Head-to-head, indicative as of Oct 2026. Prices change — always confirm on the vendor page.
Quick read: pick Vercel if your workload is next.js and frontend-heavy products and its included egress fits your traffic shape; pick Heroku if you need no-devops deploys for small teams and shopify-style workflows. For anything latency-sensitive at the edge, cold start row is the tiebreaker.
| Vercel | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Frontend/platform | PaaS (classic) |
| Free tier | Hobby tier free | Eco dynos ~$5/mo shared pool |
| Paid pricing (indicative) | Pro $20/user/mo; usage-metered functions | Basic dyno ~$7/mo each |
| Egress | Fair-use included on Pro | Included allowances |
| Cold start | Minimal (edge-first) | Dyno boot ~seconds |
| Regions | Global edge network | US + EU |
| Best for | Next.js and frontend-heavy products | No-DevOps deploys for small teams and Shopify-style workflows |
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Last reviewed 2026-10-02 · NinjaOps SEO grid · DevOps blog