Heroku
Heroku is a Salesforce-owned Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) providing fully managed cloud application hosting via 'dynos,' managed data services, and AI inference, serving developers, startups, and enterprises. As of February 2026, Salesforce is transitioning Heroku to a sustaining engineering model with no new features or new enterprise contracts.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Heroku does
Heroku is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) operated as a product line of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) and headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 2007 and acquired by Salesforce in 2010, the platform provides a fully managed application runtime based on 'dynos' (smart containers) supporting polyglot development across Node.js, Ruby, Java, PHP, Python, Go, Scala, Clojure, and .NET, with deployment via `git push heroku main`. The product portfolio spans Heroku Platform (core runtime, compute, CI/CD via Heroku Flow), Heroku Data Services (managed Postgres, Redis/Valkey key-value store, and Apache Kafka), Heroku Enterprise (Private Spaces, Heroku Shield, SSO, Heroku Connect), Heroku AI (Managed Inference and Agents, Model Context Protocol hosting, pgvector for RAG, Heroku AI Studio), and the Heroku Elements Marketplace (150+ add-ons, 380+ open source buildpacks). The platform reports more than 65 million apps deployed, 38+ million managed data stores, and 65+ billion daily requests.
Heroku generates revenue through a mix of usage-based dyno compute, recurring managed database subscriptions, enterprise contracts for Heroku Enterprise / Shield / Private Spaces, usage-based AI inference, marketplace commissions on third-party add-ons, and tiered Heroku Success support services. Go-to-market combines product-led self-serve signup (free Eco/Mini tiers), direct enterprise field sales, an extensive consulting partner network, and co-marketing via Salesforce events. Customers span individual developers, startups, agencies, and large enterprises in regulated industries (healthcare, life sciences, financial services), with notable logos including Align Technology, Live Nation, HealthSherpa, PensionBee, charity:water, Salesforce Trailhead, Slack Apps, and Salesforce+.
On February 6, 2026, Salesforce announced Heroku would transition to a sustaining engineering model: no new features will be developed and no new enterprise contracts will be sold, while existing enterprise subscriptions continue to be honored and resources are redirected to enterprise AI initiatives. The 51–100 employee team, absence of separate revenue disclosure, and 15+ years of platform accumulation (CNCF Platinum membership, ISO 27001/27017/27018, SOC2 Type I, PCI, HIPAA compliance) frame Heroku as a mature installed-base asset now in a managed-wind-down posture under its parent.
Heroku firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Heroku
- Legal name
- Salesforce, Inc.
- Website
- https://heroku.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Heroku is a Salesforce-owned Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) providing fully managed cloud application hosting via 'dynos,' managed data services, and AI inference, serving developers, startups, and enterprises. As of February 2026, Salesforce is transitioning Heroku to a sustaining engineering model with no new features or new enterprise contracts.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Heroku industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cloud Application Platform (PaaS)
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Enterprise PaaS (App Runtime & Managed Application Platforms) (HDAEAKAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- End-to-End Enterprise AI Platforms (MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management) (HDAEANAA), Container Runtime & Image Infrastructure (HDABADAG)
Keywords
Where Heroku is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Heroku business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Subscription / Usage-based Dyno Hours: Customers pay recurring subscription fees for dyno compute and database resources (Eco, Basic, Standard, Performance, Private Spaces tiers). Dyno hours are metered consumption-based, while enterprise tiers (Shield, Private Spaces) are annual contracts. Eco and Mini Plans are generally available low-cost entry tiers.
- Heroku Postgres & Managed Data Services: Recurring revenue from managed PostgreSQL plans (Mini, Basic, Standard, Premium, Enterprise, Private, Shield), Heroku Key-Value Store (Redis/Valkey), and Apache Kafka on Heroku. Heroku Postgres 17 introduces new upgrade process.
- Heroku AI (Managed Inference and Agents): Recurring revenue from managed AI inference, agents, MCP hosting, and AI Studio workspace, with a Flexible Standard Plan for new models and Messages API.
- Add-ons and Buildpacks Marketplace: Marketplace commissions from 150+ third-party add-ons and 380+ open source buildpacks in the Heroku Elements Marketplace, with a separate licensing/distribution agreement governing providers.
- Enterprise Support and Professional Services: Higher-tier Heroku Success packages (Standard to Signature) with SLAs, expert help with scaling, architecture design, and white-glove onboarding; Heroku also offers Technical Discovery, Onboarding & Implementation Strategy, Solution Proposal, and Operational Review services.
- Heroku Marketplace on AWS: Heroku is available to purchase in AWS Marketplace, creating a co-sell/transactional distribution revenue stream.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Eco and Mini low-cost dyno plans (generally available) plus Basic dynos now available to enterprise customers |
| Subscription | Annual | Standard / Performance / Private Spaces dynos (annual or metered) |
| Usage-based | Monthly | Heroku Postgres plans (Mini, Basic, Standard, Premium, Enterprise, Private, Shield) - including Essential Plans built on Amazon Aurora |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Monthly | Add-on marketplace (150+ add-ons) billed through Heroku |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Heroku AI Flexible Standard Plan (new models, Messages API, prompt caching) |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Heroku Success Standard to Signature support tiers |
Go-to-market motion6 records
Distribution channels7 records
Marketing channels10 records
Heroku product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Heroku is a fully managed Platform as a Service (PaaS) that lets developers deploy, run, and scale web, mobile, and AI applications via a simple `git push heroku main` workflow. The platform runs apps inside managed "dyno" containers and bundles managed data services (Postgres, Redis/Valkey, Kafka), continuous delivery tooling (Heroku Flow, Review Apps, GitHub Sync), and deep Salesforce integration (Heroku Connect, Heroku AppLink, Agentforce).
Product overview
Heroku offers a unified AI PaaS (Platform as a Service) built on a single managed container system (Heroku Platform) with a portfolio of integrated modules and services. The core Heroku Platform provides the runtime (Heroku Runtime), compute primitive (Heroku Dynos), and continuous delivery tooling (Heroku Flow); Heroku AI layers on Managed Inference and Agents plus Model Context Protocol (MCP) capabilities and the pgvector extension for RAG; Heroku Data Services bundles Heroku Postgres, Heroku Key-Value Store (Redis/Valkey), and Apache Kafka on Heroku; and integration modules (Heroku Connect and Heroku AppLink) connect Heroku natively to Salesforce and Agentforce. Enterprise capabilities (Heroku Enterprise, Heroku Private Spaces, Heroku Shield, Heroku Teams) and a 150+ add-on / 380+ buildpack ecosystem (Heroku Elements Marketplace) round out the offering, with developer tools (Heroku CLI, Heroku DX, Heroku OpEx) and next-generation infrastructure (Heroku Fir) extending the platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Heroku Platform: Core cloud application platform for deploying, managing, and scaling apps on a managed container system (dynos).
- Heroku AI
- Heroku Enterprise
- Heroku Data Services
- Heroku Elements Marketplace
- Heroku Shield
- Heroku Connect
- Heroku Fir
- Heroku AppLink
- Heroku Success
- Heroku Flow
- Heroku Teams
Products and services
- Heroku Platform Core fully managed application platform for deploying, managing, and scaling apps on a managed container system. Provides the foundation for Heroku Runtime, Heroku Dynos, and the broader AI PaaS experience.
- Heroku AI Heroku's AI Platform as a Service offering for building intelligent applications with managed inference, agents, and Model Context Protocol (MCP). Provides unified access to leading AI models with minimal setup.
- Heroku Managed Inference and Agents Managed AI service providing access to leading language models via simple CLI commands (e.g., `heroku ai:models:create`). Supports building and deploying AI applications and agents with a unified platform connecting application, AI, data, and tools.
- Heroku Data Services Fully managed cloud data services portfolio including Heroku Postgres, Heroku Key-Value Store (Redis-compatible), and Apache Kafka on Heroku. Provides near-instantaneous provisioning for data-driven applications.
- Heroku Postgres Trusted, secure, and scalable fully managed PostgreSQL database as a service, optimized for developers. Supports pgvector extension for vector similarity search and RAG applications.
- Heroku Key-Value Store A managed Redis-compatible key-value store with a robust developer experience, delivered as a service. Supports Valkey 8.1 with JSON and Bloom Modules.
- Apache Kafka on Heroku Fully managed Apache Kafka service supporting multi-tenant operations, streaming data connectors, event-driven architectures, and Shield availability for regulated industries.
- Heroku Enterprise Enterprise tier bundling Heroku Private Spaces, Heroku Shield, SSO for Heroku, Team and Resource Oversight, Heroku Connect, and Enterprise-grade Support for large companies.
- Heroku Private Spaces Network-isolated, dedicated runtime environments for enhanced privacy, power, and performance. Available globally including US, Europe (Dublin, Frankfurt), Sydney, Mumbai, Montreal, Singapore, and UK regions.
- Heroku Shield Simplified path to building high-compliance applications for regulated industries (healthcare, life sciences, financial services). Supports PCI and HIPAA compliance requirements.
- Heroku Connect Fully managed bidirectional data sync service between Salesforce and Heroku Postgres. Lets developers read and write Salesforce data using standard SQL, with diagnostic CLI tools and Salesforce CDC integration for faster, more reliable sync.
- Heroku AppLink Integration module that extends Salesforce with any programming language using JWT-based authorization. Provides the shortest path to bring custom code to Agentforce and Salesforce workflows.
- Heroku Elements Marketplace Marketplace ecosystem of 150+ third-party add-ons, 380+ open source buildpacks, and Buttons to extend app functionality, customize language stacks, and jumpstart projects.
- Heroku Dynos Smart containers that execute applications on a reliable, fully managed runtime environment. Supports multiple dyno types, instant horizontal and vertical scaling, and global auto-scaling.
- Heroku Runtime The fully managed runtime environment in which dynos execute. Supports polyglot programming with officially supported languages including Node.js, Ruby, Java, PHP, Python, Go, Scala, Clojure, and .NET.
- Heroku Flow Continuous delivery tooling that streamlines the app release experience through Pipelines, Review Apps, and GitHub Sync. Visual and efficient release orchestration.
- Heroku Teams Team collaboration platform for managing people, app-level permissions, software delivery, and billing across an organization.
- Heroku Success Support tier offerings from Standard to Signature, providing developers and partners with responsive SLAs, expert help with scaling, architecture design, and white-glove onboarding.
- Heroku Fir The next-generation Heroku Platform built on cloud-native architecture with OpenTelemetry support, Terraform for Infrastructure-as-Code, and Kubernetes compatibility.
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) on Heroku Module for hosting and scaling MCP servers on Heroku to extend AI agents with tools and APIs. Supports the open Model Context Protocol with both official Heroku MCP Server and enterprise-grade MCP server deployments.
- pgvector for Heroku Postgres pgvector extension enabling vector similarity search and full retrieval augmented generation (RAG) applications on Heroku Postgres, with embeddings stored alongside app data.
- Heroku CLI Command-line interface for managing Heroku apps, currently at version 11 (v11). Built on ECMAScript Modules (ESM) and oclif v4, supports Node.js 22, and provides unified data maintenance commands.
- Heroku AI Studio Workspace for building smarter, faster AI applications using Heroku AI, providing a focused environment for AI app development.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 65 million apps deployed on the platform
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Heroku
Customer profileNamed customers30 records
Segments9 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Heroku technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration35 records
AI capability4 records
Feature15 records
Heroku partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- SalesforceflagshipSalesforce acquired Heroku in 2010 and operates it as a subsidiary. Deep integration includes Heroku Connect (bidirectional Salesforce ↔ Heroku Postgres sync), Heroku AppLink (Salesforce integration via JWT), Agentforce integration, Data 360, and bundled positioning across Dreamforce/Agentforce World Tour.
- GitHubcoreNative GitHub Integration with Review Apps and automatic deployment; Heroku for GitHub Students program; Heroku GitHub Enterprise Integration announced for stronger security and continuous delivery; Heroku CLI v10 supports the next-gen Heroku platform.
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreHeroku runs on AWS infrastructure; Heroku is now available to purchase in AWS Marketplace; new Heroku Postgres Essential Plans are built on Amazon Aurora; Amazon Nova models now available on Heroku AI; Heroku Private Spaces can peer with AWS.
- MuleSoft (Salesforce)coreMastering API Gateway Integration: Salesforce, Heroku, and MuleSoft Anypoint Flex Gateway referenced; Connect the MuleSoft Database Connector to Heroku Postgres documented.
- ActivePrimeminorJoint event 'Data You Can Trust: Powered by Heroku + ActivePrime' listed in 2025 events calendar.
- Heroku Consulting Partners (SI / Agency Network)coreFormal 'Heroku Partner Program' for Consultants, ISVs, and technical solution providers with 'Become a Heroku Consulting Partner' track, Partner App Showcase, and Heroku Partner Portal.
- Heroku Elements Marketplace Add-on Providerscore150+ third-party add-ons and 380+ buildpacks listed on elements.heroku.com, governed by Salesforce License and Distribution Agreement for the Heroku Elements Marketplace and Additional Terms for Heroku Elements Marketplace Providers.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Heroku competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Vercel: Vercel is a developer-first cloud platform for frontend frameworks and serverless functions, directly competing with Heroku for modern web app deployment. Both emphasize git-based deploy workflows, polyglot/framework support, and developer experience as primary GTM.
- Render: Render is a unified cloud platform for hosting web services, APIs, and databases, frequently cited as a modern Heroku alternative. Both offer managed Postgres, automatic deploys from git, and tiered pricing aimed at developers and small teams.
- Platform.sh: Platform.sh is an end-to-end PaaS for building, running, and scaling web applications, targeting enterprise and regulated workloads comparable to Heroku Enterprise/Private Spaces. Both emphasize polyglot support, managed data services, and compliance postures.
- DigitalOcean App Platform: DigitalOcean App Platform is a PaaS built on DigitalOcean's cloud, targeting SMB developers and startups with simple git-based deploys and managed databases — the same persona Heroku has long served at the lower end of the market.
Emerging players
- Railway: Railway is a modern PaaS focused on simple deployment of services and databases, positioned as a Heroku-style developer experience with infrastructure-as-code. Targets the same self-serve developer persona that Heroku historically captured.
- Fly.io: Fly.io runs full-stack apps close to users via a global edge network of micro-VMs. Competes with Heroku on simplicity of deployment but differentiates with geographic distribution and a more infrastructure-as-code approach.
- Cloudflare Workers: Cloudflare Workers is an edge serverless platform for deploying code close to users. It represents the next generation of PaaS that Heroku would need to compete with for AI-driven and latency-sensitive workloads, and is increasingly cited as a Heroku alternative.
Broad incumbents
- AWS Elastic Beanstalk: AWS Elastic Beanstalk is Amazon's PaaS offering for deploying and scaling web applications within the AWS ecosystem. It overlaps directly with Heroku Dynos but benefits from AWS's bundled enterprise procurement and broader service portfolio.
- Google App Engine: Google App Engine is a hyperscaler PaaS for building and deploying applications on Google Cloud. It competes with Heroku on managed runtime and auto-scaling, and benefits from Google Cloud's enterprise sales motion and AI/data ecosystem.
- Azure App Service: Azure App Service is Microsoft's PaaS for hosting web apps, APIs, and mobile backends within the Azure ecosystem. It directly competes with Heroku Enterprise for regulated workloads and benefits from Microsoft enterprise agreements.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Heroku social profiles
Digital presenceHeroku compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance7 records
Heroku financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Heroku leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Heroku funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Heroku M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Heroku
What does Heroku do?
Heroku is a fully managed Platform as a Service (PaaS) that lets developers deploy, run, and scale web, mobile, and AI applications via a simple `git push heroku main` workflow. The platform runs apps inside managed "dyno" containers and bundles managed data services (Postgres, Redis/Valkey, Kafka), continuous delivery tooling (Heroku Flow, Review Apps, GitHub Sync), and deep Salesforce integration (Heroku Connect, Heroku AppLink, Agentforce).
Is Heroku a public or private company?
Heroku is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Heroku founded?
Heroku was founded in 2007. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Heroku based?
Heroku is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Heroku make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Subscription / Usage-based Dyno Hours are the primary driver. The others are heroku Postgres & Managed Data Services, heroku AI (Managed Inference and Agents), add-ons and Buildpacks Marketplace, enterprise Support and Professional Services and heroku Marketplace on AWS.
Who are Heroku's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Vercel, Render, Platform.sh and DigitalOcean App Platform. Emerging players are Railway, Fly.io and Cloudflare Workers. Broad incumbents are AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Google App Engine and Azure App Service.
Does Heroku have an API?
Yes. Heroku offers a public Heroku Platform API for programmatic management of apps, and a Heroku MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes platform actions to AI agents and tools such as Cursor. Heroku also provides Heroku Webhooks for real-time notifications of platform events. The API is publicly documented and supports OAuth authentication, with a legacy Platform API (v2) having been sunset in favor of the current Platform API. Developer documentation is at devcenter.heroku.com/categories/api-reference.
What industry is Heroku in?
Heroku's product category is Cloud Application Platform (PaaS). Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAKAB, Enterprise PaaS (App Runtime & Managed Application Platforms), with a secondary code of HDAEANAA, End-to-End Enterprise AI Platforms (MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management). Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7372.