We tried the top PaaS providers so you don’t have to

This is the Northflank blog, and we do think Northflank is the best Platform as a Service (PaaS) out there.

But we also know picking a platform is a serious decision, and most of the existing content out there doesn’t give you the full picture. We’ve spent time with the tools on this list. We’ve run into edge cases, scaling issues, pricing traps.

So we put this together to give you a clear, detailed view of what each platform offers and how they compare. We’ll make the case for Northflank as the best PaaS, but we’ll back it up with specifics. If you're evaluating platforms, this should save you hours.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is a deployment environment that abstracts away the infrastructure layer. Instead of configuring servers or writing Kubernetes manifests, developers can push code and have it running in production in seconds.

• Runtime management: Automatically handle language runtimes and dependency isolation.
• Build pipelines: Trigger builds from Git, support Dockerfiles or buildpacks.
• Networking: Auto-provision HTTPS, load balancing, and custom domains.
• Environment variables & secrets: Inject at runtime with security controls.
• Scaling & availability: Scale horizontally, auto-heal crashed instances.
• Preview environments: On-demand clones of your stack for every pull request.
• Logging & monitoring: Access logs, metrics, and alerts without configuring Grafana or Loki.

• IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service): You manage the VMs, OS, and container runtime. Full control, full responsibility.
• PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service): You focus on your app. The platform runs it, secures it, and scales it.
• SaaS (Software-as-a-Service): You consume the final product. No control, but zero maintenance.

PaaS sits in the middle: fast deployment with enough power under the hood to customize and scale when needed.

Northflank is a modern PaaS built on Kubernetes, but it abstracts away all the complexity. You never touch YAML unless you want to.

It offers CI/CD automation, microVM-based isolation, fine-grained RBAC, true multi-cloud and BYOC support, and a clean developer experience via both UI and API.

Key features:

• CI/CD: Per-branch pipelines, artifact storage, zero-config setup. Build every commit with logs and caching.
• Runtime options: Use Dockerfiles or buildpacks. Auto-detects runtime if unspecified.
• Multi-cloud Kubernetes: Deploy to Northflank’s infra or bring your own (AWS, GCP, Azure). BYOC comes with deep integration and network control.
• Security: MicroVMs for workload isolation, RBAC, encrypted secrets at rest and injection at runtime.
• Networking: Auto TLS, traffic splitting, real-time logs, custom domains.
• Preview environments: Full, ephemeral clones per PR.
• Observability: Metrics, logs, and tracing baked in, no setup required.

Pricing: Free tier available. Paid starts at ~$5/container/month. Enterprise BYOC plans available on request.

Best for: Teams who want the power of Kubernetes without managing it. Especially if you care about enterprise-grade security and deployment speed.

Pros:

• Real Kubernetes under the hood, abstracted away
• BYOC with deep integration (networking, IAM, observability)
• Fast CI/CD and instant preview environments
• Secure by default (microVMs, encrypted secrets, RBAC)

Cons:

• Requires a bit more upfront understanding than Heroku/Railway
• BYOC setup requires enterprise plan (though it’s robust)

Heroku was the original developer-friendly PaaS. It’s still easy to use, but it’s stuck in 2014. No Docker support, no container-level controls, and cold start delays make it hard to recommend for serious production use.

Key features:

• CI/CD: Git push to deploy. No support for Docker or CI customization.
• Scaling: Scale horizontally/vertically per dyno. No visibility into underlying resources.
• Add-ons: Large marketplace for services like Postgres, Redis, and monitoring tools.
• Limitations: No support for microservices, multi-region, or BYO cloud.

Pricing: No more free tier. Hobby: $5/dyno/month. Standard starts at $25/dyno/month. Enterprise pricing is opaque.

Best for: Prototypes, hobby projects, or teaching. Not production-ready for modern apps.

Pros:

• Fast to get started
• Large add-on ecosystem
• Simple Git-based deploys

Cons:

• No Docker support, no access to infra details
• No real support for microservices or custom networking
• Performance issues (cold starts, noisy neighbors)
• Expensive at scale

Render takes what made Heroku great and adds modern infrastructure: Docker support, autoscaling, better observability, and no arbitrary limits.

Key features:

• CI/CD: GitHub/GitLab-based deploys. Supports Docker and buildpacks.
• Scaling: Autoscale web services. Background workers and cron jobs supported.
• Databases: Built-in PostgreSQL and Redis.
• Secrets: Managed securely and injected into runtime.
• Preview environments: Available, but gated on higher plans.

Pricing: Free tier available. Web services from $7/month. Autoscaling from $20/month. Databases priced separately.

Best for: Teams outgrowing Heroku, looking for more flexibility without managing raw Kubernetes.

Pros:

• Docker and buildpack support
• Easy autoscaling and preview environments
• Better visibility into performance than Heroku

Cons:

• BYOC not supported
• Previews and scaling features can be limited on lower plans
• Databases are basic (no VPC peering, limited control)

Railway is all about speed. You can go from zero to running app and database in under a minute. But the tradeoff is limited control and no real infrastructure knobs.

Key features:

• CI/CD: Git-based deploys, preview environments auto-created.
• Databases: Easy provisioning for Postgres, MySQL, Redis.
• Scaling: Abstracted. You can’t choose CPU/memory settings directly.
• Secrets: Basic .env management.
• Limitations: No granular runtime control. Preview environments are less configurable.

Pricing: Free tier. Paid starts at $5/month (Starter), $12/month (Developer), and scales up from there.

Best for: Solo developers, MVPs, and hackathons. Not ready for complex workloads.

Pros:

• Extremely fast to spin up projects
• Great onboarding and UI
• Built-in databases and preview envs

Cons:

• No infra knobs (can’t control CPU, memory, networking)
• Lacks deep observability and security features
• Hard to use for anything complex or multi-service

App Engine is Google Cloud’s original PaaS product. It’s a good fit if you’re already deep in the GCP ecosystem, but lacks flexibility and forces vendor lock-in.

CI/CD: Via Cloud Build, Cloud Deploy, or manual deploys.

Runtime: Offers "standard" environments (sandboxed, opinionated) and "flexible" environments (more control, higher cost).

Scaling: Strong autoscaling and zero-to-one cold start performance.

Networking: Tightly integrated with Google-managed load balancers and IAM.

Observability: Uses Stackdriver suite for logging, tracing, and monitoring.

Powerful for simple use cases within GCP, but not portable or developer-friendly for broader workloads.

Pricing: Free tier. Standard: ~$0.05/hour. Flexible env: more expensive.

Pros:

• Tight integration with GCP IAM, VPCs, and Stackdriver
• Strong autoscaling and performance
• Standard and flexible runtimes available

Cons:

• Vendor lock-in is severe
• CI/CD and deploy UX is clunky
• Config and runtime limits in “standard” env are painful

Microsoft’s App Service is a fully managed platform that integrates tightly with Azure’s enterprise tools. Strong for corporate environments, but the UX and flexibility can frustrate smaller teams.

CI/CD: Native GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps support.

Scaling: Manual or rule-based autoscaling. Good regional redundancy options.

Runtime: Supports .NET, Node, Java, PHP, Python, and custom containers.

Networking: Can integrate with VNets, staging slots, and private endpoints.

Security: Uses Azure Key Vault, RBAC, and integration with Microsoft Entra ID.

Pricing: Free tier. Basic from $13/month. Premium from $55+/month.

Best when you already use Azure. Not ideal for startups or teams moving fast.

Pros:

• Excellent for .NET and Microsoft-native teams
• Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions support
• Strong enterprise-grade features (Key Vault, VNets)

Cons:

• Poor UX for small teams/startups
• Limited community and docs compared to Heroku-style tools
• Complicated to debug and observe workloads

A simplified PaaS offering from DigitalOcean. Easy to use, affordable, and decent for smaller workloads, but lacks advanced control for complex setups.

CI/CD: Deploy from GitHub or GitLab. Supports Docker-based deploys.

Scaling: Auto-scales vertically or horizontally.

Networking: Auto TLS, HTTP/2, custom domains.

Preview Environments: Supported, with limitations.

Secrets: Basic variable injection via the UI.

Pricing: Starter: $5/month. Basic containers: $12/month. Pro scales up.

Great for beginners or cost-conscious teams. Less appealing at scale.

Pros:

• Affordable and beginner-friendly
• Docker support out of the box
• Clean UI and simple deploys

Cons:

• Lacks advanced autoscaling or BYOC
• Poor for multi-service or high-scale apps
• Observability is shallow compared to others

CapRover is an open-source, self-hosted PaaS you install on your own server. It’s simple, powerful, and cheap—but everything is on you.

CI/CD: Manual deploys or via Docker/webhooks.

Scaling: Manual only.

Add-ons: One-click app install system.

Secrets: Managed via dashboard or CLI.

Preview Environments: Not supported out of the box.

Pricing: Free. Just pay for your VPS/server.

Perfect for devs who want full control and minimal cost. But no support, no autoscaling, and no managed infra.

Pros:

• Full control, zero platform fees
• One-click apps, easy Docker deploys
• Ideal for hobbyists or lean teams with ops skills

Cons:

• No autoscaling, preview envs, or monitoring built-in
• No support or managed infra
• Security and uptime are fully on you