Cancel Heroku in 2026: Escape the Post-Free-Tier Trap

Updated February 2026 • 7 min read

⚠️ Heroku eliminated free dynos in November 2022. If you have forgotten apps still running, they're billing $5-25/month each. Check your dashboard before you read further.

The Heroku Cost Creep

What used to be the go-to free hosting platform now charges:

Eco dynos: $5/month (shared across apps, 1000 hours/month)
Basic dynos: $7/month per app (always-on)
Standard dynos: $25-50/month per app
Heroku Postgres: $5-50/month per database
Heroku Redis: $15-60/month per instance
Add-ons: $5-200/month each (logging, monitoring, etc.)

A typical side project on Heroku now costs $15-30/month for what used to be free. A production app easily reaches $100-200/month.

How to Cancel Heroku

Step 1: Export Your Data

Database: Run heroku pg:backups:capture then heroku pg:backups:download
Environment variables: Run heroku config -a your-app-name and save the output
Source code: You already have this in Git (Heroku uses Git deploy)

Step 2: Delete Individual Apps

Go to dashboard.heroku.com
Click each app → Settings → scroll to bottom
Click "Delete App" and type the app name to confirm
Repeat for every app (check pipelines too)

Step 3: Close Your Account

Go to dashboard.heroku.com/account
Scroll to "Delete Account"
This removes all apps, databases, and billing
Confirm via email

Where to Migrate (Free Alternatives)

Railway ($5 credit/month free tier) — closest to Heroku's UX, GitHub deploy, Postgres included
Render (free static sites, $7/mo for services) — automatic deploys, free Postgres for 90 days
Fly.io (generous free tier) — global edge deployment, excellent for APIs
Vercel (free for frontend) — best for Next.js, React, static sites
Cloudflare Workers (100K requests/day free) — serverless, global edge, $0 for most side projects
Supabase (free Postgres + auth) — replaces Heroku Postgres + auth add-ons

Migration Checklist

List all Heroku apps: heroku apps
For each app, decide: migrate, archive, or delete
Export databases and env vars
Deploy to new platform and verify
Update DNS records (if using custom domains)
Delete Heroku apps and cancel billing
Monitor new platform for 48 hours before deleting Heroku account

🔍 Forgotten cloud bills adding up?

Heroku, AWS, DigitalOcean, domains, SaaS tools — upload your bank statement to JustCancel and we'll find every recurring charge.

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Quick Cancel Guide: Heroku

Direct cancel link + step-by-step instructions