Comparison
SeaGit vs Heroku
A fully-managed PaaS that runs on Heroku-owned infrastructure. Here is how SeaGit — a Kubernetes DevOps platform that deploys into your own cloud account — compares.
Is SeaGit a good Heroku alternative?
SeaGit is a Kubernetes-based Heroku alternative with one fundamental difference: your apps run in your own AWS account, not on Heroku-owned infrastructure. That means you keep full ownership of the cluster, avoid platform infrastructure markup, and can use any cloud service directly. SeaGit keeps the Heroku-style developer experience — connect GitHub, push, and it builds and deploys — while adding managed Kubernetes clusters, a one-click add-on catalogue (Argo CD, Argo CI, Tekton, Prometheus, MinIO, EBS), ephemeral preview deployments on isolated URLs, multi-cluster deployments and scheduled automation rules. Unlike Heroku, which removed its free dyno tier in November 2022, SeaGit still has a free plan (one cluster, one environment, 100 deployments/month); under SeaGit you pay your own cloud provider directly for compute rather than bundled per-dyno pricing.
SeaGit vs Heroku: feature comparison
Verified against Heroku's public documentation and pricing, October 2026. Check their site for changes since.
| Capability | SeaGit | Heroku |
|---|---|---|
| Where your apps run | ||
| Runs in your own cloud account (BYOC) Clusters and workloads are provisioned into your own AWS account, so you own the infrastructure and pay the cloud bill directly with no infrastructure markup. | ||
| Fully-managed Kubernetes clusters Provisions and manages real Kubernetes clusters (EKS and more) — not just an app runtime — including node groups, add-ons and upgrades. | ||
| Multi-cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) Deploy across more than one cloud provider from a single control plane. SeaGit provisions AWS (Amazon EKS) today; Azure and GCP are on the roadmap. | AWS today | |
| Multi-cluster deployments Deploy a single environment across several clusters (including across regions and accounts) for availability and reach. | ||
| Ship & automate | ||
| Build your own stack templates Compose Helm charts and Docker images into a private, reusable template with a typed input form, generated secrets, an install order and connection outputs. Paid plans. | app.json, one app | |
| RAG stack template A complete retrieval stack from one template: a Qdrant vector database, an answering API on Amazon Bedrock with citations, a web UI and document sync. Paid plans. | Build it yourself | |
| Database stack template PostgreSQL or MySQL with nightly backups to a new or existing S3 bucket, with optional KMS encryption. Paid plans. | Heroku Postgres (hosted) | |
| Redis stack template Valkey or Redis in your own AWS account: reachable from the cluster, your VPC or the internet over TLS with an IP allowlist, with nightly backups to your S3 bucket. Paid plans. | Key-Value Store (hosted) | |
| LLM gateway template (LiteLLM) An OpenAI-compatible LiteLLM gateway for Amazon Bedrock in your own AWS account, with per-team keys and budgets, an input guardrail and every call logged to your S3 bucket. Paid plans. | Managed Inference (hosted) | |
| Observability Cluster metrics through the Prometheus and metrics-server add-ons, plus an LLM usage dashboard for cost, blocked requests and traces with the gateway stack. | Metrics; log retention via add-ons | |
| Notebooks stack (JupyterHub) A multi-user JupyterHub in your own AWS account: SSO, GitHub or password sign-in, persistent home folders, idle shutdown and keyless S3 access. Paid plans. | ||
| Git push to deploy Connect GitHub and deploy automatically on every push — the classic PaaS developer experience. | ||
| Ephemeral / preview deployments Every push can spin up an isolated, real-infrastructure deployment on its own URL (a dark release) without touching the main deployment. | Review apps | |
| GitOps continuous delivery (Argo CD) One-click Argo CD add-on for Git-driven continuous delivery straight from your repositories. | ||
| In-cluster CI (build images in your cluster) Build container images and run CI pipelines inside your own cluster with Argo CI or Tekton — not on shared vendor build servers. | ||
| Automation rules (schedule scale / power) Automate cluster actions on a schedule or trigger — for example scale, power on and power off to cut cost. | ||
| Getting started & cost | ||
| Free plan A genuinely free tier for evaluation with one cluster, one environment and 100 deployments per month. | ||
| You pay the cloud provider directly SeaGit never marks up your compute — you own the cloud account and its bill. Heroku bundles compute into per-dyno pricing on its own infrastructure. | ||
Recently added to SeaGit
Newer SeaGit capabilities. Heroku's equivalents have not been checked yet, so they are listed here and not scored in the table above.
- Availability in one setting. Replicas, scheduling priority, spread across zones and nodes, and a disruption budget are set together per application.
- Safer Kubernetes upgrades. A version-skew guard blocks unsupported upgrade steps, and a failed node roll can be re-run.
- Build node groups. Node-group presets for build pipelines keep in-cluster image builds off the nodes serving your apps.
SeaGit vs Heroku: pricing & cost
SeaGit starts free — $0/month for one cluster, one environment and 100 deployments — and the Pro plan is $89.99/seat per month (save 11% billed annually). Because SeaGit is bring-your-own-cloud, you pay your cloud provider directly for compute with no infrastructure markup. Heroku prices per dyno on its own platform: Eco dynos start at $5/month on its pricing page (checked October 2026, https://www.heroku.com/pricing), and its free dyno tier ended on November 28, 2022. Your compute and platform cost arrive as one bill from Heroku.
Comparison reflects publicly documented details as of October 2026; check Heroku pricing for the latest figures.
When to choose Heroku, and when to choose SeaGit
Both tools deploy into your cloud account, so the choice comes down to what you need to control and what you want to avoid running.
Choose Heroku if
- You want zero infrastructure to run. Heroku operates the platform, so there is no AWS account, cluster or node group to own.
- You rely on Heroku add-ons and buildpacks for many languages. SeaGit does not replace the Heroku add-on marketplace one for one.
- You run one small app. Heroku Eco dynos start at $5/month, and SeaGit pays off once you have several services, environments or clusters.
Choose SeaGit if
- You want your apps in your own AWS account, with no markup on compute.
- You want Kubernetes-level control: node groups, add-ons, Argo CD GitOps and in-cluster CI.
- You want a preview deployment on its own URL for every commit.
- Limit: SeaGit runs on AWS only, and you need an AWS account plus basic Kubernetes concepts.
Moving from Heroku to SeaGit
A practical order of operations. Run the new environment alongside Heroku until traffic has moved and you have checked it.
- Create a SeaGit account, connect your AWS account and create a cluster (see the Getting Started docs).
- Choose a build type per app: a Dockerfile, or buildpack auto-detection for Node.js, Python, Go and Java (see the Applications docs). A Procfile in another language needs a Dockerfile.
- Re-enter config vars as SeaGit environment variables (see the Variables docs). The docs describe no config import.
- Provision your database in your AWS account and point DATABASE_URL at it. This page does not cover copying Heroku Postgres data.
- Deploy to a preview environment, check it, then use Mark as Main (see the Deployments docs).
- Point your domain at SeaGit (see the Domains docs), and scale down the Heroku app once traffic is confirmed.
SeaGit vs Heroku — FAQ
What is the best Heroku alternative for Kubernetes?
- SeaGit is a Kubernetes-based Heroku alternative that deploys into your own AWS account. You keep the Heroku-style push-to-deploy experience while owning managed Kubernetes clusters, add-ons and CI/CD.
Does SeaGit have a free plan like old Heroku?
- Yes. Heroku removed its free dyno tier in November 2022, but SeaGit still offers a free plan with one cluster, one environment and 100 deployments per month. You pay only your own cloud provider for the underlying compute.
Can I deploy to my own AWS account instead of Heroku dynos?
- Yes. Unlike Heroku, which runs on its own infrastructure, SeaGit provisions Kubernetes clusters inside your own AWS account, so your workloads and data stay in infrastructure you own.
Do I need Kubernetes expertise to move off Heroku?
- No. SeaGit automates cluster provisioning, add-ons and deployments so you get a Heroku-like workflow; engineers can still tune node groups and add-ons when needed.
Is there a Heroku alternative that runs on AWS?
- Yes. SeaGit deploys Kubernetes clusters and apps into your own AWS account, so the compute is billed by AWS, not by a Heroku dyno. SeaGit supports Dockerfile builds, buildpack auto-detection for Node.js, Python, Go and Java, and Helm charts.
What do I lose when moving from Heroku to SeaGit?
- Heroku runs the platform for you, including its add-on marketplace and managed Postgres and Redis. With SeaGit you own the AWS account and the cluster, you provision your own databases, and SeaGit runs on AWS only.