Overview
Heroku made git push deploys popular and still runs many production apps. Its free plan ended in 2022, and email, domains and messaging come from add-ons and other providers.
Rimbra keeps the push-to-deploy flow, detects your framework without a Procfile, and includes databases, domains, an Email API and a WhatsApp API, with a free plan to start.
Rimbra and Heroku, side by side
| Rimbra | Heroku | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from GitHub | Yes, no Procfile needed | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| PostgreSQL, Redis | Built in | Built in |
| MySQL | Built in | Through add-ons |
| Buy domains | Yes | No, bring your own |
| Transactional Email API | Built in | Through add-ons |
| WhatsApp API and shared inbox | Built in | Not built in |
Checked October 2026 from Heroku’s public pages. Products change; if something here is out of date, write to support@rimbra.app and we’ll fix it.
Which one to choose
Choose Rimbra when
- You want a free plan and a lower monthly price.
- You want email, domains and WhatsApp without add-ons.
Heroku may fit better when
- You depend on Heroku’s add-on marketplace, Heroku Connect for Salesforce, or Private Spaces.
Moving from Heroku to Rimbra
- 01
Connect the same GitHub repository to Rimbra. Rimbra reads your package.json, requirements.txt, Gemfile or go.mod; you can drop the Procfile.
- 02
Copy your config vars into the project’s Variables, or paste them as a .env.
- 03
Create a PostgreSQL database on Rimbra and restore a Heroku backup into it with pg_restore.
- 04
Point your domain at Rimbra. HTTPS is issued automatically.
Questions
Does Rimbra need a Procfile?
No. Rimbra detects Node, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Rust and Java apps and picks the start command. You can set your own start command in project Settings.