Moving from Heroku to Google Cloud Compute Engine
Heroku's pricing has crept up, and you're wondering if there's a better option. Google Cloud offers automatic sustained-use discounts and custom machine types, but expensive minimum Redis tiers and egress pricing can limit your savings. Here's an honest breakdown of what you'd gain, what you'd lose, and whether the switch makes sense for your team.
Cost Comparison
Estimated Monthly Savings
~$54/month
That's approximately 27% less per month
Google Cloud's Memorystore Redis has a 1 GB minimum ($36/month), 12x more expensive than Heroku's 25 MB tier. Consider self-managing Redis on your app server to avoid this cost. Sustained Use Discounts (up to 30%) apply automatically to always-on workloads and are reflected in the estimates above.
What You'll Gain
Automatic Sustained Use Discounts
GCP automatically reduces costs by up to 30% for VMs running more than 25% of the month without long-term commitments.
Custom machine types
Pay for exactly the vCPUs and memory you need rather than choosing from fixed sizes. A 5% premium for the flexibility, but no wasted resources.
Committed Use Discounts
Lock in 1-year for 37% off or 3-year for 55-70% off, among the deepest discounts in the industry.
Global infrastructure
40+ regions worldwide including 6 US regions. Strong presence across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
Live VM migration
Google's infrastructure performs maintenance without rebooting your VMs, so zero-downtime updates happen invisibly.
Cloud SQL quality
Managed PostgreSQL with automatic backups, point-in-time recovery, and high-availability options. Well-regarded in the industry.
ARM-based options
C4A instances (based on Google Axion) provide competitive ARM performance for compatible workloads.
Strong compliance
SOC 1/2/3, PCI DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP High, ISO 27001. Comprehensive certifications for regulated industries.
What You'll Lose
Cheap data transfer
Network egress costs $0.12/GB for the first tier (to most destinations), among the most expensive in the industry. Cross-zone traffic adds $0.01/GB.
Simple networking
VPCs, firewall rules, and service accounts require learning. Simpler than AWS but still a step up from Heroku.
Integrated logging and metrics
Cloud Logging and Monitoring exist but require configuration. Log ingestion costs add up at scale.
Built-in autoscaling
Managed Instance Groups can autoscale but require setup. Not turnkey like Heroku.
Review apps and pipelines
You'd need to build these yourself or use Cloud Build.
Add-on simplicity
GCP has services for most needs, but integration requires more work than Heroku's marketplace.
Hands-off server maintenance
OS updates, security patches, and firewall configuration for your Compute Engine VMs are your responsibility. Heroku handles this invisibly.
Should You Switch?
- Your team already uses Google Cloud or you're building GCP expertise
- You want to commit to 1-3 year terms for 37-70% additional savings
- You want automatic sustained-use discounts without managing reservations
- Custom machine types appeal to you so you pay for exactly what you need
- Simple, predictable billing matters more than potential savings
- Your team has no existing GCP experience and doesn't need to build it
- You heavily depend on Heroku add-ons that don't have easy replacements
- You need features like review apps without building custom CI/CD
Ready to Make the Switch?
Want help with the migration? I offer a done-for-you Heroku Exit Plan service that handles the entire transition—infrastructure setup, deployment configuration, database migration, and ongoing support.
Learn more about the Heroku Exit Plan