These 5 platforms made our app deployment 10x easier

When Heroku discontinued its free tier, our small team of three developers faced a challenge.

We were running a Next.js app with a PostgreSQL backend, a user management platform for 5,000 users and relied on Heroku for quick deployments.

Without the free tier, paid dynos were out of our budget, and manual deployments were eating up 30 minutes per update, often with errors. we explored some free Heroku alternatives to streamline our process.

While we evaluated several platforms, some stood out, making our automated application deployment 10x easier.

Here’s our journey, with insights into options we considered.

Why we needed alternatives?

Heroku’s Shift: The free tier shutdown forced us to find affordable platforms with persistent deployments.
Our App’s Needs: A Next.js frontend with a PostgreSQL backend, needing Git-based deploys and database support.
Deployment Struggles: Manual processes took 30 minutes per update, with frequent server misconfiguration errors.
Our Goal: Free tiers, autoscaling, and a seamless automated application deployment workflow like Heroku’s.

These 5 platforms stood out for us and any developer who wants to deploy should use any of these platforms.

(PS: My Personal favorite is Kuberns)

1. Kuberns: our chosen solution for seamless deployment

What It Offers: AI-powered automated application deployment, free tier, and true usage-based pricing, no platform fees.
How It Helped Us: We connected our GitHub repo, and Kuberns auto-detected our Next.js stack. Our app was live in 5 minutes, no YAML needed, a lifesaver for our team.
Standout Feature: The real-time Dashboard gave us logs, metrics, and alerts, plus a 40% reduction in AWS costs compared to direct usage, critical for our tight budget.
Why It’s Ahead: Kuberns AI optimizes scaling dynamically, preventing over-provisioning, and supports unlimited services on the free tier, perfect for our microservices.
Our Experience: We adopted Kuberns, and deployments became effortless. From 30-minute struggles to 5-minute deploys with zero downtime, it transformed our workflow.

Try out by yourself

2. Qovery:

What It Offers: Bring-Your-Own-Cloud, Kubernetes abstraction, and a free tier for 3 apps.
Why We Considered It: It promised multi-cloud deploys and CI/CD automation, with a Git-based workflow similar to Heroku.
Standout Feature: We liked the idea of deploying on our AWS account without managing Kubernetes directly, a good fit for teams needing control.
Why We Passed: The slight learning curve felt like a hurdle for our small team, and we preferred Kuberns faster setup for automated application deployment.
Our Take: Qovery is great for teams wanting cloud control with PaaS ease, but Kuberns better suited our need for speed and simplicity.

3. Render: Modern Features, Familiar Feel

What It Offers: Free tier with 512MB RAM, zero-downtime deploys, and Docker support.
Why We Considered It: Its Heroku-like UI and built-in HTTPS/autoscaling were appealing for our Next.js app.
Standout Feature: Docker support could have containerized our PostgreSQL backend, something Heroku’s free tier lacked.
Why We Passed: The free plan’s app sleeping after 15 minutes of inactivity wasn’t ideal for production, and Kuberns offered more cost savings.
Our Take: Render felt like a modern Heroku, but Kuberns persistent free tier and AI-driven deployment won us over.

4. Fly.io: Global Deployment Potential

What It Offers: Free tier with 3 shared VMs, Docker-based deploys, and edge deployment capabilities.
Why We Considered It: Multi-region deployment could reduce latency for our users in Europe and Asia, a feature Heroku never had.
Standout Feature: Built-in Postgres integration meant no separate database setup, which could save time.
Why We Passed: It required more infra knowledge than we had, and Kuberns simpler automated application deployment fit our needs better.
Our Take: Fly.io is ideal for latency-sensitive apps, but Kuberns gave us the ease we needed without the learning curve.

5. Railway: Great for Prototyping

What It Offers: $5 free credit, GitHub integration, and instant database provisioning for Postgres.
Why We Considered It: Its focus on fast bootstrapping and one-click rollback seemed perfect for prototyping new features.
Standout Feature: The polished UI and 3-minute deploys could have sped up our MVP testing phase.
Why We Passed: Usage caps hit quickly with database needs, and Kuberns’ free tier offered more flexibility for production.
Our Take: Railway is excellent for solo devs and MVPs, but Kuberns scalability and cost efficiency made it our final choice.

What we learned

Simplicity Wins: Kuberns Git-based, no-YAML workflow made deployments a breeze compared to manual processes.
Free Tiers Matter: Kuberns generous plan let us deploy without upfront costs, unlike others with limitations and also 40% reduction on our AWS Cost.
Modern Features Are Key: AI-driven scaling, cost savings, and CI/CD automation in Kuberns were critical for our growth.
Why Kuberns Stood Out: It was the only platform we adopted, delivering speed, savings, and reliability for our automated application deployment.