GitHub, TED, and Lyft.
Genzyme, TNT, Yahoo, Capgemini, Roche, D&B, Aegon, kpn, AZL, Sky, Arch, Penn State Univeristy, BancABC
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