What are the limitations on the free tier of Heroku services?

The free tier of Heroku services is an excellent way for users to explore the platform and develop small applications without incurring costs. However, there are several limitations associated with this tier that users should be aware of. First, the free tier applications are subject to automatic sleeping after thirty minutes of inactivity. This means that if an application does not receive any traffic for this duration, it will go into a sleep mode, and the next request will experience a brief delay as the application wakes up. Second, the free tier allows for a limited number of hours of usage per month. Once the allocated hours are exhausted, the applications will become unavailable until the next month begins. Additionally, the free tier offers basic resources, which may impact performance for more demanding applications. Users also encounter restrictions on the ability to use custom domains and the number of database connections available with the free tier. Moreover, the free tier does not provide access to certain advanced features and add-ons, which might be essential for scaling applications effectively. As one considers using the free tier, it is advisable to review the details directly on the Heroku website to ensure that the limitations align with the intended use of the services provided.