Heroku for GitHub Students
Students in the GitHub Student Developer Pack get $13/month in Heroku platform credits for 24 months to run dynos, Postgres, and Key-Value Store.
- Free credit
- $312
- Credit window
- 730 days
- Card required
- Yes
Heroku for GitHub Students scores 4.4/10 for free value in Apps. The main constraint: $13/month in platform credits ($312 total over 24 months) usable on any first-party Heroku product (Eco/Basic dynos, Heroku Postgres, Key-Value Store), with unused credits expiring each month.
Free value score
4.4 / 10Show the math
Key metrics
What you get
$13/month in platform credits for 24 months ($312 total value)
Spend on any first-party Heroku product: dynos, Heroku Postgres, Key-Value Store
Git/GitHub-push deploys with $13/mo covering 1 Eco dyno + Mini Postgres + Mini Key-Value Store
No separate bandwidth metering, just the monthly credit cap
Gotchas
- GitHub Student verification
Must be an approved GitHub Student Developer Pack member and 18 or older; application is manually reviewed and approved before credits are granted.
- Credit/debit card required
A valid credit or debit card must be on file to redeem the offer; the card is charged for any resources consumed beyond the $13/month credit.
- $312 total credit
One allocation of $312 in platform credits burns down at $13/month over a 24-month program period; any credit left at program end expires.
- $13/month credit, no rollover
Credits are metered at $13 per month and do not roll over; unused monthly credit expires at the end of each month.
- 24-month program limit
Credits are only available for 24 months; at the end of the period you must spin down resources or pay for them, and you cannot reapply for another term.
- Eco dynos sleep
Eco dynos (the plan the credit comfortably covers) sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity, causing cold-start latency on the next request.
- First-party products only
Credits apply only to first-party Heroku products (dynos, Heroku Postgres, Key-Value Store); paid third-party Heroku Add-ons are excluded.
- No Team accounts
The offer cannot be applied to a Heroku Team account; it is limited to a personal account.
- Eco compute hours
The Eco dynos plan that fits the budget provides 1,000 shared dyno hours per month across all Eco dynos for $5; running more compute consumes credit faster or incurs overage.
- ~2 TB/mo data transfer
Heroku applies a soft cap of roughly 2 TB of outbound data transfer per app per month; exceeding it may trigger review.
Sources
-
"This is a 12-month program that grants you a total of $156 USD platform credits based on your application date. Once approved and applied to your personal Heroku account, a maximum of $13 will be deducted each month from the allotted credits"
https://help.heroku.com/Z3RHNRHD/how-does-the-heroku-for-github-students-program-work -
"Once you've been accepted into the Github Student Developer program, your credits expire after 12 months. As a reminder, the expiration of credits is not dependent on whether or not you use the actual credits that have been granted."
https://help.heroku.com/MRYM0JZB/can-i-apply-to-the-heroku-for-github-students-program-after-my-credits-expire -
"you are eligible to receive platform credits worth $13 per month for 24 months (for a total value of $312)... the $13 in monthly platform credits is enough to cover one month of the Eco Dynos plan ($5 for 1000 dyno hours/month), one Mini Heroku Postgres database ($5/month), and one Mini Heroku Key-Value Store database ($3/month)."
https://www.heroku.com/github-students/ -
"Yes, you will need a valid credit or debit card on file to redeem this offer. In addition, the credit card will be charged for resources consumed in excess of the $13 per month credit."
https://www.heroku.com/github-students/
