Heroku is a widely-used cloud PaaS that deploys and scales web applications with a simple git push — but as a server-side hosting platform, it has no built-in WCAG accessibility audit, no Core Web Vitals scoring, and no front-end health monitoring for the apps it hosts. PageGuard audits the live URL of any Heroku-hosted application externally — free, no Heroku CLI access needed, results in 30 seconds.
ADA Title II Deadline: April 24, 2026
State and local government websites must meet WCAG 2.1 AA by April 24, 2026. Government agencies, nonprofits, and educational institutions that run web applications on Heroku face this compliance deadline. Heroku’s git push workflow means a single deployment can push front-end accessibility regressions to production instantly — new React components, updated server templates, or CMS content changes can introduce WCAG violations without any automated quality gate. PageGuard provides continuous post-deployment front-end monitoring without requiring Heroku CLI access or code changes.
git push heroku main deploys any Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, Java, PHP, or Scala app; Heroku Pipelines manage staging and production promotion; review apps per pull request
| Feature | PageGuard | Heroku |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | External website health monitor — scans any URL for performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices | Cloud platform as a service (PaaS) for deploying, managing, and scaling web applications — supports Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, Java, PHP, and Scala; deploy with git push; manages infrastructure, routing, and scaling automatically; owned by Salesforce; widely used for startups, side projects, and enterprise apps |
| Free tier | ✓ Yes — unlimited one-off scans, no signup required | No — Heroku discontinued its free tier in November 2022; current entry plans start at $5/month for Eco dynos; all apps including personal projects now require a paid plan |
| Accessibility audit (WCAG / ADA) | ✓ Yes — WCAG 2.1 AA scored 0–100 with specific issue list | No — Heroku is a cloud application hosting platform; it deploys and runs your server-side code but has no built-in WCAG or ADA accessibility auditing for the front-end HTML output rendered by hosted apps; accessibility quality is entirely determined by the application code deployed by developers |
| Technical SEO audit | ✓ Yes — meta tags, headings, canonical, structured data | No — Heroku handles application routing, scaling, and infrastructure management but provides no SEO audit scores, meta tag validation, heading hierarchy checks, or structured data analysis for hosted applications; all SEO implementation is the responsibility of the deployed application code |
| Performance audit (Core Web Vitals) | ✓ Yes — LCP, CLS, FCP scored 0–100 per scan | No — Heroku provides no Core Web Vitals measurement (LCP, CLS, FCP, INP) for hosted applications; it manages server infrastructure and routing but does not measure front-end rendering performance from a user perspective |
| Cloud application hosting | No — PageGuard is a monitoring tool, not a hosting platform | ✓ Yes — Heroku hosts server-side web applications across multiple languages and frameworks; supports git-based deployment, Docker containers, Heroku CI/CD pipelines, managed PostgreSQL/Redis add-ons, horizontal scaling with worker dynos, review apps for pull requests, and 20+ geographic regions via Heroku Private Spaces |
| Git-based deployment | No — PageGuard is a browser-based monitoring tool | ✓ Yes — git push heroku main deploys your application; supports GitHub Actions integration, automatic deploys from GitHub branches, review apps for each PR, and rollback to any previous release with heroku releases:rollback; Heroku Pipelines manage staging and production promotion workflows |
| Automated website monitoring | ✓ Yes — weekly or daily scans with email alerts on score drop | No — Heroku is a cloud application hosting platform; it has no post-deployment front-end health monitoring for WCAG compliance, Core Web Vitals regressions, SEO quality changes, or best practices for the HTML rendered by hosted apps; Heroku Metrics tracks server-side response times and memory usage, not front-end quality |
| AI-generated plain-English report | ✓ Yes — explains issues in non-technical language | No — no front-end health report for apps hosted on Heroku |
| ADA Title II compliance monitoring | ✓ Yes — WCAG audit + alert on accessibility regression | No — Heroku does not audit or alert on WCAG compliance for apps it hosts; government agencies, nonprofits, and universities that deploy web applications on Heroku face ADA Title II compliance requirements; common accessibility issues in Heroku-hosted apps include server-side rendered templates missing ARIA landmark roles, React/Vue front ends with insufficient color contrast, missing alt text on CMS-managed images, and keyboard navigation gaps in JavaScript components — all requiring external runtime validation after each deployment |
| Works on any platform | ✓ Yes — scans any URL on any front-end or platform | No — Heroku hosts only your own deployed applications; it does not audit sites built on other hosting platforms |
| Independent external audit | ✓ Yes — third-party scan, shareable URL for clients/stakeholders | No — no built-in tool to generate a shareable external front-end health report for a Heroku-hosted app |
| Instant on-demand scan | ✓ Yes — results in 30 seconds, no code changes needed | No — no on-demand front-end health scan; auditing Heroku-hosted apps requires separate tools like Lighthouse or axe after deployment |
| Multi-site dashboard | ✓ Yes — 1–50 sites depending on plan | Heroku manages individual application pipelines; there is no health monitoring dashboard showing WCAG accessibility, SEO, and Core Web Vitals scores across multiple Heroku-hosted applications |
| Pricing for health monitoring | ✓ Free + from $9/mo for automated monitoring | Health monitoring not available — Heroku is a cloud application hosting platform, not a website health monitoring tool; app hosting starts at $5/mo for Eco dynos |
git push heroku main deploy to catch accessibility and SEO regressions before users encounter themGet WCAG accessibility scores and Core Web Vitals for any Heroku-deployed application. Results in 30 seconds. No Heroku account, CLI access, or application code required.
Results in ~30 seconds. 4 scores: Performance, Accessibility, SEO, Best Practices.
Yes — PageGuard scans the live URL of any Heroku-hosted web application, whether on a herokuapp.com subdomain or custom domain. Enter the public URL and receive a full health report in ~30 seconds covering Core Web Vitals, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility, technical SEO, and best practices. No Heroku account, CLI access, or application code is required.
No — Heroku is a cloud application hosting platform with no built-in WCAG compliance checking. It deploys and runs your server-side code but does not audit the front-end HTML output for accessibility issues. Common problems in Heroku-hosted apps include missing alt text, improper heading hierarchy in server-rendered templates, insufficient color contrast, missing ARIA labels on interactive components, and keyboard navigation gaps in JavaScript SPAs. PageGuard audits your live Heroku app and provides a WCAG 2.1 AA score with specific issues to fix.
Heroku’s git push deployment means any code change can push front-end accessibility regressions to production instantly. New React or Vue components, updated server-rendered templates, and CMS content changes can all introduce WCAG violations without a quality gate. Government agencies, nonprofits, and universities on Heroku face ADA Title II compliance with an April 24, 2026 deadline. PageGuard provides continuous post-deployment monitoring with email alerts when WCAG scores drop.
No — they serve completely different purposes. Heroku is a cloud PaaS that deploys, runs, and scales server-side web applications. PageGuard is an external quality monitoring tool for the front-end output of those deployed apps. Teams using Heroku for hosting should add PageGuard to continuously verify WCAG compliance, Core Web Vitals, and SEO quality after each deployment — complementing Heroku Metrics which tracks server-side performance.