Should I use Heroku or Render for app deployment?

If you want the short answer: for most new apps, I’d lean toward Render.
If you want the most “it just works” and you don’t mind paying more, Heroku is still very polished.

Quick comparison

Choose Heroku if you want:

• a very mature platform with a long track record
• strong ecosystem and add-ons
• a simple deployment experience
• a team already familiar with Heroku

Choose Render if you want:

• lower-cost deployment for many common use cases
• a more modern developer experience
• straightforward hosting for web apps, background workers, cron jobs, static sites, and databases
• a good balance of simplicity and affordability

Key differences

• Pricing: Render is often cheaper for small projects and startups.
• Ease of use: Both are easy, but Heroku is the classic “push code and go” experience.
• Features: Heroku has a deeper ecosystem; Render covers most common app needs well.
• Scaling: Both can scale, but Heroku is often favored in more established orgs.
• Database and services: Render’s built-in services are attractive; Heroku’s add-ons are mature but can get expensive.

My practical recommendation

• Solo project / startup / side project: Render
• Production app with a team and existing Heroku knowledge: Heroku
• If cost matters a lot: Render
• If you prioritize platform maturity and ecosystem: Heroku

If you tell me:

1. your app stack,
2. expected traffic, and
3. whether you need a database/worker/cron jobs,

I can give you a much more specific recommendation.