Heroku for Salesforce teams
Heroku is Salesforce's cloud app platform. This guide explains when to run code there instead of in your org and how the two connect.
Heroku is the cloud application platform Salesforce owns and markets as "Heroku from Salesforce". You deploy code in common languages, and Heroku runs it on managed infrastructure, so your team doesn't patch servers. For Salesforce customers, the question is usually not whether Heroku is good. It is whether a workload belongs on Heroku or inside the Salesforce org.
What it is for
Heroku suits workloads that need things the core platform is not designed for. Examples include:
- long-running or compute-heavy processing
- customer-facing web apps with their own front end
- APIs that third parties call at high volume
- services written in languages other than Apex
- data stores that sit next to, rather than inside, your CRM
Core capabilities
| Capability | What it does | Why it matters for Salesforce teams |
|---|---|---|
| Dynos | Containers that run your web and worker processes | Scale an app without touching org limits |
| Heroku Postgres | Managed PostgreSQL database | A place for high-volume or app-specific data |
| Key-Value Store | Managed key-value data store | Caching and queues for busy apps |
| Managed Inference and Agents | Hosted AI models and agents | Run AI workloads beside your app code |
| MCP server hosting | Host Model Context Protocol servers | Expose tools to AI agents |
| pgvector | Vector search in Postgres | Similarity search for AI features |
| AppLink | Integration between Heroku apps and Salesforce | Call Heroku services from your org |
| Private Spaces and Heroku Shield | Network isolation and extra compliance controls | Needed for many regulated workloads |
How it connects
AppLink is the documented route for connecting Heroku apps to Salesforce. It lets the org call services running on Heroku. Apps can also use standard Salesforce APIs, and many teams publish events from Salesforce for Heroku workers to process (see Platform Events for decoupled integrations). If you have many systems to connect, an integration layer such as MuleSoft may serve you better than point-to-point links.
Who it suits
Heroku suits teams with developers who are comfortable with Git-based deployment and a general-purpose language. It also suits companies that build customer-facing apps on top of CRM data, and anyone whose processing keeps hitting governor limits. If your needs are mostly forms, automation and reports, the Salesforce Platform on its own is usually simpler.
Planning an implementation
- 01
Decide what moves
Write down why each workload cannot run in the org: limits, language, latency or user experience.
- 02
Choose the data home
Decide which system owns each record, and avoid copying data both ways without a reason.
- 03
Design authentication
Use named, least-privilege integration users and keep secrets out of code.
- 04
Plan isolation needs
Check whether Private Spaces or Heroku Shield is needed for your compliance requirements.
- 05
Set up monitoring
Agree who watches logs, errors and costs once the app is live.
Common mistakes
- Moving logic to Heroku to dodge a limit that better design in the org would have fixed.
- Running integrations as a full-access admin user.
- Building a second customer database with no agreement on which copy is correct.
- Leaving error handling and retries until after launch. Our API error handling guide covers patterns.
How GeekMidst can help
We can help you decide whether a workload belongs on Heroku, then design the integration with your org. Our web and application development team builds the app side, and our Salesforce integration services cover authentication, data flow and error handling. We follow the practices in securing Salesforce API integrations from the start.
Questions we hear
Is Heroku part of Salesforce?
Do we need Heroku to build custom apps?
Can Agentforce use services on Heroku?
How much does Heroku cost?
Related reading
Middleware vs point-to-point APIs
Choosing an integration approach
→Securing API integrations
Authentication and access patterns
→Integration error handling checklist
What to test before go-live
→Salesforce Platform guide
What to build inside the org
→Not sure where a workload should run?
We can review your requirements and recommend Heroku, the core platform or an integration layer.
