The Cost Effective Heroku Alternative
Deploy apps to servers that you own and control. We'll take care of the configuration while you focus on building great apps.
Deploy anywhere, including these popular hosting providers:
Simplify Everyday Deployments
We simplify your deployments while still giving you full access to your servers.
Hosting
Runs servers anywhere in the world.
Whether you want to use AWS, DigitalOcean, or a server in your home basement, Hatchbox just needs a fresh copy of Ubuntu LTS to deploy apps.
Apps
Don't pay more for multiple apps.
We charge by the servers we manage. Not per-app. You can save money by run 2+ apps on the same cluster without spending an extra dime.
Teams
Collaborate with your team.
Easily add your team and give them access to your cluster to manage deployments, view logs, and scale servers.
Real-world Pricing Comparisons
See for yourself how Hatchbox compares to Heroku.
Production Setup
2 web services, a worker, Postgres, and Redis.
| Component | Heroku Plan | Heroku Cost | Hatchbox Plan | Hatchbox Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Fee | None | $0.00 | $10/server | $40.00 |
| Load Balancer | Included | $0.00 | DigitalOcean 1vCPU / 1GB x1 | $6.00 |
| Web Servers | Performance-M x2 | $500.00 | DigitalOcean 2vCPU / 4GB x2 | $48.00 |
| Worker | Performance-M | $250.00 | DigitalOcean 2vCPU / 4GB x2 | $24.00 |
| PostgreSQL Database | Premium-0 | $200.00 | DigitalOcean Postgres | $120.00 |
| Redis Cache | Premium-2 | $60.00 | DigitalOcean Redis | $60.00 |
| Monthly Total | $1,010.00 | $298.00 |
Platform Fee
Load Balancer
Web Servers
Worker
PostgreSQL Database
Redis Cache
TOTAL / MONTH
Staging Setup
Optimized resources for testing your application before production.
| Component | Heroku Plan | Heroku Cost | Hatchbox Plan | Hatchbox Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Fee | None | $0.00 | $10/server | $10.00 |
| Web Servers | Standard-2X | $50.00 | DigitalOcean 2vCPU / 4GB | $24.00 |
| Worker | Standard-2X | $50.00 | Runs on web server | $0.00 |
| PostgreSQL Database | Essential-2 | $20.00 | Self-managed | $0.00 |
| Redis Cache | Premium-0 | $15.00 | Self-managed | $0.00 |
| Monthly Total | $135.00 | $34.00 |
Platform Fee
Web Servers
Worker
PostgreSQL Database
Redis Cache
TOTAL / MONTH
Side-Project / Agency Setup
Deploying 5 applications and optimizing for cost savings
| Component | Heroku Plan | Heroku Cost | Hatchbox Plan | Hatchbox Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Fee | None | $0.00 | $10/server | $10.00 |
| Web Servers | Standard-2X x5 | $250.00 | DigitalOcean 8vCPU / 16GB | $96.00 |
| Worker | Standard-2X x5 | $250.00 | Runs on web server | $0.00 |
| PostgreSQL Database | Essential-2 x5 | $100.00 | Self-managed | $0.00 |
| Redis Cache | Premium-0 x5 | $75.00 | Self-managed | $0.00 |
| Monthly Total | $675.00 | $106.00 |
Platform Fee
Web Servers
Worker
PostgreSQL Database
Redis Cache
TOTAL / MONTH
Ready to take control?
If you're a Rails developer who wants to own your servers without the headache, Hatchbox is for you. Save money, keep control, and talk to real people when you need help.
Get StartedLoved by businesses worldwide.
Hatchbox makes deploying to servers that you control easier than ever. No need to jump through hoops to configure servers or make your app compatible with containers.
-
-
For our genome analysis pipelines, we need to be able to quickly setup and deploy servers in data centres across the world. Traditionally this involves fiddling with obscure config files, daemons and database setups. Not anymore: thanks to HatchBox, we can now confidently deploy our apps with a few clicks while still retaining full control.
Peter ScholsCEO at Diploid Genomics
-
My first production website was a free community gaming site hosted on Heroku. It quickly grew into a $200+ plan which I could not sustain. I remember having to miss a party bc I had to upgrade my Postgres plan. Then I moved to Hatchbox.
Matias Eduardo
-
-
-
Hatchbox is a dream! We just migrated our $2k per month Heroku app to a $300 per month equivalent. Thanks, @excid3 for these great tools
Kieran Klassen
-
Two years with @hatchboxio and will never go back to Heroku again. No change in my day to day #rails development to production workflow. Amazing customer service to boot. And the best part? Hosting costs went from ~$400 a month down to $49.
Nick Haskins
-
-
-
Did a quick cost analysis for a project on Heroku for a client. Too high! What else can I use? @hatchboxio! Spun up a quick server. Pushed deploy and boom. Things are working! Sidekiq is processing jobs. No fuss. Great work @excid3! ✨
Jeffrey Guenther
-
Just finished migrating @ScreamRecs to Digital Ocean in like 2 hrs, can't believe how smooth it was and that's including domain and SSL. @hatchboxio made it super easy to get servers up. Encrypted rails creds also made things really easy.
Cody Norman
-
Simple pricing, for everyone.
It doesn’t matter what size your business is, our software scales with you.
$10/server/mo
That's it
Perfect for small / medium sized businesses.
- Unlimited apps
- Unlimited databases
- Unlimited team members
- Deploy anywhere
Concierge Migration Services
Not sure where to start? Share your Heroku setup with us and we'll provide a cost estimate and a clear migration path tailored to your app.
- Free cost savings estimate
- Step-by-step migration plan
- Hands-on help from real humans