A Python-native Heroku alternative
The Heroku workflow, on a server you own.
Git-push deploys and managed Postgres, without renting dynos and add-ons by the month. You bring a cheap VPS, Pyvolt runs it, and the bill stops climbing with every dyno.
Heroku set the standard, and still charges like it.
Heroku taught a generation how deploys should feel, and push-to-deploy is muscle memory for a reason: a simple dashboard, a deep add-on marketplace. Then it made all that expensive, a web dyno, a worker dyno, a database and a Redis add-on, each a line item that creeps well past what the same app costs on one box. Pyvolt keeps that git-push workflow on a VPS you own, for a flat fee.
Your box, not a rented dyno
On Heroku your app runs on dynos you rent by the hour on their platform. With Pyvolt it runs on your VPS, with root SSH and your data on a machine you control. Cancel and it keeps running; there's no platform to be evicted from.
A flat fee, not per-dyno metering
A real Django app is a web dyno, a worker dyno, a Postgres, and a Redis add-on. On Heroku that's four charges, and a second dyno roughly doubles your compute. Pyvolt is one flat plan fee, and all of it runs on the single box you already pay your VPS provider for.
No add-on tax
Heroku nudges you toward paid add-ons for things a normal server just has. On your own box, Postgres, Redis, cron and workers are simply there, managed by Pyvolt, with no marketplace meter running.
What a real Heroku dyno setup costs
Price your real setup on Heroku, then see it on a box you own. Heroku prices are mid-2026 and approximate; check heroku.com for current numbers.
Your Heroku setup
On Pyvolt
All on one box, nothing rented separately:
You pay the provider directly.
You'd save about
/ year
% less than Heroku, on a box you own.
Pyvolt vs Heroku, line by line
| FEATURE | PYVOLT | HEROKU |
|---|---|---|
| Where your app runs | A VPS you own | Heroku's dynos |
| Cost model | Flat plan fee + your VPS | Per-dyno + per-add-on |
| Cost ceiling | Predictable | Climbs with every dyno/add-on |
| Git-push deploy | Yes | Yes |
| Managed Postgres | Yes | Yes |
| Managed Redis | Yes | Add-on |
| Zero-downtime deploys | Blue/green + migration safety | Preboot (paid) |
| One-click rollback | Yes | Yes |
| Root SSH to the box | Yes | No |
| Sleeps when idle | Never (always-on box) | Eco dynos sleep |
| Own your data | Yes | No |
| Command-line interface | Full CLI (JSON out, LLM-friendly) | Mature CLI |
| Config as code | UI + pyvolt.toml, in sync | Procfile / app.json |
| Python / Django depth | Native (Django, FastAPI, Flask) | General-purpose |
Moving off Heroku? Start here.
Is Pyvolt cheaper than Heroku?
For a typical Django app (web + worker + Postgres + Redis), usually several times cheaper, because you pay one flat plan fee plus a cheap VPS instead of renting each dyno and add-on. Try the calculator above with your own setup.
Do I have to manage the server?
No. Pyvolt provisions and runs the box, Nginx, Postgres, Redis, SSL, deploys, the same hands-off feel as Heroku. The box just happens to be yours.
How hard is it to move off Heroku?
Not hard. Heroku already makes you read config from environment variables, so your app is portable by default. Point Pyvolt at the same repo, copy your config vars, and deploy.
Does Pyvolt have add-ons like Heroku?
The common ones (Postgres, Redis, scheduled jobs, workers) are built in and managed, no marketplace. Pyvolt is Python-native (Django, FastAPI, Flask) and focuses there.
Already on Heroku? Your app already reads its config from environment variables (Heroku requires it), so moving to Pyvolt is mostly pointing it at the same repo and copying your config vars across. Same git-push feel, your own box.
Deploy to a box you ownFree to try, no card. See pricing.