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Cloud Foundry vs Heroku: What are the differences?
Key Differences between Cloud Foundry and Heroku
Cloud Foundry and Heroku are both popular platform as a service (PaaS) solutions that offer cloud-based hosting for applications. While they may seem similar on the surface, there are several key differences between the two.
Deployment process: One significant difference between Cloud Foundry and Heroku is the deployment process. Cloud Foundry uses a buildpack-based deployment model, where applications are deployed using buildpacks that define the runtime and dependencies. On the other hand, Heroku uses a slug-based deployment model, where applications are deployed as immutable slugs.
Programming languages and frameworks: Another important difference lies in the programming languages and frameworks supported by each platform. Cloud Foundry provides a wide range of language support, including Java, Ruby, Node.js, and .NET, along with support for various frameworks. In contrast, Heroku has built a strong reputation as a platform for Ruby developers, although it also supports other languages like Python, Java, and Node.js.
Scalability options: Cloud Foundry and Heroku also differ in terms of the scalability options they offer. Cloud Foundry provides more advanced scaling capabilities, allowing users to scale applications both vertically (allocating more resources to a single instance) and horizontally (adding more instances of the application). Heroku, on the other hand, simplifies the scalability process to automatic horizontal scaling, making it easier for developers to handle traffic spikes.
Pricing model: The pricing models of Cloud Foundry and Heroku are also worth noting. Cloud Foundry is an open-source project and can be deployed on various cloud providers, allowing for more flexibility in terms of pricing. Heroku, owned by Salesforce, has a more straightforward pricing model, with different tiers based on allocated resources and add-ons.
Control and customization: When it comes to control and customization, Cloud Foundry offers more flexibility. Users have greater control over their deployment environment, with the ability to customize various aspects and have more control over infrastructure. In contrast, Heroku abstracts much of the infrastructure and provides a more simplified experience, making it easier for developers to focus on their applications rather than infrastructure management.
Ecosystem and community: Finally, the ecosystems and communities surrounding Cloud Foundry and Heroku are different. Cloud Foundry has a large and active community and benefits from the support of several major technology companies. Additionally, Cloud Foundry can be used with various cloud providers. On the other hand, Heroku has a strong community of Ruby developers and a curated marketplace of add-ons and services specific to the platform.
In summary, Cloud Foundry and Heroku differ in their deployment processes, supported programming languages, scalability options, pricing models, control and customization levels, and ecosystems. Choosing between the two platforms depends on specific requirements, preferences, and the intended use case.
As I was running through freeCodeCamp's curriculum, I was becoming frustrated by Replit's black box nature as a shared server solution for Node app testing. I wanted to move into a proper workflow with Git and a dedicated deployment solution just for educational or non-commercial purposes. Heroku solved that for me in spades.
Not only does Heroku support free app deployment if you don't use their extra service handlers, but you can directly hook into your GitHub repos and automatically update the app whenever you commit to the main branch. It's a simple way to get an app running as fast as possible if you wish to share a proof of concept or prototype before moving to dedicated servers.
The Friendliest.app started on Heroku (both app and db) like most of my projects. The db on Heroku was on the cusp of becoming prohibitively expensive for this project.
After looking at options and reading recommendations we settled on Render to host both the application and db. Render's pricing model seems to scale more linearly with the application instead of the large pricing/performance jumps experienced with Heroku.
Migration to Render was extremely easy and we were able to complete both the db and application moves within 24 hours.
The only thing we're really missing on Render is a CLI. With Heroku, we could manage everything from the command line in VSCode. With Render, you need to use the web shell they provide.
I'm transitioning to Render from heroku. The pricing scale matches my usage scale, yet it's just as easy to deploy. It's removed a lot of the devops that I don't like to deal with on setting up my own raw *nix box and makes deployment simple and easy!
Clustering I don't use clustering features at the moment but when i need to set up clustering of nodes and discoverability, render will enable that where Heroku would require that I use an external service like redis.
Restarts The restarts are annoying. I understand the reasoning, but I'd rather watch my service if its got a memory leak and work to fix it than to just assume that it has memory leaks and needs to restart.
Pros of Cloud Foundry
- Perfectly aligned with springboot2
- Free distributed tracing (zipkin)1
- Application health management1
- Free service discovery (Eureka)1
Pros of Heroku
- Easy deployment703
- Free for side projects459
- Huge time-saver374
- Simple scaling348
- Low devops skills required261
- Easy setup190
- Add-ons for almost everything174
- Beginner friendly153
- Better for startups150
- Low learning curve133
- Postgres hosting48
- Easy to add collaborators41
- Faster development30
- Awesome documentation24
- Simple rollback19
- Focus on product, not deployment19
- Natural companion for rails development15
- Easy integration15
- Great customer support12
- GitHub integration8
- Painless & well documented6
- No-ops6
- I love that they make it free to launch a side project4
- Free4
- Great UI3
- Just works3
- PostgreSQL forking and following2
- MySQL extension2
- Security1
- Able to host stuff good like Discord Bot1
- Sec0
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Cons of Cloud Foundry
Cons of Heroku
- Super expensive27
- Not a whole lot of flexibility9
- No usable MySQL option7
- Storage7
- Low performance on free tier5
- 24/7 support is $1,000 per month2
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