Heroku is a cloud platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that enables developers to build, run, and scale applications in multiple programming languages with minimal infrastructure management. Headquartered in San Francisco and part of the Salesforce ecosystem, Heroku provides a developer-centric experience with managed runtime environments, add-on services, and a simple deployment model that accelerates application delivery. The platform is popular with startups, product teams, and developers who value fast iteration, integrated services, and a straightforward developer workflow. Heroku’s engineering culture emphasizes developer experience, operational reliability, and tooling that reduces friction for application teams, offering employees opportunities to work on platform reliability, developer tooling, and ecosystem integrations. In the cloud and PaaS industry, Heroku is recognized for its ease of use and influential role in bringing platform concepts to mainstream developer workflows. Staff typically report collaborative teams, focus on operational excellence, and chances to solve infrastructure challenges that matter directly to customers and developer productivity.
“I joined because I loved the developer-first focus and stayed for the folks. You’ll find people who care about code quality and customer experience.”
“Teams are collaborative and hands-on. When something breaks at 2 AM, someone will share the burden rather than point fingers.”
“I appreciated the autonomy — you can pick projects that matter — but there are times when priorities shift quickly and you have to adapt.”
These kinds of real, human comments show what working at Heroku feels like day-to-day: passionate engineers, supportive peers, and occasional fast pivots. If you search for company culture at Heroku or working at Heroku, you will see a lot of stories like these.
The culture leans developer-first and product-oriented. People tend to value craftsmanship, reliability, and customer empathy. There is a startup vibe in many product teams even though the organization sits within a larger corporate parent. That means you will often get the autonomy and speed of a small team, but you will also encounter more formalized processes and governance as projects scale.
Diversity and inclusion efforts are present, with ERGs and proactive hiring practices, though experiences vary by team. Overall, company culture at Heroku is warm and technically driven, with a focus on building things that help developers move faster.
Work-life balance at Heroku is generally good. You will find many teams that encourage reasonable hours and respect personal time. Platform and SRE teams, by nature, will have on-call duties and occasional nights or weekend work, but rotations are usually fair and documented. If work-life balance at Heroku is a priority for you, there are plenty of teams and managers who support flexible hours and remote arrangements.
Job security is mixed but generally stable. Being part of a larger parent organization provides a buffer against early-stage volatility, but strategic shifts and corporate reorganizations do happen. Employees should expect the normal risk that comes with acquisitions and product lifecycle changes. Strong individual performance and cross-team visibility will help mitigate risk.
Leadership is composed of technically savvy people with a focus on developer experience and platform reliability. Strategic direction is often clear on product priorities, though communication can become patchy during larger corporate realignments. Executives tend to emphasize customer impact and operational excellence.
Managers are encouraged to be accessible and make data-driven decisions. In practice, leadership quality can vary by org — some teams get highly engaged leaders, while others feel more distant.
Managers frequently get positive marks for mentorship, career support, and technical guidance. Regular one-on-ones, clear feedback cycles, and reasonable expectations are common in many groups. Where managers struggle, it is often due to rapid team growth or shifting product priorities that outpace managerial bandwidth. If you value hands-on coaching, look for teams with long-tenured leads.
There is a solid emphasis on continuous learning. Employees have access to internal training, learning stipends for conferences and courses, and mentorship programs. Engineers are encouraged to attend tech talks, internal brown-bags, and cross-team code reviews. Expect opportunities to learn new stacks and cloud-native tooling, especially if you are in platform or infrastructure roles.
Promotion pathways are defined and tied to performance reviews and demonstrated impact. Promotions are possible but can require patience; the process may feel slower in some parts of the organization due to leveling standards and budget cycles. High performers who take on cross-team projects and visible initiatives tend to advance faster.
Salaries vary by role, level, and geography. Rough, typical ranges (USD) for engineering roles:
Product management and design roles are competitive and generally in similar mid-to-senior bands. Sales roles and specialized functions will vary widely based on quotas and commission structures. These ranges depend strongly on location and total compensation philosophy of the parent company.
There are performance-based bonuses, spot awards, and recognition programs. Many roles include equity components, often in the form of restricted stock units through the parent company. Sales and customer-facing roles typically have commission and quota-based incentives. Bonuses are generally fair but tied to company and individual performance metrics.
Benefits are comprehensive and align with industry standards. Typical offerings include medical, dental, and vision plans, mental health and wellness resources, parental leave, and disability coverage. Retirement savings and matching programs are also provided. Employees often mention good support for family and wellness needs.
Engagement is maintained through hackathons, team offsites, internal tech conferences, and community meetups. There are regular all-hands and AMAs with leadership. During remote periods, events went virtual, with thoughtful efforts to keep teams connected. Local chapters and social groups help sustain community energy.
Remote work is supported in many teams, with tooling, stipends for home office equipment, and flexible policies. Some roles or product teams prefer or require on-site presence for collaboration or operational reasons. Overall, remote work support is considered strong and practical.
Most employees report a typical 40–45 hour workweek. Platform and operations teams may see spikes due to incidents or launches. Deadlines and cross-timezone collaboration can push hours higher temporarily, but sustained overtime is not the norm.
Attrition is moderate. There have been periodic reorganizations and occasional layoffs tied to broader corporate strategy or market conditions. These events are not the everyday experience, but they have occurred and have impacted some teams. Employees often cite good internal mobility and support during transitions.
Overall, this is a solid place to work for people who care about developer experience, reliability, and product craftsmanship. Strengths include a collaborative culture, strong benefits, and learning opportunities. Challenges include occasional strategic shifts and varying experiences by team. On balance, one would rate the company around 3.8 to 4.2 out of 5 depending on the team and role — a respectable score for those seeking a technically rich, developer-focused workplace.
Read authentic experiences from current and former employees at Heroku
Great focus on developer experience and reliability — working on dyno/runtime systems gives a lot of interesting problems to solve. Managers are supportive, and the team invests in documentation and mentoring. Flexible hours and a hybrid setup make it easy to balance deep work with life. Plenty of opportunities to grow technically (Kubernetes, distributed systems, observability).
Compensation is competitive for a small company but lags behind big tech, and promotion cycles can feel slow. There are occasional product direction changes that create rework, and some legacy parts of the stack still need investment. Hiring/onsite expectations vary between teams.