Northflank
London PaaS that bundles managed Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis with per-second billing
Quick Overview
| Company | Northflank Ltd |
|---|---|
| Category | Databases & Backends |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| EU Presence | United Kingdom (adequacy decision, outside the EEA) |
| Data Location | 6+ cloud regions, plus bring-your-own-cloud across 600+ regions |
| Open Source | No |
| Pricing | Free Sandbox plan (2 services, 1 database, 2 cron jobs) / pay-as-you-go from $0.01667 per vCPU/hour and $0.00833 per GB RAM/hour / Enterprise on request |
| Free Option | Free Sandbox plan |
| Replaces | Heroku, Render, Railway |
Detailed Review
Northflank is a PaaS first and a database provider second, which is exactly the point for a team that wants to push a repository and get a running service with a database attached, the way Heroku used to work.
Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis are available as add-ons wired straight into the application, with per-second billing shared across compute and data services, and deployment either on Northflank's own regions or bring-your-own-cloud across more than 600 regions when the workload has to sit somewhere specific.
Northflank Ltd is registered in London, and the free Sandbox plan includes one database alongside two services and two cron jobs at no cost, which is enough to evaluate the platform before committing.
Paid usage starts at $0.01667 per vCPU-hour and $0.00833 per GB of RAM-hour, with Enterprise pricing for teams that need a VPC of their own, an SLA and onboarding support. Against Clever Cloud, the closer comparison in this category, Northflank leans more towards containers and Kubernetes-style workloads than a simple Git-push deploy, and the database is one add-on among several rather than the centrepiece.
What Northflank does well
- Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis add-ons wired into the app
- Free Sandbox plan includes one database
- Per-second billing shared across compute and data
- Bring-your-own-cloud across 600+ regions
- UK company, published pricing and terms
Where Northflank falls short
- Database is an add-on to a PaaS, not the main product
- Fewer managed-engine options than Aiven or OVHcloud
- United Kingdom jurisdiction, outside the EEA
- Leans towards container/Kubernetes workloads over a simple deploy
Standout feature. One database among several add-ons inside a Heroku-style deploy flow, billed by the second alongside the compute it serves.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis add-ons wired into the app
- Free Sandbox plan includes one database
- Per-second billing shared across compute and data
- Bring-your-own-cloud across 600+ regions
- UK company, published pricing and terms
Cons
- Database is an add-on to a PaaS, not the main product
- Fewer managed-engine options than Aiven or OVHcloud
- United Kingdom jurisdiction, outside the EEA
- Leans towards container/Kubernetes workloads over a simple deploy
Alternatives to Northflank
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Northflank?
Northflank is a PaaS first and a database provider second, which is exactly the point for a team that wants to push a repository and get a running service with a database attached, the way Heroku used to work.
Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis are available as add-ons wired straight into the application, with per-second billing shared across compute and data services, and deployment either on Northflank's own regions or bring-your-own-cloud across more than 600 regions when the workload has to sit somewhere specific.
Where is Northflank based?
Northflank operates from London, United Kingdom, which places it under United Kingdom (adequacy decision, outside the EEA).
What does Northflank cost?
Free Sandbox plan (2 services, 1 database, 2 cron jobs) / pay-as-you-go from $0.01667 per vCPU/hour and $0.00833 per GB RAM/hour / Enterprise on request. Free Sandbox plan.
Who is Northflank best for?
Teams wanting a Heroku-style deploy flow with a database attached. One database among several add-ons inside a Heroku-style deploy flow, billed by the second alongside the compute it serves.
What are the drawbacks of Northflank?
Database is an add-on to a PaaS, not the main product. Fewer managed-engine options than Aiven or OVHcloud. United Kingdom jurisdiction, outside the EEA. Leans towards container/Kubernetes workloads over a simple deploy.
Is Northflank a good alternative to Heroku?
Northflank is built as a European alternative to Heroku: London PaaS that bundles managed Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis with per-second billing. It will not be a like-for-like feature match in every respect, so check the review above for where the two genuinely differ before switching.
How does Northflank compare to other Databases & Backends tools?
Northflank is one of several European Databases & Backends tools we cover. It is most often compared with Heroku, Render, Railway.