New Platform as a Service players are emerging with offers better suited to modern business needs. Among them, Clever Cloud stands out as the most relevant Heroku alternative for organizations, combining performance, compliance, and cost control.

A smooth, complete developer experience

Clever Cloud takes what made Heroku successful — git push deployment, easy configuration, autoscaling — and enhances it with integrated tools that remove reliance on third-party add-ons. The platform includes Grafana and Elastic APM for observability, managed databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, Kafka) with automatic backups, and S3-compatible object storage (Cellar). A Keycloak as a Service is also available to handle authentication (OIDC, SAML, LDAP) effortlessly. The result: less manual configuration, more time focused on business value.

European data sovereignty and compliance

While Heroku primarily hosts in the United States, Clever Cloud prioritizes hosting in the European Union or in zones not subject to extraterritorial laws such as FISA or the Cloud Act. This sovereign approach directly meets GDPR requirements and the needs of organizations in the public sector, healthcare, or finance. In addition, Clever Cloud is pursuing SecNumCloud certification, an extra layer of trust for sensitive projects.

Clear and predictable pricing

PaaS users know how quickly costs can become unpredictable, especially with external add-ons. Clever Cloud uses a transparent pricing model, based on the size and number of instances and add-ons. An online cost simulator is available to estimate budgets precisely. This clarity makes financial planning easier and prevents unwanted surprises.

Security and reliability at the core

Security is not an optional add-on at Clever Cloud; it’s built in from the start. The infrastructure is designed for high availability, resilience, and compliance. The ongoing SecNumCloud process aims to meet the highest standards, placing Clever Cloud among the few European PaaS providers able to combine ease of use with advanced security.

Why Clever Cloud is the best Heroku alternative today

Choosing Clever Cloud means opting for:

• A modern PaaS experience that keeps Heroku’s simplicity while adding more native features.
• Sovereign hosting compliant with European regulations.
• Predictable costs, thanks to clear pricing and a public simulator.
• Enhanced security, suited to critical environments.

Conclusion

While Heroku has made history in the PaaS world, Clever Cloud is writing its future in Europe. By combining performance, compliance, transparency, and integrated tools, it offers development teams an environment where simplicity does not come at the cost of control. To see the difference for yourself, simply deploy your first application on Clever Cloud — in minutes, you’ll feel the gain in efficiency and peace of mind.

FAQ: Everything You Need to Know About Clever Cloud as a Heroku Alternative

1. What is a Heroku alternative?

A Heroku alternative is a cloud PaaS (Platform as a Service) that lets you deploy and manage applications without managing infrastructure. Clever Cloud is one such platform, with similar features.

2. Why choose a PaaS like Heroku or Clever Cloud?

A PaaS lets developers focus on code and business value without spending time managing servers, OS updates, or infrastructure. It’s a major productivity boost, while benefiting from integrated tools for security, scalability, and observability.

3. Why choose Clever Cloud over Heroku?

Clever Cloud offers a similar experience but guarantees EU-based hosting, GDPR compliance, transparent pricing, and native tools like S3-compatible storage, Keycloak IAM, and built-in observability.

4. Is Clever Cloud compatible with my current tools?

Yes. The platform supports major languages, frameworks, and databases, as well as standards like S3, OIDC/SAML, and common CI/CD protocols.

5. How does Clever Cloud handle security?

Security is built in by default: application isolation, automatic backups, encryption in transit and at rest, and a clear path toward SecNumCloud certification.

6. Is Clever Cloud more expensive or cheaper than Heroku?

It depends on usage. Pricing models are broadly similar, but Clever Cloud’s transparency often makes costs easier to control.

7. Can I easily migrate an application from Heroku to Clever Cloud?

Yes. In many cases, simply adjusting environment variables and configuration is enough to move from Heroku to Clever Cloud.

Dans ce formidable épisode nous parlons de la disparition des protocoles TLS 1.0 et 1.1 sur Clever Cloud, de notre Operator pour Kubernetes, de Rolland Garros sauce NFT, des drivers Nvidia en open source pour Linux, des suites du DDos du bloggeur Amos, de sécurité autour d'Heroku et de Doctolib, de développement de module Kernel en Rust avant de présenter l'outil de la semaine pour enfin finir en musique.

👋 Venez discuter avec nous sur @clever_cloudFR pour nous dire ce que vous avez pensé de ce nouvel épisode.

➡️ Pour découvrir ou réécouter d’anciens épisodes c’est par ici !

Timecode & Liens

00:00:00 Introduction et présentation d’Alexandre Gourdel

Avant de passer aux sujets de sociétés, quelques annonces de Clever Cloud

00:09:40 Removal of tls 1.0 and 1.1 (Clément)
https://www.clever.cloud/blog/engineering/2022/05/03/removal-of-tls-1-0-and-1-1-from-our-load-balancers-on-june-30/

00:12:40 Et si on testait le Clever Operator pour Kubernetes ? (Florentin)
https://blog.zwindler.fr/2022/05/17/et-si-on-testait-clever-kubernetes-operator/
https://www.clever.cloud/blog/engineering/2022/04/28/introducing-the-clever-cloud-rust-sdk/

00:15:56 Kubernetes 1.24: Introducing Non-Graceful Node Shutdown Alpha (Florentin)
https://kubernetes.io/blog/2022/05/20/kubernetes-1-24-non-graceful-node-shutdown-alpha/

00:19:05 Le sport se met aux NFT (Alexandre)
https://www.francetvinfo.fr/sports/manne-financiere-communaute-de-fans-elargie-attrait-des-sponsors-les-nft-nouvel-eldorado-dans-le-monde-du-sport_5116483.html
https://club.rolandgarros.com/fr
Un détenteur d’un NFT « RG Game, Seat & Match » bénéficiera de nombreux avantages : accès à la version virtuelle du court Philippe-Chatrier ainsi qu’à des expériences exceptionnelles (jouer sur les courts de Roland-Garros, remporter des billets pour les prochaines éditions du Grand Chelem parisien et du Rolex Paris Masters, visiter les coulisses du stade Roland-Garros…). Acquérir un NFT de cette collection, c’est aussi rejoindre une communauté de fans engagés, avec qui échanger et partager votre passion.

00:28:32 Nvidia ouvre les drivers linux de ses cartes graphiques (Clément)
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=nvidia-open-kernel&num=1
En fait ils ont pas le choix
Quelques jours plus tôt, y’a deux boîtes qui ont réussi à casser LHR grâce à la fuite de février.

00:34:22 Amos a amélioré son serveur HTTP perso suite à un DDoS (Julien)
https://twitter.com/fasterthanlime/status/1520937581059448838
https://fasterthanli.me/articles/i-won-free-load-testing

00:45:45 À quoi ressemble la gestion d’un gros incident sécu, l'exemple Heroku
https://status.heroku.com/incidents/2413?updated
Tweet du seum pour heroku

00:52:48 La sécurité pour les nuls
https://www.francetvinfo.fr/internet/securite-sur-internet/enquete-doctolib-certaines-donnees-medicales-ne-sont-pas-entierement-protegees_5147644.html
Article touilleur : https://www.touilleur-express.fr/2022/03/08/le-chiffrement-de-bout-en-bout-et-la-signature-denveloppe/

01:02:00 Things Are Getting Rusty In Kernel Land (Florentin)
https://hackaday.com/2022/05/17/things-are-getting-rusty-in-kernel-land/
Conférence de Georges Thomas sur “Comment développer un module kernel en Rust”
Pourquoi des modules en Rust, plutôt qu’un autre langage ?
As kernel second-in-command [Greg Kroah-Hartman] put it, “drivers are probably the first place for an attempt like this as they are the ‘end leafs’ of the tree of dependencies in the kernel source. They depend on core kernel functionality, but nothing depends on them.”
Mais qu’est-ce qui se passe ? Que se passe-t-il ?
At some point in the future, one of the interested parties, like Google, would start writing new drivers in Rust. Google seems to be very interested in converting parts of Android to Rust, likely in an attempt to thwart the continued pwnage of their OS from the likes of the NSO group.
Another interesting connection is that [Miguel Ojeda], lead developer of the Rust for Linux effort, is now employed full time by Prossimo for that purpose. Prossimo is an arm of the Internet Security Research Group, which is also famous for leading Let’s Encrypt.

01:10:45 L'Outil de la semaine
https://vscodecandothat.com/

01:16:13 La musique de l’épisode : Billy Paul - Your Song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbgYUj3jQoI