DreamHost vs Heroku

What DreamHost is

DreamHost offers several hosting families; this record focuses on current shared Web Hosting Launch, Growth and Scale plans. They combine managed shared infrastructure, NVMe storage, SSL, MySQL, mailboxes, backups and a proprietary control panel. Headline monthly equivalents require prepayment and renew at different rates, while sites, visits, storage, inodes, mailboxes and databases are tier-limited. “Unmetered” bandwidth remains subject to acceptable-use and shared-resource policies.

What Heroku is

Heroku is a proprietary platform as a service that builds and runs applications in managed dyno containers, with pipelines, logs, data products and marketplace add-ons. Eco provides 1,000 shared personal-account dyno hours for $5 monthly and sleeps inactive web apps; Basic and larger dynos are usage-prorated up to published monthly caps. Dyno filesystems are ephemeral, so durable state belongs in databases or object storage. Compute, data services, add-ons, CI, support and private networking must be costed together.

What DreamHost is built to do

Shared hosting tiers

Launch, Growth and Scale allocate increasing sites, visits, storage, inodes and databases.

Managed essentials

Provides SSL, panel-based administration, automated backups and traffic visibility.

Web and email hosting

Combines website hosting with plan-limited mailboxes and MySQL databases.

Promotional term pricing

Discounts the initial prepaid term and publishes a separate renewal rate.

What Heroku is built to do

Managed dynos

Runs isolated application processes with platform-managed cycling and replacement.

Release workflow

Builds deployable releases and supports pipelines, review apps and one-off administrative processes.

Data and add-ons

Attaches Heroku data products and third-party marketplace services to applications.

Runtime tiers

Offers sleeping personal Eco dynos through always-on production and isolated Private/Shield options.

Choose DreamHost if

• Small brochure, blog and business sites with predictable PHP/MySQL needs
• Multi-site portfolios that fit the chosen tier's explicit site and inode limits
• Buyers willing to price the full initial term, renewal, domain and email together

Skip DreamHost if

• The application needs dedicated compute, custom daemons, guaranteed resource isolation or root access
• The account would primarily store backups, archives or distributed files
• Independent file and database backups plus a tested migration path are not maintained

Choose Heroku if

• Conventional stateless web and worker applications needing fast deployment and managed runtime operations
• Small experiments on Eco where sleep and the shared 1,000-hour pool are acceptable
• Production services after sizing dynos, databases, add-ons, regions and support as one bill

Skip Heroku if

• The application needs persistent local disk, privileged host access or unusual infrastructure control
• Cold starts, a single Eco dyno per process type or hour exhaustion are unacceptable
• Data residency is assumed from the app region without reviewing control-plane and add-on behavior

DreamHost: pros & cons

• Bundled site basics: Shared plans include SSL, storage, MySQL, traffic tools and automated backups.
• Published renewal rates: Current plan cards show both promotional term prices and auto-renewal prices.
• Term flexibility: Monthly, annual and longer prepaid terms are available, with different effective rates.
• Defined tier capacity: Site, visit, storage, inode, subdomain, mailbox and database ceilings aid initial sizing.
• Large renewal delta: The cheapest advertised monthly equivalent requires a four-year term and renews at a higher rate.
• Shared-resource constraints: CPU, RAM, disk I/O and high-impact scripts remain governed despite unmetered bandwidth.
• Backups are not a guarantee: DreamHost says file snapshots are generally kept about two weeks and recommends independent copies; database restore is separate.
• Email and domain promotions expire: Included mailboxes and domain registration are time-limited offers with later charges.

Heroku: pros & cons

• Managed runtime: Heroku handles container placement, restarts and underlying operating-system administration.
• Simple release model: Source or container deployments, configuration variables and one-off commands support repeatable application delivery.
• Integrated ecosystem: Pipelines, review apps, Postgres, Key-Value Store and marketplace add-ons reduce integration work.
• Granular billing: Most dynos and data add-ons are prorated to the second up to a monthly maximum.
• No general free compute tier: Eco costs $5 monthly, is personal-app only and can exhaust its shared hour pool.
• Eco cold starts: Inactive web dynos sleep after 30 minutes and wake with a delay.
• Ephemeral local disk: Files written at runtime disappear across restarts, deploys or dyno replacement.
• Stacked cost: Production dynos, databases, add-ons, CI, teams and support can materially exceed the headline compute price.