AWS Elastic Beanstalk vs Heroku
As technology advances, companies continue to move their infrastructure onto the cloud with Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings. AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Heroku are popular choices for cloud automation. But which is the better option? Let's compare the two.
Cost
When it comes to pricing, Heroku has a simple and transparent pricing model, with three options: Free, Hobby, and Standard. Free is limited, while Hobby starts at $7 per month and has more features, and Standard starts at $25 per month and offers even more features. On the other hand, AWS Elastic Beanstalk’s pricing is based upon usage, and can vary depending on the infrastructure used. However, they do offer a free tier for each resource for up to 12 months, which is great for startups.
Control
AWS Elastic Beanstalk provides complete control over the infrastructure used compared to Heroku, which abstracts the underlying hardware and provides fewer options for customization. With Elastic Beanstalk, you can modify the instance type, operating system and language version, configure security groups, and change load balancer settings. In contrast, Heroku abstracts these choices from the user, making them more straightforward to deal with.
Performance
Both Heroku and AWS Elastic Beanstalk guarantee a certain level of performance, but Elastic Beanstalk can have a faster startup time. Elastic Beanstalk’s instance types can range from small to large and can be customized with enhanced networking. However, Heroku has a faster load time than Elastic Beanstalk as it runs entirely on the Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Ease of use
For developers, Heroku is an excellent choice as it requires no configuration or setup. The platform is simple to utilize and is compatible with a variety of languages, such as Java, Ruby, and Node.js. Elastic Beanstalk provides more control but requires more manual configuration.
Conclusion
Both AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Heroku have unique features that can help businesses in different ways. AWS Elastic Beanstalk offers flexibility and control, while Heroku prioritizes ease of use and load time. Ultimately, it comes down to the needs of the business and the particular use case.