Heroku is a cloud platform as a service (PaaS) that enables developers to build, run, and manage applications entirely in the cloud. Heroku is a polyglot platform, meaning it supports a wide range of programming languages and frameworks, including Node.js, Java, Ruby, Python, PHP, Go, and Scala. It also provides services such as data stores, logging, and third-party add-ons to help developers quickly and easily build, deploy, and manage their applications. Heroku also provides users with a convenient web-based interface that makes it easy to manage applications and add-ons. Additionally, developers can use Heroku's powerful command-line interface to manage their applications and take advantage of the platform's powerful features.
Includes a local development environment tool that makes development more enjoyable and ensures parity with production.
Nanobox has all the features of Heroku to simplify deployments, but does not limit it to AWS.
Both provide hosting, sure. But there's a lot more to Heroku than providing a server.
Scalingo is fully compatible with Heroku.
Amazon needs your credit card, even though it says free for 12 months. It says they will charge for anything not within the free fee, which is odd as an experimentalist. I can't be too cautious about which button to push and which not to push.
Cloudways offers managed cloud hosting
Nanobox allows all the convenience of Heroku with more flexibility and less cost.