Heroku vs Caprover
Self-hosted for $4/mo on hetzner CAX11, versus $7-$7/user/mo on Heroku.
Side-by-side
| Heroku | Caprover (self-hosted) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $7-$7/user/mo | $4.13/mo flat (any team size) |
| Hosting | Heroku's servers | Your VPS (hetzner CAX11) |
| Data ownership | Heroku controls the data | Your disk, your encryption |
| Source code | Closed | Open (NOASSERTION) |
| Customization | API + integrations only | Full source access; modify freely |
| Maintenance burden | Zero | Backups + updates (manual) |
| Health score (ossreplace) | — | 70 / 100 |
Why teams leave Heroku
Caprover answers this by: Self-hostable git-push app platforms, like Heroku.
The cost math
Assumes 5-person team using Heroku at the midpoint price ($7/user/mo).
| Period | Heroku | Caprover on hetzner | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $35 | $4.13 | $30.87 |
| Yearly | $420 | $49.56 | $370.44 |
| 3 years | $1,260 | $149 | $1,111 |
Deploy Caprover now
One-click deploys at the cheapest provider for this workload:
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Common questions
Is Caprover a good alternative to Heroku?
Caprover is an open-source, self-hostable alternative to Heroku with an ossreplace health score of 70/100 — a composite of project activity, maturity, community, security, and adoption. It runs on your own hetzner VPS from $4.13/mo with full source access under the NOASSERTION license, versus Heroku's $7–7/user/mo hosted plans.
How much cheaper is Caprover than Heroku?
A 5-person team pays about $35/mo on Heroku. Self-hosting Caprover on hetzner CAX11 costs a flat $4.13/mo regardless of team size — roughly $1,111 less over three years (88% lower).
Is Caprover hard to self-host?
Caprover self-hosts on your own VPS. You handle the install, backups, and updates yourself in exchange for full data ownership and no per-seat fees.
Do you keep control of your data with Caprover vs Heroku?
Yes. Because Caprover runs on your own server, the data lives on your disk under your encryption. With Heroku, Heroku controls the hosting, storage, and access.