CircleCI
Heroku
| Feature | CircleCI | Heroku |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $15/mo | From $5/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4 / 5 |
| Best For | development-teams, open-source-projects, startups, saas-companies | startups, prototyping, small-teams, ruby-python-node-developers |
| Founded | 2011 | 2007 |
| Ci Cd Pipelines | ✓ | ✗ |
| Docker Support | ✓ | ✗ |
| Caching | ✓ | ✗ |
| Parallelism | ✓ | ✗ |
| Orbs | ✓ | ✗ |
| Test Splitting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Insights Dashboard | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ssh Debugging | ✓ | ✗ |
| Git Deploy | ✗ | ✓ |
| Managed Postgres | ✗ | ✓ |
| Managed Redis | ✗ | ✓ |
| Add Ons | ✗ | ✓ |
| Review Apps | ✗ | ✓ |
| Pipelines | ✗ | ✓ |
| Auto Scaling | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ CircleCI Pros
- Fast build times with powerful caching
- Excellent Docker support and layer caching
- Free tier includes 6,000 build minutes/month
- Orbs marketplace for reusable configuration
✗ CircleCI Cons
- Credit-based pricing can be confusing
- Debugging failed builds requires SSH access
- Configuration YAML can become complex
✓ Heroku Pros
- Simplest deployment experience (git push to deploy)
- Extensive add-on marketplace for databases and services
- Great for prototyping and MVPs
- Managed Postgres and Redis included
✗ Heroku Cons
- Removed free tier in 2022
- Expensive for production workloads at scale
- Limited infrastructure customization
The Verdict
CircleCI is built for development teams and open source projects, with a focus on ci-cd-pipelines and docker-support. Heroku targets startups and prototyping and leads with git-deploy and managed-postgres.
On pricing, Heroku is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $5/mo compared to $15/mo for CircleCI. That $10/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
CircleCI has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Heroku requires a paid subscription from day one.
Feature-wise, CircleCI offers broader built-in capabilities (8 features vs 7), while Heroku takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Both tools are a solid fit for startups — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
Bottom line: CircleCI has a slight overall edge — but if simplest deployment experience (git push to deploy) matters most to you, Heroku may still be the right call.