On its own, Heroku is an excellent service - and the best Heroku add ons make it even better. Heroku is one of the most powerful Platform as a Service (PaaS) options on the market, utilized by developers around the world to "deploy, manage, and scale modern apps" to help bring their products to a new level.

However, what adds much more value to Heroku is the option for incorporating "add ons" to the product. The best Heroku add ons make a powerful service that much more nimble, agile, and flexible. These add ons provide "tools and services for developing, extending, and operating your app."

So, what are the best Heroku add ons for your purposes? Let's take a look at some of the top options on this list.

Table of Contents

  1. Hosted Graphite by MetricFire
  2. Blitline
  3. Bucketeer
  4. DockHero
  5. Better Uptime
  6. SumoLogic
  7. Cron to Go
  8. Heroku Postgres
  9. SFTP to Go
  10. Heroku Connect
  11. Integrate.io

1) Hosted Graphite by MetricFire

How do you balance App performance vs. hosting costs? It doesn't need to be complicated & shouldn't cost you a fortune. Hosted Graphite helps you optimize IT operational performance and minimize infrastructure expenses via the collection & visualization of time-series metrics, underpinned by highly configurable alerts for rapid notification of issues. Hosted Graphite specializes in tracking custom metrics at scale to allow you to track every aspect of your applications. 

2) Blitline

You know how frustrating image processing can get within the cloud. Blitline takes a lot of the hair-pulling out of image processing for Heroku by taking the burden off of your end and onto theirs. Scalable for "thousands" of image requests, Blitline can do everything from process PDFs to take website screenshots and run image processing scripts. One of the best features of Blitline? The price. With a free developer package and a wide range of available plans built around "compute hours" and "smart crops," Blitline is one of the more flexible and versatile image processing options, and therefore one of the best Heroku add ons you can get.

3) Bucketeer

When it comes to simple cloud storage solutions, Bucketeer is one of the best options on the market. This versatile and creative add on utilizes Amazon S3 as the cloud file system, unlocking the full power of Amazon's best-in-class services alongside Heroku. Bucketeer is sharable across applications and allows for multiple installations across applications, features easy setup with no configuration needed, and allows for the full management of the "bucket" through Amazon.

4) DockHero

If you're looking to bring Docker's power to your Heroku deployment, DockHero is an absolute must. This easy-to-integrate application allows for Docker images to come up right alongside Heroku, with each installation getting its own static IP address. Along with that, DockHero provides SSL termination and consolidated logs displayed right alongside the Heroku application.

5) Better Uptime

Concerned about your website going down? This add on (in beta) is an excellent option for those concerned about downtime. Better Uptime provides a speedy alert service if the worst happens, delivering a screenshot and error logs so users can quickly diagnose (and fix) the problem. Better Uptime configures with over 2000 applications and offers a simple on-call scheduling option integrated into Google Calendar. One of the best features of Better Uptime? The product's "multi-location checks," which make sure that the alert or problem is actually real before ringing the bell, thus avoiding those annoying false aIerts. There's even a "branded status page" so customers can know the status of the network. It's an integral piece of any company's just-in-case arsenal.

6) SumoLogic

SumoLogic is a "heavyweight" option when it comes to logging and monitoring your Heroku service. A powerful solution geared towards an organization's specific use case, SumoLogic is a tool for DevOps, applications analytics, and compliance and security. SumoLogic also features an "Anomaly Detection" option, which hunts for pesky anomalies and outliers within your organization's data stream. It is one of the best Heroku add ons for log and metrics management, along with real-time analytics. Another benefit to SumoLogic? It's shareable across different applications.

7) Cron to Go

Looking to boost your scheduling? Cron to Go is the app to install. With Cron to Go, you get "maximum control of your job schedule," with defined schedules that include 60 seconds precision. There's no need for code changes to modify or schedule jobs, and the application features on-click migration. Plus, you can easily set jobs in different time zones, and you can get one-off dynos support to save money.

8) Heroku Postgres

Why spend time on database setup and maintenance? The flagship Heroku Postgres application is one of the most powerful tools out there to maximize data analysis and integration. With Heroku Postgres, you can use databases from any cloud, local computer, or PaaS. It's also easy to scale vertically, through the wide range of Postgres plans. Heroku Postgres is shareable across applications and allows multiple installs per application.

9) SFTP to Go

There is a laundry list of benefits when it comes to the SFTP to Go application. With the add-on's cloud storage, you can integrate with partners and customers to trade files. There's no need to have your own SFTP servers or storage devices, and one-click setup makes installing SFTP to Go easy. Along with that, you get multi-AZ architecture for file availability, Amazon S3 access, and encrypted files both in transit and at rest. 

10) Heroku Connect

Need a bridge between Salesforce and a Heroku Postgres database? If so, the Heroku Connect is a must-add. This is vital for the analysis of Salesforce data. It's easy to install in the system, and point-and-click UI makes everything simple for users. Heroku Connect is crucial for building applications with open source stacks and works directly with development flow and popular stacks and languages. 

11) Integrate.io

What, did you think we weren't going to mention our own product? Integrate.io offers full integration with Heroku, delivering an ETL service that allows for powerful analysis and integration of the data collected on the Heroku PostgreSQL and Heroku Connect services (along with the benefits from many other programs, applications, and integrations). Looking to learn more about how Integrate.io works with Heroku? Check out this blog post exploring the benefits of Heroku Connect along with a Salesforce integration.

Get the Most Out of Heroku With Integrate.io

If you're using Heroku for your cloud platform services, you need a partner to help you get the most out of your investment. That's where Integrate.io comes in. Integrate.io provides simple visualized data pipelines for automated data flows across a wide range of sources and destinations - including Heroku Postgres database and the Heroku Connect cloud service. With our platform, companies can quickly and easily benefit from big data opportunities without investing in hardware, software, or related personnel. 

Ready to explore how Integrate.io can help you optimize your Heroku usage? Contact our team to schedule a demo of our service today.