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Comparison

Laravel Forge vs Heroku

Laravel Forge and Heroku both land on Depends.

Heroku

heroku.com

Depends
Confidence: Medium

Buy Heroku if you want zero-ops deploys and will pay a premium for convenience, especially on Rails, Django, Node, or with Salesforce.

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Laravel Forge versus Heroku
CompareLaravel ForgeHeroku
VerdictDependsDepends
Best forFreelancers shipping client PHP appsRails/Django/Node teams wanting zero-ops deploys
Who it's not forNon-developers . this is a server tool, not a site builderHobbyists wanting a free tier . eliminated in 2022
PrivacyNo public Forge breaches found; the Laravel ecosystem had a May 2026 supply-chain attack and active framework CVEs.⁵ISO/SOC/HIPAA/PCI compliant, but a 2022 attack using stolen OAuth tokens exposed customer credentials.
Support qualityNo support evidence in reviewed sourcesMultiple complaints, including breach-report handling
Public sentimentUsers rate Laravel very highly, but these sources review the framework far more than Forge itself.⁷Reviewers still praise the effortless deploys but increasingly complain about price, support, and whether Heroku has fallen behind newer platforms.12
Biggest gotchaMay 2026 supply-chain attack on laravel-lang packages . vet composer dependencies⁵Consumption pricing stacks up: dynos plus add-ons plus managed data services; enterprise tier rising

Pick Laravel Forge when

  • Freelancers shipping client PHP apps
  • Small teams with no DevOps hire
  • Laravel devs on raw VPS

When Laravel Forge is not a fit

  • Non-developers . this is a server tool, not a site builder
  • Shops not deploying PHP or Laravel
  • Teams already on Kubernetes with platform staff
  • Anyone wanting usage-based pricing . try Laravel Cloud instead

Pick Heroku when

  • Rails/Django/Node teams wanting zero-ops deploys
  • Salesforce-centric shops (Heroku Connect)
  • Startups to mid-size SaaS prioritizing speed
  • Teams avoiding DevOps hiring

When Heroku is not a fit

  • Hobbyists wanting a free tier . eliminated in 2022
  • Cost-sensitive teams; plain VMs, Railway, or Render cost far less
  • Solo devs hosting one simple app . overkill
  • Teams needing deep infrastructure control or Kubernetes-style config

Sources

  1. Laravel Forge . product pageforge.laravel.com
    official
  2. Forge . flat-rate pricinglaravel.com
    official
  3. Laravel Cloud pricinglaravel.com
    official
  4. Forge product security pageforge.laravel.com
    security
  5. Supply-chain attack targets laravel-lang packagesaikido.dev
    security
  6. CRLF injection in default email rulegithub.com
    security
  7. Community thoughts on Laravelreddit.com
    review
  8. Laravel Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.com
    review
  9. Laravel raises $57M Series A from Accellaravel-news.com
    news
  10. Accel's investment in Laravelaccel.com
    news
  11. Salesforce Heroku Reviews . G2g2.com
    review
  12. Heroku Reviews . Gartner Peer Insightsgartner.com
    review
  13. Heroku Reviews . Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  14. Heroku announces plans to eliminate free plans . TechCrunchtechcrunch.com
    news
  15. Salesforce buys Heroku for $212M . TechCrunchtechcrunch.com
    news
  16. Heroku admits customer credentials stolen . BleepingComputerbleepingcomputer.com
    security