PaaS Cost Calculator
Enter your workload (CPU, memory, storage, traffic) and see your real monthly bill across Heroku, Railway, Render, Vercel, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Elestio. Updated with 2026 pricing. No signup required.
On-Premise
Why this exists
PaaS pricing is intentionally complex
Two teams running identical workloads can pay 3-5x different prices depending on which platform they picked. And the platform marketing pages all look cheap until you do the math for your exact case.
Bundled add-ons inflate the bill
Heroku adds dyno hours plus add-on fees. Render adds bandwidth surcharges above included limits. The base price is rarely the real price.
Usage-based surprise charges
Railway and Cloud Run charge per CPU-hour and per GB-RAM-hour. A traffic spike can multiply your bill overnight. Hard to budget.
Per-seat multipliers
Vercel multiplies by user seats and feature tiers. A team of 10 hits the $200+/mo mark fast even before traffic.
What's included
What the calculator covers
Included in the math
- Compute (vCPU + RAM)
- Storage (SSD)
- Bandwidth / egress
- Database (often a hidden cost)
- SSL (free on modern platforms)
- Automated backups
- Monitoring
Not included (too variable)
- Team seats / per-user pricing
- Premium support tiers
- Custom integrations
- One-time setup costs
Reference pricing tables
Three workload profiles, side-by-side
Match your workload to the closest profile to estimate your bill.
Profile A: SaaS startup, 5K MAU
2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, Postgres 20 GB, Redis, 2 TB bandwidth.
Profile B: Mid-market B2B SaaS, 50K MAU
8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, Postgres 100 GB, Redis, 10 TB bandwidth.
Profile C: AI startup, GPU workload
8 vCPU + RTX 4090, 32 GB RAM, 200 GB SSD, RAG vector database.
Pricing sourced from each vendor's public pricing page as of May 2026. The Elestio numbers are the actual all-inclusive plan price. Other vendors require add-ons (DB, monitoring, backups, bandwidth) which are added explicitly above.
Interactive widget coming in our next release. Until then, use the reference tables above. If you need a custom calculation for your specific setup, contact support@elest.io.
Why Elestio wins
Why Elestio is typically the lowest cost
Flat per-hour pricing
No usage-based stacking, no per-request multipliers. The number you see is the number you pay.
Everything included
Backups, SSL, monitoring, updates, 24/7 support. No add-on marketplace, no surprise invoices.
Bandwidth included
20 TB on the $11 plan. No egress charges. Run a high-traffic API or media app without watching the meter.
Databases on the VM
Run Postgres, Redis, MongoDB on the same dedicated VM. No separate $50/mo database invoice.
Honest
When other platforms might be cheaper
Self-service is a feature. Here is when not to pick Elestio.
Cloud Run for spiky traffic
Very spiky traffic with long idle periods benefits from Cloud Run's scale-to-zero. Cold starts are acceptable.
Vercel for static sites
Vercel free tier is generous for static sites and Next.js with low traffic. Below the free tier threshold, hard to beat.
Heroku if locked in
If you have legacy Heroku-specific dependencies (Heroku Connect, custom buildpacks), the migration cost may exceed the monthly savings.
Save 80-90% on your PaaS bill
Most teams that try Elestio end up switching. Free trial, no credit card.
Reviews
Trusted by 10,000+ Developers Worldwide
Real reviews from real users on Trustpilot.
"I'm in the IT industry for over 25 years and Elestio stands out in many ways. The managed services are top-notch, support is incredibly fast, and the platform just works. Couldn't be better!"
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
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How accurate are the calculations?
Calculations are based on the official public pricing pages of each platform as of May 2026. Edge cases (volume discounts, enterprise pricing, specific regions) may vary. The tables give you the standard pricing for the workload profile you matched.
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Does the calculator account for hidden costs?
Yes for the main hidden costs: bandwidth, backups, SSL, basic monitoring, database add-ons. It does not account for team seats (Vercel), premium support, or custom integrations.
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Can I trust the Elestio numbers?
Yes. Elestio pricing is flat and public. The $11/month starter includes everything: compute, storage, bandwidth, SSL, backups, monitoring, updates. There are no hidden charges.
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What if my actual usage is different?
Use the workload profiles as anchor points. If you fall between two profiles, expect a price between the two. For a custom calculation contact support@elest.io.
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Are these prices in USD?
Yes. All prices on this page, including Elestio and every provider compared (Heroku, Render, Railway, Vercel, AWS, Cloud Run), are shown in USD.
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Can you add Coolify, Fly.io, DigitalOcean App Platform to the comparison?
We are expanding the calculator. If you need a specific platform in the comparison, contact support@elest.io.
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