Compare / Heroku vs Linode Shared CPU
Heroku vs Linode Shared CPU
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — Heroku checked 2026-09-15, Akamai Linode checked 2026-09-15.
The short version
Heroku and Linode Shared CPU split our comparison — the right pick depends on what your project values.
Price Linode Shared CPU
Linode Shared CPU is cheaper at most of the stages we model.
Ease Heroku
Heroku is easier to get running: git push heroku main; buildpacks detect the stack and the platform handles the rest.
Control Linode Shared CPU
Linode Shared CPU gives you more control over the stack — the flip side of the convenience trade.
Features Heroku
Heroku comes out ahead on 5 of the 15 features we track, versus 1.
What developers say about this matchup
We couldn't find a substantive first-person discussion comparing this exact pair. We leave the section empty instead of filling it with vendor marketing or generic SEO comparisons.
At a glance
| Heroku | Linode Shared CPU | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Teams that already know Heroku and value its mature workflow over price. | Developers who want a proven, boring VPS with cheap bandwidth. |
| How deploys work | git push heroku main; buildpacks detect the stack and the platform handles the rest. | You get root on a Linux server; the Marketplace offers one-click apps for common stacks. |
| The tradeoff | You pay a platform premium — comparable raw compute costs a third as much elsewhere. | Fully self-managed, with a smaller ecosystem than DigitalOcean's tutorials and tooling. |
| Free tier | None | None |
What you'd realistically pay
| Project stage | Heroku | Linode Shared CPU | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | ≈$5/mo Eco — One Eco dyno (512 MB) that sleeps after 30 idle minutes; an always-on Basic dyno is $7, and an Essential-0 Postgres adds $5. | ≈$5/mo Nanode 1GB — 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD, 1 TB pooled transfer. | ≈ Tie |
| Steady traffic | ≈$25/mo Standard-1X — Adds horizontal scaling and zero-downtime deploys; database still extra. | ≈$12/mo Linode 2GB — 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD, 2 TB pooled transfer. | Linode Shared CPU |
| Growing | ≈$50/mo Standard dynos + add-ons — Two Standard-1X dynos; realistic totals depend heavily on add-ons. | ≈$24/mo Two Linode 2GB — Scale horizontally or move up the shared-CPU line. | Linode Shared CPU |
Heroku pricing notes
- Dynos are prorated to the second up to the monthly maximum.
- Heroku Postgres starts at $5/month (Essential-0, 1 GB storage); the Redis-compatible Key-Value Store starts at $3/month (Mini, 25 MB).
Linode Shared CPU pricing notes
- US and EU core regions share identical pricing; transfer overage is $0.005/GB.
- IPv4 is included; private same-datacenter traffic doesn't count against the allowance.
Our ratings
Ease of use Heroku
Pricing clarity Linode Shared CPU
Free tier
Scaling Heroku
Control Linode Shared CPU
Feature by feature
Heroku wins 5, Linode Shared CPU wins 1, with 9 even.
Deploy workflow
| Heroku | Linode Shared CPU | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | Yes git push heroku main is the original deploy story; GitHub integration too. | No No deploy pipeline — bring your own CI or scripts. |
| Preview deploys | Yes Review Apps create a running app per pull request. | No Nothing built in. |
| Official CLI | Yes The heroku CLI covers deploys, logs, scaling, and add-ons. | Yes linode-cli covers instances, volumes, and DNS. |
| Instant rollbacks | Yes heroku releases:rollback reverts to any previous release instantly. | Partial Backups and images restore machines; no deploy-level rollback. |
Platform
| Heroku | Linode Shared CPU | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Custom domains with automated certificate management on paid dynos. | Yes Free DNS manager; TLS on the box is yours via certbot. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | No No built-in CDN — pair with Cloudflare or Fastly yourself. | No Akamai CDN exists as a separate enterprise product; nothing bundled. |
| Serverless functions | No Dynos are long-running processes; there is no function product. | No Not a VPS feature. |
| Docker containers | Yes Deploy container images through the Heroku container registry. | Yes Docker Marketplace app or install it yourself. |
| SSH / shell access | Partial heroku run bash gives a one-off shell in a fresh dyno, not the live one. | Yes Full root SSH, plus a web-based LISH console. |
| EU hosting region | Yes Common Runtime offers a Europe region at the same prices. | Yes Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, and more at US prices. |
Runtime & operations
| Heroku | Linode Shared CPU | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | Partial Built-in autoscaling requires Performance-tier dynos; standard dynos scale manually. | No Manual resizing only. |
| Scale to zero | Partial Eco dynos sleep after 30 idle minutes; Basic and Standard run continuously. | No Servers bill while they exist on the account. |
| Scheduled jobs | Yes Heroku Scheduler (free add-on) runs tasks on a schedule. | Yes Classic cron on the box. |
| Managed database | Yes Heroku Postgres and Key-Value Store are fully managed add-ons. | Yes Akamai Managed Databases (Postgres, MySQL) sold separately. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Partial Log stream and basic metrics included; serious monitoring means add-ons. | Partial Longview basic metrics free for a few servers; app logs are yours. |
Watch out for
Heroku
- There is no free tier.
- Compute is expensive for what you get: Standard-1X costs $25/month for 512 MB of RAM.
- Databases and other add-ons bill separately and can dominate the total.
Akamai Linode
- Charges accrue while a server exists on the account, powered on or off.
- Transfer allowances are prorated for partial months.
- Some regions (Jakarta, São Paulo) carry documented higher prices.
Read the full reviews: Heroku and Akamai Linode. Or answer four questions to see what fits your project.