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A Heroku alternative, and what replaces dynos and add-ons

Q: Does Stackap read my Procfile?

No. It looks at package.json or a Dockerfile. A web process becomes a start script.

Stackap is an alternative to Heroku for web apps that want git-push deploys, Postgres and cron on a server they own, with containers and copies in place of dynos, and no add-on marketplace.

The short answer

Heroku popularized the push-to-deploy loop that Stackap also offers. The vocabulary is what differs: Heroku has buildpacks, a Procfile, dynos and add-ons, while Stackap has a Dockerfile or a recognized project type, containers, copies and a short list of built-in services.

If your app is a web process and a Postgres database, translation is straightforward. If it leans on many add-ons or on worker dynos, there is more to replace.

One thing to check before anything else is the release phase. Many Heroku apps run database migrations there. Stackap has no release phase, so migrations move into a script you run before deploying, or into the app's own start-up, written so that running twice is safe.

Side by side

Heroku concept	Stackap equivalent	Gap
Buildpacks	Generated Dockerfile for Node and static projects	No buildpacks for other languages; bring a Dockerfile
Procfile process types	One web process per project	No worker or release process types
Dynos and scaling	Copies, 1 to 8, on one server	Operator-set, no autoscaling
Heroku Postgres	A private Postgres per project	No follower databases, no point-in-time recovery yet
Add-ons marketplace	Built-in storage, cron and backups	No marketplace
Review apps and pipelines	None	Use a staging project
Scheduler	Cron: scheduled calls to a path	UTC only
Config vars	Encrypted environment variables	No reveal, no history

Choose Heroku if

You depend on several add-ons for logging, search, queues or email that have no built-in equivalent here.
You run worker dynos or release phases.
You use pipelines and review apps as part of your release process.

Choose Stackap if

Your app is a Node or static project, or already has a Dockerfile.
You want a fixed cost for the whole fleet of small apps.
You want to own the database encryption and the backup bucket.

What the money looks like

Heroku prices dynos and add-ons by plan, and prices change, so read its pricing page. The shape of the saving is the same as elsewhere: Stackap sells the software and you buy the capacity directly.

Add-ons are where hidden cost sits on a long-lived Heroku app. List every one before you compare, and decide for each whether Stackap's built-in service, a separate provider or nothing replaces it.

Early-access scope

No add-on marketplace, so each add-on has to be replaced individually.
No languages beyond Node and static without a Dockerfile.
No review apps, pipelines, worker dynos or release phases.
Backups are daily, with no point-in-time recovery.

Questions

What is the best alternative to Heroku?

For a Node or static web app and a Postgres database, Stackap gives you the same git-push loop for the cost of a server. For apps built on worker dynos and many add-ons, a hosted platform is closer.

Does Stackap read my Procfile?

No. It looks at package.json or a Dockerfile. A web process becomes a start script.

Can I scale like dynos?

Only in one way: an operator can run one to eight copies of the web process on the server. There is no per-process-type scaling and no autoscaling.

How do I run migrations?

Run them as a script before you deploy, or at the app's start-up in a way that is safe to repeat, since there is no release phase.

Where do my add-on settings go?

Into environment variables, set one at a time, for whatever replaces each add-on.

Facts about other products on this page were last checked on 2026-10-03. Check their own pages before you decide.

Stackap is in early access. Tell us what you run and we will reply with a straight answer about whether it fits.

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Last updated 2026-10-03.